R66: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Manegold von Hirsau
A Vision of Suffering and Destiny
Hildegard greets Manegold with fraternal love and shares a vision of a radiant pot with a bitter taste, crushed yet predestined for God's reward, urging vigilant pastoral care.
Hildegard's reply. O sweetest father, and brother in the love of Christ! I see a pot surrounded by such great brightness. so that I can scarcely see whether the pot is there at all.1 But there as well I see something of a bitter taste. It is crushed, yet by great struggle, and afterward by a whirlwind — which is nevertheless predestined for the reward of God.2 Watch vigorously, therefore. Because the cause of the people, in its customs, demands such things in this time.
Humility, Fear, and Sacred Presence
Hildegard confesses her frailty as a poor little woman, reminds Manegold of his humanity, warns against fear, and declares that in God's presence he is like myrrh and incense, called to nourish Jacob's house.
O most gentle Father! I, a poor little woman, do not see in true light the form I'm in. So that you might be thoroughly moved about your duty. But remember that you are a human being on earth. And don't be overcome by fear. For God does not seek different things in you. For in God's presence you are like the smoke of myrrh and incense! So Mount Zion seeks that you be food in the house of Jacob.
Watchfulness and the Mirror of Life
Hildegard warns that removing a supporting pillar collapses the house, urges watchfulness through seven windows against deception, and calls Manegold to feed his sheep gently while being a mirror of life.
But if anyone cuts away the column that supports the whole house, it brings the house down. So keep watch through seven windows, watching for where the hawk comes, and be careful it doesn't deceive you. So feed your sheep with gentle correction, because the day of salvation isn't slipping away from you! and you're not ash yet. Be also a mirror of life in the eyes of life.
Read the original Latin
Responsum hildegardis. O dulcissime pater et in amore christi frater! ollam uideo circumdatam tam magna claritate. ut uix uidere possim si olla sit. Sed et ibi uideo aliquantulum amari gustus. contritum tamen magna contentione et postea turbinem qui tamen ad premium dei predestinatur. Vigila ergo strenue. quia causa populi in moribus in hoc tempore talia postulat.
O mitissime pater! ego paupercula forma in uera luce non uideo. ut omnino de officio tuo mouearis. Memorare autem quia homo es in terra. et ne ualde timeas. quoniam deus in te diuersa non requirit. Tu enim in presentia dei es sicut fumus mirrę et thuris! unde mons syon querit ut sis esca in domo iacob.
Sed si quis columpnam quę totam domum sustentat absciderit! domum deicit. Quapropter per septem fenestras prospice considerans ubi accipiter ueniat! et caue ne ille te decipiat. Pasce ergo oues tuas in mansuetudine correptionis. quia dies salutis a te non fugit! et nondum cinis eris. Esto quoque speculum uitę in oculis uitę.
Notes
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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