R97: Propst R. von Zwettl an Hildegard von Rupertsberg
Greeting to the Holy Mother
The provost greets Hildegard with reverence and prays that God's grace may rest upon her lips.
The provost of Zwettl. To Hildegard. To the holy and venerable mother Hildegard! R. Servant of the servants of God, from Zwettl. To see the King of kings in his beauty, in the land of the living.✦✦ May the grace of God be poured out upon your lips!✦
The Gift of the Spirit
The provost affirms that Hildegard's spiritual gift is given for the good of many and acknowledges the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit's revelation given to you is proven for the good of many.✦ For the one who is from God is also God. We believe you have received the Spirit of wisdom and understanding.✦ It blows where it wishes.✦ And it shows mercy to whom it wills! And it hardens whom it wills.✦ These things are for me to know! It has pleased me in these letters to counsel your prudence.
The Weight of Pastoral Care
The provost confesses the heavy burden of pastoral responsibility and his own insufficiency to bear it.
Indeed, through you I call upon the author of your wisdom, the Holy Spirit, to dispel the darkness of my mind. For I bear a heavy burden. Namely, the duty of pastoral care. Because it is a matter of such great weight for me to bear to the end. And not by the merit of my life. Nor by a teaching of wisdom that is fitting. It is difficult and laborious. But to lay it down would be equally dangerous.
A Plea for Comfort
The provost asks Hildegard to comfort his faint-heartedness and to act on whatever the Spirit inspires her to write in reply.
I beg you, then, your holiness. In this wavering, I ask you to comfort my faint-heartedness!1 And whatever the Holy Spirit has been pleased to have me write back to you, may you deign to do.2
Read the original Latin
Prepositus de vvetel. hildegardi. Sanctę ac uenerandę matri. hildegardi! R. seruus seruorum dei de vvetel. regem regum in decore suo uidere in terra uiuentium. Graciam dei in labijs uestris esse diffusam!
probat manifestatio spiritus data uobis ad multorum utilitatem. Nam illum qui ex deo est et deus est. spiritum sapientię et intellectus accepisse uos credimus. qui ubi uult spirat. et cui uult miseretur! et quem uult indurat. Hęc mihi scienti! placuit his litteris prudentiam uestram consulere.
immo prudentię uestrę auctorem spiritum sanctum ad discutiendam caliginem mentis meę per uos inuocare. Nam porto onus graue. pastoralis scilicet curę officium. quod usque in finem portare mihi tantę rei. nec uitę merito. nec sapientię doctrina congruenti. difficile est ac laboriosum. deponere uero eque periculosum.
Obsecro igitur uestram sanctitatem. ut in hac fluctuatione pusillanimitatem meam consolemini! et quicquid placuerit spiritui sanctio mihi rescribere dignemini.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.141.6;Ps.143.5 — When their judges are thrown down beside the Rock, then they will hear my words, for they are sweet. Ps.143.5 — I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works; I ponder the work of your hands.
- ↩Isa.35.8-Isa.35.9 — And there shall be a highway there, a road, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those who walk the way; even fools shall not go astray. Isa.35.9 — No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast climb onto it; they shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there.
- ↩Ps.44.3;Ps.46.2 — For it was not by their own sword that they took the land, nor did their own arm save them; but it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. Ps.46.2 — God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- ↩1Cor.12.7 — But to each one the Spirit is made visible for the common good.
- ↩Isa.11.2 — And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
- ↩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.
- ↩Rom.9.18 — So then, He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills.
Notes
- 1 ↩consolemini is 2nd pl pres pass ind ('you may be comforted') but context strongly favors an active hortatory sense ('do comfort'); rendered as an active request to match the petitionary register.
- 2 ↩sanctio is the transmitted reading but is uncertain; it likely stands for sancto (dat. sg. masc., 'to the Holy Spirit'). The translation assumes the intended referent is the Holy Spirit (spiritui sancto).
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
Read one voice like Hildegard's every morning
Chosen Portion delivers daily excerpts from Hildegard and 77 other historic devotional writers, free on iOS.
Hildegard directed souls through short written portions sent one at a time, and Chosen Portion continues that letter-a-day rhythm as daily devotionals.
- Daily 2-minute readings including Hildegard's letters and visions
- 78 complete historic works, translated into modern readable English
- A weekly email tracing one writer's story in depth