R77: Abt H. von Kempten an Hildegard von Rupertsberg
Salutation and Self-Deprecation
The abbot of Kempten greets Hildegard as bride of Christ and handmaid of God, while humbly styling himself an abbot in name only, and commends her to blessed God whose spirit breathes where it wills.
The abbot of Kempten of the church. To Hildegard. To Hildegard, bride of Christ. But a handmaid acceptable to God and to people. H. An abbot in name only of the church of Kempten! Devoted service with constant prayer. Blessed God.
God's Gracious Work in Hildegard
The abbot marvels that God has filled Hildegard with heavenly harmony, made her venerable to all, and recognized the fame of her holiness through the Mighty One's great deeds, taking her as bride and daughter into intimate union.
whose spirit breathes where it wills.✦ And he has been accustomed to fill the inmost chambers of your heart with the sweetness of heavenly harmony, and to make them flourish. so that he has made you exceedingly wonderful and venerable to men, equally and to women as well. For already — I say again — the reputation of your holiness, spread far and wide, is easily recognized, because he who is mighty has done great things for you.✦ and that he has looked upon you as his humble handmaid.✦ while things unheard of by all he takes care to instill in you — of this there is no doubt. Already he has taken you to himself — as his bride, nay rather, as his daughter — that heavenly king, holding you by the hand.
The King's Inner Chamber and Hidden Secrets
Drawing on Song of Songs imagery, the abbot recalls that the heavenly King led Hildegard into the wine-cellar where she leaned on her beloved, heard his secrets from infancy, and proclaimed them to mortals, ending with a truncated editorial closing.
and in his will leading you, he brought you into the inner chamber.✦ where, leaning upon your beloved,✦ you have deserved to hear his secrets, and to proclaim them excellently to mortals. These things are fitting to your holiness. Which things, as we have learned by report, you have heard from the very cradle of your infancy.1 Hear, daughter, and see!✦2 And so on.3 And we.4
Report Fulfilled in Sight
The abbot affirms that what they heard they have now seen, prays that God will bring His work in Hildegard to full effect, and asks her to intercede for their sins and reveal their monastic state.
How great are the things we have heard and come to recognize! And these things too. Just as we have heard, so we have seen. So may he who began this work in you bring its power to full effect. With all our prayers we beg this! And that you would take care to pray for our sins as well. And something about our state and that of our church.
Humble Petition for Divine Revelation
The letter closes with a single-sentence plea that Hildegard would make known to them the things divinely revealed to her.
We most humbly beg you to make known to us the things divinely revealed to you.
Read the original Latin
Abbas campidonensis ęcclesię. hildegardi. Hildigardi sponsę christi. sed ancillę deo et hominibus acceptę. h. solo nomine abbas campidonensis ęcclesię! deuotum cum assidua oratione seruicium. Benedictus deus.
cuius spiritus dum ubi uult spirat. et cordis uestri penetralia dulcedine celestis armonię sic implere et pinguescere consueuit! ut admodum mirabilem ac uenerabilem uiris eque et feminis uos effecerit. Iam enim iam inquam uestrę opinio sanctitatis longe lateque diffusa quia magna uobis fecerit qui potens est facile aduertitur. quodque uos ancillam humilem respexerit. dum inaudita cunctis. uobis instillare curat non ambigitur. Iam uos sibi sponsam immo et filiam rex ille celestis manu tenens assumpsit.
et in uoluntate deducens in cubiculum introduxit. ubi innixa dilecto uestro. secreta ipsius audire meruistis eaque mortalibus excellenter enuntiare. Hęc uestrę conueniunt sanctitati. quę ut relatu cognouimus ab ipsis infantię cunabulis audistis. Audi filia et uide! et cetera. Et nos.
Quanta audiuimus et cognouimus ea. Et hęc. Sicut audiuimus. sic uidimus. Vt ergo in his suę uirtutis efficaciam ipse qui cepit in uobis perficiat. uotis omnibus expetimus! utque et uos pro nostris supplicare curetis peccatis. et aliqua de statu nostro et ęcclesię nostrę.
uobis diuinitus reuelata intimare humillime deposcimus.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.3.8 — The Spirit blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
- ↩Luke.1.49 — for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
- ↩Luke.1.48 — For he has looked upon the lowliness of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
- ↩Song.1.4 — Draw me after you—let us run together! The king has brought me into his chambers. We will rejoice and be glad in you; we will remember your love more than wine. The upright love you.
- ↩Song.2.4;Song.8.5 — He brought me to the house of wine, and his banner over me is love. Song.8.5 — Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor.
- ↩Ps.44.11 — You have made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered for themselves.
Notes
- 1 ↩ut after quę is ambiguous between complementizer ('that/how') and comparative ('as'). Rendered as 'as' to convey the sense 'in the way that we have learned by report.' A complementizer reading ('which things, that we have learned by report, you heard…') is also possible but less natural in English.
- 2 ↩Direct quotation of Psalm 44:11 (Vulgate): 'Audi, filia, et vide et inclina aurem tuam.' The Vulgate continues with 'et obliviscere populum tuum et domum patris tui,' which is not quoted here but may be contextually implied.
- 3 ↩The Latin 'et cetera' is a scribal/editorial abbreviation indicating the letter continues beyond the transcribed portion. Rendered as the conventional English equivalent.
- 4 ↩The Latin 'Et nos' appears to be a truncated or fragmentary closing — likely the beginning of a concluding clause (e.g., 'Et nos [commendamus]' or similar) that was not fully transcribed. Rendered literally; the sense is incomplete.
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