R72: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Abt H. von St. Maria
A Vision of the Abbot's Distress
Hildegard reports seeing Abbot H. inwardly troubled and restless, like a cloud tossed by dangerous winds, and hears a voice likening him to a laborer who finds his heavy work unbearable.
Hildegard's reply. In the mirror of true vision I saw you deeply troubled, like a cloud stirred by different currents. because the dangerous air is stirred within the tangled wind of a great downpour's pouring. So your thoughts, in this matter you have taken to heart, are restless, passing through your unsettled mind deep within you. And I heard a voice speaking about you, saying. A man who labors with a plow and oxen in dry ground says to himself, I can't endure this heavy labor, because it's too hard for me.
The Plow, the Flowers, and the Weeds
The voice's parable continues as the laborer moves to waterless ground where flowers grow amid useless weeds, and the vision questions whether faithful labor or abandoning the plow is more upright, concluding that the abbot's cause is useless.
And so it moves toward waterless places, where soft flowers are growing without any human labor. These flowers are even choked by useless weeds. And it says: I will let go of the plow and remove these useless weeds. What good is there in this? Now, you, man, see whether the one who labors with the plow's usefulness in the earth is more upright! Or whether it is with the uprooting of useless weeds among the flowers. But I have seen that this cause which you seek is useless to you.
Exhortation to Faithful Labor
Hildegard urges the abbot to restrain himself, take hold of the plow, and persevere in his duty, commending him to God's help so that his labor will not be in vain.
So restrain yourself, along with your duty. Take hold of the plow. And may God help you in all your needs. And may he not let you labor to no purpose.
Read the original Latin
Responsum hildegardis. In speculo uerę uisionis uidi te ualde turbidum sicut mixtam nubem. cum periculosus aer in implexo uento infusionis magnę pluuię mouetur. Sic sunt cogitationes tuę per inquietam mentem tuam in hac re quam amplexus es in medio cordis tui. Et audiui uocem de te dicentem. Vir qui cum aratro et bubus in arida terra laborat. dicens ad seipsum. hunc magnum laborem sustinere non possum quia durus mihi est.
Et ita uadit ad inaquosa loca ubi tamen sunt molles flores sine labore hominum crescentes. qui etiam per inutiles herbas suffocantur. et dicit. aratrum dimittam et has inutiles herbas auferam. quę utilitas in hoc est? Nunc tu homo uide utrum ille probior sit laborans cum utilitate aratri in terra! aut cum eradicatione inutilium herbarum in floribus. Sed ego hanc causam quam requiris inutilem tibi esse uidi.
Unde teipsum cum officio tuo coerce! apprehenso aratro. Deus autem succurrat tibi in omnibus necessitatibus tuis! et non sinat te inutiliter laborare.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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