R55: Bernhard von Clairvaux an Hildegard von Rupertsberg
Greeting and Humble Prayer
Bernard greets Hildegard as beloved daughter and reflects humbly on the power of a sinner's prayer.
Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, abbot. To Hildegard. Beloved daughter in Christ, Hildegard. Brother Bernard of Clairvaux, called abbot. If the prayer of a sinner can do anything — a point on which some think very differently from what our own conscience holds about our poverty. Not by our own merits. But to the foolishness of men it must be attributed.
Grace, Humility, and Devotion
Bernard rejoices in God's grace at work in Hildegard and urges her to receive it with humility and devotion.
Yet I have hastened to write out of the sweetness of your love. Even though the sheer volume of business forces me to write far more briefly than I would wish. We rejoice in the grace of God at work in you. and that you may hold it as a gift of grace. and we urge you to respond to it wholly with a heart of humility and devotion. knowing that God resists the proud. but gives grace to the humble. How much is in us!
The Inner Anointing and Heavenly Secrets
Bernard acknowledges Hildegard's inner teaching and contemplative insight, then asks for her prayers and spiritual fellowship.
We urge you and we beseech you. But where inner teaching is present, and the anointing that instructs about all things!✦1 What could we possibly teach you, or warn you about? For you are said to search into the hidden secrets of heaven.2 And to discern those things that are beyond human reach, by the Holy Spirit illuminating.✦ And so we ask — and humbly entreat — all the more. That you would remember us before God. And likewise those who are joined to us in spiritual fellowship in the Lord.
Mutual Intercession and Interior Strength
Bernard affirms the power of Hildegard's prayer when united to God and prays that she may be strengthened, instructed, and guided toward what endures.
For when your spirit is joined to God, we trust that you can be of great benefit and help to us. For the constant intercession of the righteous is of great avail. We too are constantly praying for you, so that you may be strengthened for what is good, instructed in the interior life, and guided toward what endures. so that those who have placed their hope in God may not stumble on your account by losing heart.3
Blessing's Unfolding
Bernard closes by recognizing the unfolding blessing from God and praying that Hildegard may advance from better to better.
But so that you may recognize, in the unfolding of the blessing you have received from God. Well strengthened, may they advance from better to better.
Read the original Latin
abbas Bernardus clareuallis abbas. hildegardi. Dilectę in christo filię hildegardi. frater Bernardus clareualensis uocatus abbas. si quid potest oracio peccatoris. Quod de nostra exiguitate longe aliter quam nostra sese conscientia habeat quidam sentire uidentur. non nostris meritis. sed stulticię hominum imputandum est.
Ad dulcedinem autem pię caritatis tuę scribere properaui. quamuis id breuius omnino quam uellem negociorum multitudo compellat. Congratulamur gratię dei quę in te est. et ut eam tanquam gratiam habeas. et toto ei humilitatis et deuotionis affectu studeas respondere ammonemus. sciens quod deus superbis resistit. humilibus autem dat gratiam. Quod in nobis est!
hortamur et obsecramus. Ceterum ubi interior eruditio est et unctio docens de omnibus! quid nos aut docere possumus aut monere? Diceris enim celestia secreta rimari. et ea quę supra homines sunt spiritu sancto illustrante dinoscere. Unde rogamus magis et suppliciter postulamus. ut nostri memoriam habeas apud deum. et eorum pariter qui nobis spiritali societate in domino iuncti sunt.
Nam cum spiritus tuus deo coniungitur. confidimus quod nobis multum prodesse ualeas et subuenire. Multum enim ualet deprecatio iusti assidua. Nos etiam pro te assidue oramus. ut conforteris ad bona. instruaris ad interiora. dirigaris ad permansura. ita ne hii qui spem suam in deum posuerunt desperando pro te claudicent.
sed ut in profectu benedictionis quam a deo accepisse cognosceris. bene confortati in melius et melius proficiant.
Scripture echoes
- ↩1John.2.27 — And as for the anointing you received from him, it remains in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and it is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, remain in him.
- ↩1Cor.2.10 — But to us God has revealed it through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
Notes
- 1 ↩Ceterum functions as a discourse transition ('but for the rest / furthermore'); rendered as 'but' to mark the shift from exhortation to wonder. Interior eruditio paired with unctio docens evokes the Johannine 'anointing that teaches' (1 John 2:27).
- 2 ↩Diceris is present passive ('you are said') but could be read as future ('you will be said'); the passive-of-report reading fits the context of Bernard acknowledging Hildegard's reputation for visionary knowledge. Celestia secreta rendered as 'hidden secrets of heaven' to capture the layered sense of heavenly mysteries.
- 3 ↩Rare verb claudicent (claudico) rendered 'stumble' in the sense of faltering or falling spiritually; the sense is uncertain and the image may be physical lameness applied metaphorically to hope.
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