The first translation into English of the complete correspondence of the remarkable twelfth-century Benedictine abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), this study consists of nearly four hundred letters, in four projected volumes. Addressed to some of the most notable people of the day, as well as to some of humble status, the correspondence reveals the saint in ways her more famous works leave obscure: as determined reformer, as castigating seer, as theoretical musician, as patient adviser, as exorcist. Sometimes diffident and restrained, sometimes thunderously imperious, her letters are indispensable to understanding fully this luminary of medieval philosophy, poetry, and music. In addition, they provide a fascinating glimpse at life in tumultuous twelfth-century Germany, beset with schism and political unrest. This first volume includes ninety letters to the highest ranking prelates in Hildegard's world--popes, archbishops, and bishops. Three following volumes will be divided according to the rank of the addressees.
Perhaps the least studied of Hildegard of Bingen's writings, Solutions to Thirty-Eight Questionsis translated in this volume into English for the first time from the original Latin. In this work of exegesis, Hildegard (1098-1179) resolves thorny passages of Scripture, theological questions, and two issues in hagiographic texts. Solutions to Thirty-Eight Questionsjoins Hildegard's Homilies on the Gospels, which were directed to her nuns, as evidence of the seer's exegetical writing as well as her authority as an exegete. The twelfth-century saint wrote in standard genres of exegesis--homilies and solutiones--and her interpretations of Scripture were widely sought, including by male audiences.
Saint, mystic, healer, visionary, and fighter, Hildegard von Bingen stands as one of the great figures in the history of women in medicine. She was renowned for her healing work and her original theories of medicine.
In one series, the original writings of the universally acknowledged teachers of the Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, and Islamic traditions have been critically selected, translated and introduced by internationally recognized scholars and spiritual leaders.
A unique glimpse into the mind of the 12-century visionary Hildegard of Bingen through her “creative and insightful” writings on medicine, spirituality, and more (Booklist) Visionary, mystic, poet, musician, naturalist, healer, theologian—the Rhineland nun Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) was a Renaissance woman long before there was a Renaissance. This is the first book in English to offer a representative selection of writings from all of her amazing range of work. Hildegard wrote many volumes on subjects from mystical vision to sexuality, from theology to natural medicine—in letters, treatises, poetry, and songs—all in an age when few women wrote more than an occasional letter. She was a woman of extraordinary influence whose work not only surpassed that of her male contemporaries in its range, but also outshone them in visionary beauty and intellectual power. This collection includes a brief biography of Hildegard, and selections from the following works: • Scivias (literally, “know the ways”), the record of Hildegard's visions and her commentary on them • The Book of Life's Merits, visionary work • The Book of Divine Works, a work of cosmology and anthropology • Natural History, a record of plants, animals, and minerals, translated here into English for the first time • Causes and Cures, a compendium of her writing on natural medicine • Symphonia, her songs and poetry • Biographical works • Selected letters
This is the third and final volume of the complete annotated correspondence of the extraordinary nun, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). One of the most remarkable women of her day, Hildegard was, for more than 30 years, an unflinching advisor and correspondent of all levels of church and society, from popes and kings to ordinary lay persons, from Jerusalem to England. This present volume (letters 218-390) is noteworthy for its large collection of letters to a non-ecclesiastical audience, and because it contains letters not just to such high-ranking notables as Frederick Barbarossa, King Henry II of England, or Eleanor or Acquitaine, but also to common, ordinary individuals of no importance whatsoever, save that they received a letter from Hildegard of Bingen. Addressing matters as diverse as the "humors" and their relation to health and salvation, the fate of departed souls, the frequency and horror of homicide in her age, a means of exorcising malignant spirits, an effective kind of incantation to alleviate nightmares, the proper attitude and response to the fact of excommunication, and male infidelity in marriage, Hildegard provides a unique view of the twelfth century world. Here also are found compositions in epistolary style that are actually sermons, mediations, prayers, or treatises on a wide range of theological topics, such as prophecy, celebration of the Mass, the Lord's Prayer, the creation, and the fall of Adam. Like previous volumes, the translation follows the most recent definitive Latin text, in which the letters are organized according to the rank and station of Hildegard's correspondents.
This is the second volume in what will be a translation with full scholarly apparatus of the entire correspondence of St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). The translation follows Van Acker's definitive new edition of the Latin text, which is being published serially in Belgium by Brepols. As in that edition, the letters are organized according to the rank of the addressees. The first volume included ninety letters to and from the highest ranking prelates in Hildegard's world: popes, archbishops, and bishops. Volume II comprises letters 91-217, in which Hildegard addresses lower-ranking spiritual leaders (abbots and abbesses, for the most part) offering advice and consolation, and is particularly noteworthy for the correspondence with Guilbert of Gembloux, who provides a wealth of information about the saint and her spiritual gift.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098 - 1179) was the outstanding female religious figure of twelfth-century Germany. A Benedictine nun, she was consulted by bishops, popes, and kings, and wrote copiously for her fellow monastics: mystical and visionary material, liturgical music, biblical commentaries, saints' lives, and theological explanations of various aspects of church doctrine, as well as treatises on natural science and the healing arts. Her story is important to all students of spirituality, medieval history, and culture.
Hildegard was a noted German writer, mystic, musician and spiritual guide. Her conferences reverenced creation and the power of the natural world to transform human life.
Medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen's timeless writing and divine inspirations invite us to celebrate life and delight in the goodness of creation. Here is an excellent introduction to her words.
Let There Be Light is an easy-to-use devotional that encourages you to experience the light of God in your daily life. This book offers you a personal, thirty-day retreat based on the spiritual insight and wisdom of St. Hildegard of Bingen, the Benedictine who was canonized in 2012 and who became only the fourth woman to be elevated as a Doctor of the Church. Part of the bestselling 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series, Let There Be Light will help you find your way through the darkness and into the light of divine love. First published in 1997 and now back in print, Let There Be Light is an excellent prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of St. Hildegard of Bingen’s timeless and timely teachings on living in the light of God. Hildegard (1098–1179) was a renowned Benedictine abbess and a popular preacher, teacher, and healer who has been venerated by Christians for centuries. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in May of 2012 and in October of that same year was elevated as a Doctor of the Church. Rather than a mystic who wrote out of an intense personal experience of God, St. Hildegard is more properly seen as a visionary and a prophet who provides complex images in her writing that are ripe for interpretation. As you reflect on the images offered to her by God, Hildegard offers you a path to live in the light of God each moment of the day. All titles in the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series contain a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the author’s writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus your thoughts as the day ends.
The HarperCollins Spiritual Classics series presents short, accessible introductions to the classic spiritual writers of the West. Abridged from Paulist Press’s distinguished Classics of Western Spirituality series, which boasts the best modern translations available, this new series seeks to find new readers for these dynamic spiritual voices--voices that have changed lives throughout the centuries and still do today. “I saw a great mountain the color of iron, and enthroned on it One of such great glory that it blinded my sight. On each side of him there extended a soft shadow, like a wing of wondrous breadth and length. Before him, at the foot of the mountain, stood an image full of eyes on all sides, in which, because of those eyes, I could discern no human form.”--Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) Hildegard of Bingen was widely consulted as an oracle and prophet and wrote prolifically on doctrinal matters, as well as on secular matters like medicine. Scivias, her major religious work, consists of twenty-six visions, which are first set down literally as she saw them, and are then explained exegetically. As a group the visions form a theological summa of Christian doctrine and are famous for their feminine and creative imagery of the divine. This volume is especially significant for feminist historians and theologians. It elucidates the life of medieval women, and is a striking example of a special form of Christian spirituality.
Twelfth-century Rhineland mystic Hildegard von Bingen records her exquisite encounter with divinity, producing a magnificent fusion of divine inspiration and human intellect. Hildegard von Bingen’s Mystical Visions is perhaps the most complete and powerful documentation of mystical consciousness in recorded history. Now after 800 years, these visions are again available for those seeking to reawaken mystical consciousness.
Medieval saint, mystic, healer, and visionary-Hildegard von Bingen has made a comeback. She is now popular in natural healing circles, in medieval and women's studies, and among those interested in investing the everyday with the spiritual. Hildegard's Healing Plants is a gift version and new translation of the 'Plant' section of Physica, Hildegard's classic work on health and healing. Hildegard comments on 230 plants and grains-most of which are still grown in home gardens and sold at local health food stores. In one of many entries on women's health, Hildegard writes, 'Also if a pregnant woman labors much in childbirth, let someone cook pleasant herbs, such as fennel and assurum, in water with fear and great moderation, squeeze out the water, and place them while they are warm around her thighs and back, tied gently with a piece of cloth, so that her pain and her closed womb is opened more pleasantly and easily.' Whether read for the sheer enjoyment of Hildegard's earthy, intelligent voice ("Let a man who has an overabundance of lust in his loins cook wild lettuce in water and pour it over himself in a sauna") or for her encyclopedic and often still relevant understanding of natural health, Hildegard's Healing Plants is a treasure for gardeners, natural healing enthusiasts, and Hildegard fans everywhere. Hildegard's Healing Plants includes 230 plants and grains-most of which are still grown in home gardens and sold at local health food stores.
Completed in 1173, The Book of Divine Works (Liber Divinorum Operum) is the culmination of the Visionary’s Doctor’s theological project, offered here for the first time in a complete and scholarly English translation. The first part explores the intricate physical and spiritual relationships between the cosmos and the human person, with the famous image of the universal Man standing astride the cosmic spheres. The second part examines the rewards for virtue and the punishments for vice, mapped onto a geography of purgatory, hellmouth, and the road to the heavenly city. At the end of each Hildegard writes extensive commentaries on the Prologue to John’s Gospel (Part 1) and the first chapter of Genesis (Part 2)—the only premodern woman to have done so. Finally, the third part tells the history of salvation, imagined as the City of God standing next to the mountain of God’s foreknowledge, with Divine Love reigning over all.
Hildegard of Bingen, a Rhineland mystic of the twelfth century, has been called an ideal model of the liberated woman. She was a poet and scientist, painter and musician, healer and abbess, playwright, prophet, preacher and social critic. The Book of Divine Works was written between 1170 and 1173, and this is its first appearance in English. The third volume of a trilogy which includes Scivias, published by Bear & Company in 1985, this visionary work is a signal resounding throughout the planet that a time of healing and balance is at hand. The Book of Divine Works is a cosmology which reunites religion, science, and art, and readers will discover an astonishing symbiosis with contemporary physics in these 800-year-old visions. The present volume also contains 51 letters written by Hildegard to significant political and religious figures of her day and translations of twelve of her songs.
The Lingua Ignota, "brought forth" by the twelfth-century German nun Hildegard of Bingen, provides 1012 neologisms for praise of Church and new expression of the things of her world. Noting her visionary metaphors, her music, and various medieval linguistic philosophies, Higley examines how the "Unknown Language" makes arid signifiers green again. This text, however, is too often seen in too narrow a context: glossolalia, angelic language, secret code. Higley provides an edition and English translation of its glosses in the Riesencodex (with assistance from the Berlin MS) , but also places it within a history of imaginary language making from medieval times to the most contemporary projects in efforts to uncover this woman s bold involvement in an intellectual and creative endeavor that spans centuries.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098 '1179) describes the virtue of Fortitude teaching the other virtues in the fire of the Holy Spirit. Like Fortitude, Hildegard was enkindled by the Holy Spirit and edified many with her teaching. Hildegard of Bingen's Homilies on the Gospels are here translated for the first time from Latin into English. Hildegard's sisters recorded and preserved her informal preaching in this collection of homilies on twenty-seven gospel pericopes. As teacher and superior to her sisters, Hildegard probably spoke to them in the chapter house, with the scriptural text either before her or recited from memory, according to Benedictine liturgical practice. The Homilies on the Gospels prove essential for comprehending the coherent theological Vision that Hildegard constructs throughout her works, including the themes of salvation history, the drama of the individual soul, the struggle of virtues against vices, and the life-giving and animating force of greenness (uiriditas). Moreover, the Homilies on the Gospels establish Hildegard as the only known female systematic exegete of the Middle Ages.
Perhaps the least studied of Hildegard of Bingen’s writings, Solutions to Thirty-Eight Questions is translated in this volume into English for the first time from the original Latin. In this work of exegesis, Hildegard (1098–1179) resolves thorny passages of Scripture, theological questions, and two issues in hagiographic texts. Solutions to Thirty-Eight Questions joins Hildegard’s Homilies on the Gospels, which were directed to her nuns, as evidence of the seer’s exegetical writing as well as her authority as an exegete. The twelfth-century saint wrote in standard genres of exegesis—homilies and solutiones—and her interpretations of Scripture were widely sought, including by male audiences.
For this revised edition of Hildegard's liturgical song cycle, Barbara Newman has redone her prose translations of the songs, updated the bibliography and discography, and made other minor changes. Also included is an essay by Marianne Richert Pfau which delineates the connection between music and text in the Symphonia. Famous throughout Europe during her lifetime, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a composer and a poet, a writer on theological, scientific, and medical subjects, an abbess, and a visionary prophet. One of the very few female composers of the Middle Ages whose work has survived, Hildegard was neglected for centuries until her liturgical song cycle was rediscovered. Songs from it are now being performed regularly by early music groups, and more than twenty compact discs have been recorded.
Gifts from Hildegard is the perfect introduction to the wisdom of Hildegard of Bingen. Selected from several lively translations, Hildegard's teaching is arranged in themes such as What God is like, Our response to the Trinity, and Practical aspects of life. The twelve themes are beautifully illustrated by Sister Mary Stephen Grindon-Welch CRSS.
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