R62: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Abt E. von St. Anastasius
God's Call to the Abbot
Hildegard delivers God's word to the abbot, warning that his eager aspirations exceed what he actually pursues.
Reply of Lady Hildegard. He who is, says. To you, O man. Your mind rises eagerly through the expectation of good works! And you lift yourself up, desiring more than you would ever accomplish. But sometimes your own mind deceives you, sifting through your motives!1 Saying it this way. These are the best things.
The Duty of Shepherding
Hildegard urges the abbot to complete his care of the flock through correction and healing rather than pursuing his own will.
Yet you're not working toward that right now. And so the very cause you hold in hand, in your own proposal! In this way you shake it off yourself. Therefore, bring the sustenance of your flock to completion, and give him precepts. Namely, by offering the master's rod. And afterward, by administering the physician's ointment. Because it is more useful to you. So that in this labor you may watch out for others through your teaching, as they minister in subjection.
Warning Against Weariness and Pride
Hildegard warns that yielding to weariness would wither the soul, and that standing in pride leaves one lost; instead, the abbot must stand in humility.
than to train yourself in your own will. For if you gave in to weariness, weariness would hem you in like a wall. so that your mind would dry up and wither. So keep watch over your flock, giving it the good examples your soul longs for. so that your mind is not brought into ridicule. For the one who stands on a height and calls out into the valley sometimes does not know, in either case, where to go. Stand, then, in humility.
Walk in Christ's Footsteps
Hildegard closes by calling the abbot to follow Christ, avoid self-deception, and receive the promise of eternal life.
so that with God's help you may carry out the good works you have undertaken. And remain in the footsteps of Christ. And do not deceive yourself! And you will live forever.
Read the original Latin
Responsum Domnę hildegardis. Qui est dicit. tibi o homo. Mens tua desideranter surgit per opinionem bonorum operum! et te erigis in altum plura desiderans quam operereris. Sed aliquando ipsa mens tua decipit te cribrando causas tuas! sic dicendo. Hęc optima sunt.
quę tamen non operaris ad presens. Vnde et ipsam causam quam in manu in propositione tua habes! sic a te excutis. Perfice ergo sustentationem ouilis tui et da ei precepta. scilicet uirgam magistri prebendo. et postea ungentum medici exhibendo. quia utilius tibi est. ut in hoc labore uigiles alijs per doctrinam tuam in subiectione ministrantibus.
quam teipsum in uoluntate tua exerceas. Nam si tedio subponeres tedium te uallaret. ita ut mens tua aresceret. Ideo uigila super gregem tuum prebendo ei bona exempla quę desiderat anima tua. ne mens tua in irrisionem reducatur. Nam ille qui in alto stat et in uallem clamat. interdum in utroque nescit quo uadat. Propterea sta in humilitate.
ita ut deo adiuuante bona opera exerceas quę cepisti. et permane in uestigijs christi. nec teipsum decipias! et in eternum uiues.
Notes
- 1 ↩cribrando: the form and syntactic role are uncertain; rendered as 'sifting through' to convey the sense of examining or sorting out motives, but the Latin is not fully secure.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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