Tyndale Seminary In-Ministry MDiv, Cohort 10

Hildegard of Bingen:
Tracing the Implications
of Her Trinitarian and
Communitarian Thought
Jesse James
01-24-2017
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Introduction: Hildegard of Bingen as a Paradigmatic Leader

It is often customary with undergraduate papers written about historical figures or

philosophical ideas to claim that the topic of the paper is earth-shattering and of greatest

importance. Papers of this sort all claim that, were they to be read by a larger audience, the

people or ideas they discuss have the potential to change not only the person reading the

paper but also the whole world. The frequency of papers that claimed to espouse

world-changing message became nauseating to me as an undergraduate student; even

while I wrote several myself! And yet, I find myself in a strange place of making a similar

appeal about Hildegard of Bingen. Were Hildegard more widely read and her ideas more

thoroughly engaged by our current western, Christian culture, then our theology and

engagement with our contexts would truly be different.

Why is this so? Two key pieces of Hildegard of Bingen may illuminate the veracity of

my audacious claim. The first is that Hildegard, as a woman, is speaking from the margins of

her society and the Church because her gender was not usually heeded or taken too

seriously in her time - the 12th-Century; and yet her message has continued to resonate with

the intrepid folks who have ventured deep enough into Christian theology and history to

discover her. And like most people who persist until they find her, I have felt like I’ve found a

treasure buried in a field, a field which I have then purchased by selling all my other

possessions. The second piece is that Hildegard utilized multiple mediums to express her

vast, penetrating, witty and creative thought about God and all of Creation. A multi-medium

approach sets her apart from the majority of her colleagues either 500 years before or after

her, who all tended to use only one or two mediums to convey their thought, such as writing

treatises or oratorical teaching. Hildegard channeled her peculiarly expansive skills into

areas such as a medical practitioner, author, preacher, artist, composer, playwright, leader,

theologian, botanist, philologist (she created her own alternative written language), architect

and even builder. Truly, Hildegard of Bingen would have been an extraordinary person in

any age. But for a woman of the twelfth century her achievements were so exceptional that
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 2

1
posterity has found it hard to take her measure. It is in this context that these two key

characteristics are important to highlight: her marginalization and her polymathic skills.

These qualities, peculiar to her, set Hildegard apart from all other Christians of her time and

continues to differentiate her today as some kind of paradigmatic figure for Christian people

who utilize multiple mediums to engage their world. The tension built between her

marginalization and her polymathic skills creates a rich opportunity to engage two dominant

themes of Hildegard’s thoughts.

However, before we discuss these themes it is important to identify how we will

approach a study of Hildegard. One difficulty in approaching a study of Hildegard is finding

an adequate way to dig into her material and extract comprehensible themes without

neglecting too much other material. About a generation after Hildegard died, the theologian

Gebeno, prior of Eberbach, in 1220, wrote about Hildegard, “Many people shrink from and

avoid reading the books of Hildegard because she writes in such a difficult and unusual
2
style.” Gebeno went on to select only pieces of her writing, and no material from other

mediums, that had only to do with what he believed to be important, which was the

apocalyptic and imminent end of the world. Gebeno is onto something, though, in that the

sheer quantity of material she wrote, such as theology, philosophy, medicinal treatises and

music is almost incomprehensible.

Further to that, Hildegard flouted the Church and wrote her own liturgical music for

the daily offices and mass. She quite possibly is the first woman to do that. On top of that,

she did all this writing and composition while a leader of dozens of women in a cloistered

convent, corresponding on almost a daily basis by letters and messages with many

hundreds of people around Europe. Hildegard also embarked on four significant preaching
3
tours in and around Germany, over the course of 12 years, 1158-1170 CE. And yet still

more, for several decades Hildegard spent much of her time while at her convent providing

healing arts to thousands of people. Her magnitude helps us to appreciate why Gebeno

1
Barbara Newman, ed. “Voice of the Living Light”. Back cover.
2
Sabina Flanagan, “Secrets of God: Writings of Hildegard of Bingen”, loc. 75
3
​Scivias​, Introduction - by Barbara Newman, 15
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 3

struggled to approach Hildegard. What is more, she did all this as a woman, in an age that

was both culturally and ecclesiologically dominated by men, and suffering from overt
4
misogyny. At a time when two ecumenical councils were dissolving the marriages of all

priests and cutting adrift their wives and children, Hildegard was proclaiming the special

dignity of women in her speeches, books and music. She was, in fact, so far ahead of her

time that she was neither understood or taken too seriously by the hierarchy in the Church,

thereby avoiding for most of her life sanction or investigation. Given her context in a time

when both the systems of culture and church was dominated by masculine language and

leadership that had embedded in them the assumption of an inferior capacity and

contributory power of women, one important question to raise is ​whether she would have

been heard or given the space to contribute in ways usually denied to women if her medium

of communication had not been based on a foundation of visionary mysticism​? Perhaps an

answer to that question is to emphasize the profundity of her intellect and power of her

community life, and her use of multiple mediums. She saw herself as a prophet speaking

into her times the words given to her by the living Light.

“This belief in her own instrumentality (rendered unforgettably literal by the

image of the trumpet [in a letter to her visionary protege, Elisabeth]) is the
essence of her self-image as prophet: charismatic, self-effacing, inspirational,
evangelical. It is also, one has to notice, politically foolproof, the perfect defense
mechanism for a reformist thinker who had to speak out against some of the
most powerful leaders of her day, most of whom were male and who had over
her the twin advantages of formal education and gender superiority in a
5
patriarchal society.”

It suffices to say, then, that any approach to Hildegard’s thought that is less than entirely

exhaustive immediately runs the risk of missing some sort of vital piece of material or insight

4
“[In Duby’s] ​Eve and the Church​: “we reach the real villains, the clerical writers of letters, sermons
and penetentials, who were 'trapped in their male prejudices and obliged to keep away from women
and fear them'. (iii.2) Duby's main argument is that the deeply misogynist attitude of churchmen was
tempered during the twelfth century as new meanings of love were developed. … [however], as
always men were [still] in control, they were the ones that mattered. Women were a race apart, a
different and hostile species and a constant source of temptation to men. It was necessary to master
them, keep them in seclusion and protect them from their own natures.” Review by Dr. Ann Kettle of
Georges Duby’s “​Women of the Twelfth Century, Volume Three: Eve and the Church​” (1998).
Website: Reviews In History (http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/73, retrieved Jan. 7, 2017)
5
Kathryn Kerby-Fulton, “Prophet and Reformer”, V ​ oice of the Living Light, ed. Barbara Newman, ​72
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 4

from one or many of the multiple mediums Hildegard utilized to construct her unique

message.

An admission of this sort is always appropriate for any study of any person, for we

are always more than who we know, what we compose, or build. It is, however, immensely

more true of the more complex people of history, with Hildegard competing for the “most

complex person of history” award. Though there are quite a number of themes that are

consistent and continuously used by Hildegard in all her work, the least of which may be the

“end of the world”, the two we will examine emerge more strongly than others, for they are

large enough to encompass all of Creation and also speak to how Hildegard ordered her

personal life: Trinity and Community. To discuss Hildegard’s thought without engaging her

Trinitarian framework, centered around the mystery of God, would be like studying the

human person and neglecting to discuss their physical body. Similarly, to discuss Hildegard

without engaging her Communitarian framework would be like drawing a picture of a forest

that has no trees. Important to this discussion is, however, how these two themes are

intimately connected. Truly, for Hildegard, her Communitarian framework is a direct

6
outworking of the Trinitarian mystery , even to the point where the mystery of the Trinity may

be best understood as not just initiating and constructing all of Creation but constituting the

very connection between everything that is created. For, according to Hildegard, if God, who

created all things, is relational in his nature then so must all of God’s Creation be, too, since

all that exists derives its existence from our relational Creator: “[The Living God] is

inextinguishable​ since He Himself is the fullness that no limit touches, and ​totally alive​, for

nothing at all is hidden from Him that He does not know, and He ​bears the totality of life
7
since all that live take their life from Him.”

The primary reason that these two themes are chosen as the focus for this

discussion is that the formation of Hildegard’s Trinitarian framework is a direct result of her

6
This statement will be explored later in this discussion, with particular attention given to the
Trinitarian structure of Hildegard’s “Scivias”, her artwork and iconography depicting her in her
community context.
7
Scivias, 2.1.1, ​translated by Sabina Flanagan​ (“Secrets of God: Writings of Hildegard of Bingen”)
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 5

formation in a Christian worshipping community. It is her personal experience as a woman of

Christian faith in a community of women of Christian faith that developed in Hildegard the

intricate and fresh take on the Trinity, and the mysterious relationality that is at the heart of

her Trinitarian faith. This formation of thought is, I believe, perhaps the more important

discussion of Hildegard’s thought and theology: how did she form her thinking patterns and

creative use of multiple mediums to express her thought? Therefore, we will, like the Irish,

separate the two themes, Trinity and Community, only to recognize that they are inseparable

and belong together, like Starbucks and coffee, or a seminary and its library, or a forest and

its trees. The first piece of the entanglement of Hildegard that we will attempt to examine is

her as ​Trinitarian Mystic​.

PART A: ​Hildegard as Trinitarian Mystic

“This great woman truly stands out crystal clear against the horizon of
history for her holiness of life and the originality of her teaching. And, as
with every authentic human and theological experience, her authority
reaches far beyond the confines of a single epoch or society; despite the
distance of time and culture, her thought has proven to be of lasting
relevance.
“In Saint Hildegard of Bingen there is a wonderful harmony between
teaching and daily life. In her, the search for God’s will in the imitation of
Christ was expressed in the constant practice of virtue, which she
exercised with supreme generosity and which she nourished from biblical,
liturgical and patristic roots in the light of the Rule of Saint Benedict. Her
persevering practice of obedience, simplicity, charity and hospitality was
especially visible. In her desire to belong completely to the Lord, this
Benedictine Abbess was able to bring together rare human gifts, keen
8
intelligence and an ability to penetrate heavenly realities.”
~ ​Pope Benedict XVI on the canonization of Hildegard in 2012

In keeping with appropriate Christian theological method, such as Hildegard herself

employed in her first theological work, ​Scivias​, we will begin the discussion with what is

always the beginning place of a Christian Theologian: the Trinitarian God.

To truly understand how Hildegard’s construction of a Trinitarian framework

facilitated her masterful use of multiple mediums in the 12-century it is important that we

locate her, not necessarily in her particular historical context, but within a kind of affinity

8
Website: Vatican.va - Vatican Canonization Declaration of Hildegard of Bingen, 2012
(https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_letters/documents/hf_ben-xvi_apl_20121007_ilde
garda-bingen.html, retrieved Nov. 21, 2016)
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 6

group of like-minded people. Barbara Newman, an authoritative scholar on Hildegard’s life

and thought, outlines the difficulty of placing Hildegard in any kind of theological grouping or

historical setting, though she does not overlook the importance of Hildegard’s cultural

context. Newman rejects the oversimplification of categorizing Hildegard as a “female

mystic”, or a “female writer” or even within the vaulted and exclusive group of so-called
9
“prescholastics” such as Hugh of St. Victor, Rupert of Deutz and Honorius of Regensburg.

Instead, Newman suggests that it may be better to see Hildegard as “vertically” linked with

“kindred spirits of other times and places - by looking at some of her central themes [as
10
being found within] the ​sapiential tradition​” that extends across the whole story of the

Christian tradition, from the first days of Jesus and his disciples up to the present age.

Newman explains her use of ​sapiential​ by referring to Hildegard as one who utilizes a

certain prophetic, mystical, and apocryphal style that centers on the “discovery and

adoration of divine Wisdom in the works of creation and redemption”, with a penchant for
11
using feminine imagery for the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the cosmos. ​ That said, it may

be unavoidable to use the term “mystic” to describe Hildegard because of her reputation as a

visionary, contemplative and nun. Unlike any woman before her, or even really after,

Hildegard’s authoritative and innovative voice was heard within the male-dominated

establishments of church and culture entirely because of her “penetration of the heavenly
12
realities”, to quote Pope Benedict XVI’s address at Hildegard’s recent canonization.

Perhaps what distinguishes the work of Hildegard von Bingen are her visionary experiences,

which she began having at a very young age. She had been keeping them to herself until

one of these visions compelled her to write,

'When I was forty-two years and seven months old, a burning light of tremendous
brightness coming from heaven poured into my entire mind. Like a flame that
does not burn but enkindles, it enflamed my whole heart and breast, just like the
sun that warms an object with its rays. ... A voice from heaven was saying, O
weak person, you who are ash and decaying of decaying, speak and write what
you see and hear. Since you are timid about speaking, and simple in your

9
Barbara Newman, “Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard’s Theology of the Feminine”, 22
10
Ibid, xxi
11
Ibid, xxii
12
Note that even Pope Benedict’s comments about her visionary power is utilizing traditional
masculine, ‘penetrative’ language.
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 7

explanation, and unskilled in writing about these things, speak and write ... as
one who hears and understand the words of a teacher and explains them in his
13
own way.

With these words Hildegard started on her major visionary and theological work, ​Scivias​, or

"Know the Ways (of God)", which depicts each vision with beautiful images and elaborative

text. Indeed, it was only after Pope Eugenius III’s affirmation of her visions that Hildegard’s

unique voice was finally given a platform to engage others outside of her small convent at
14
the monastery of St. Disibod. Her renown expanded to all of Germany and beyond

immediately following the Church’s approval. It is highly unlikely that any other woman could

have received such approval, acclaim and international fame unless they, too, founded their

theological, medical, artistic, and ecclesiastical insight on miraculous visions from God.

Therefore, combining remarks from both Benedict and Newman may allow for a thematically

specific categorization of Hildegard as, I humbly submit, “Trinitarian Mystic”, which speaks to

her intellectual ingenuity and also her inexplicable visions of otherworldly proportions.

Probably the best way to explore Hildegard’s Trinitarian mysticism is by examining

her first theological work in some detail. Hildegard wrote ​Scivias ​over the course of a

decade, and structured it with the Trinity in mind, written in three books:

BOOK I - “Creator and Creation” - recounting 6 visions

BOOK II - “Redeemer and Redemption” - recounting 7 visions
BOOK III - “Virtues and History of Salvation” - recounting 13 visions

As mentioned above, ​Scivias​, in a rather unique and highly interesting fashion, pairs images

with the text of Hildegard’s recorded visions and her interpretations. However, the use of

those images is instructive. It is apparent that each image, or illumination, is meant to

explore and even correct or explain the written words of her book. These images are central

in our understanding of Hildegard as Trinitarian Mystic, for they often portray the Trinity in

ways that are entirely unique to Hildegard as a Christian Theologian. Let’s turn to an

examination of the most historically important version of Hildegard’s ​Scivias​, to explore the

importance of the images and their extrapolation of her Trinitarian mysticism.

13
​Scivias​, 1.1.1
14
​Scivias, ​Introduction - Barbara Newman, 10
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A major point of contention within Hildegard studies is the question of her role in the

production of the illuminated Scivias manuscript known as the Rupertsberg Codex. While

current German scholarship has tended to preclude Hildegard’s hand, pre-war German

scholars, who had access to the original manuscript before it was lost, and most modern

Anglophone scholars have argued more or less strongly for Hildegard’s influence on the

design, perhaps even her overt direction of the image, to the point that it bears her direct

influence, and, as such, ought to be considered as an integral part of the theological

15
discourse presented in her ​Scivias​. By directing the iconography and composition of the

images, Hildegard used them as a separate visual and theological discourse, equal to and

interacting with the textual record of her visions. The images are not ancillary to or derivative

of the work; they are integral to it. Points where the images depart from the text are to be

understood not as evidence against Hildegard’s involvement but as authorial statements.

As a result of her daring suggestion of the simultaneous origins of the visual

and
textual records of Hildegard’s visionary experiences, [Madeline] Caviness has
charted a middle course between the main approaches that have dominated
the interpretation of the relationship between the images in the Rupertsberg
manuscript, Hildegard’s visionary experiences, and the text. On the one hand,
[Caviness] presumes that the images originate with Hildegard herself. On the
other hand, she rejects the notion that the images are based on and thus
posterior to the textual record, which she claims is the naïve consequence of
“the logocentricity of our discursive practices”, which often prevent us from
recognizing places where “visual thinking” takes priority. By springing the
images from the confines of the vision text, she embraces the notion that,
insofar as they are different from it, they can anticipate the allegorical
interpretations provided in the exegetical text, adapt existing iconographical
codes into new meanings, and “add information that is not in the text (or that is
a corrective to it).” This allows Caviness to interpret ruptures between text and
image as components of a creative dynamic in which Hildegard has mediated
her experience into two different discourses, each following its own internal
logic and vocabulary. In this sense, …[Caviness suggests that] Hildegard
designed the images as a personal record of her visions. The most important
of Caviness’ suggestions, in this regard, is the way in which the images
emphasize the power and divinity of the feminine, often in ways that are far
16
more “subversive” than the texts they parallel.

According to some Hildegardian experts, a key area of the manuscript design that

reveals these authorial interventions is the color scheme. The use of certain colors, such as

15
Nathaniel M. Campbell, “​Imago expandit splendorem suum: Hildegard of Bingen’s Visio-Theological
Designs in the Rupertsberg Scivias Manuscript​”, 1
16
Ibid, 22
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 9

green and red, that have particular meanings in Hildegard’s world of symbolism and

apocalyptic or prophetic vocabulary - even when at odds with the colors described in the

recorded vision text - reveals the theological place of each image within Hildegard’s
17
particular vision of salvation history. For example, it can be surmised that Hildegard helped

to make the decision to use silver throughout Scivias, because it is a relatively impractical

choice. Silver tends to tarnish and is very expensive, but, for Hildegard, silver is very

appropriate within her theological framework. Hildegard used silver because, to her, it

uniquely communicates “the light of the world that the Prologue to John’s Gospel identifies
18
as the Word through which the world was created.” Such visual markers, invested with

theological significance, thus argue for Hildegard’s design of the manuscript and aids those

interpreting the complex visual allegories at work in Hildegard’s visions. Indeed, the visual

impact of the book’s rather exquisite design provides the opportunity for the reader to

become enamored and captivated by its unique and extraordinary visionary quality, which,
19
apparently happens frequently with “both academic and non-academic viewers alike.”

Thus, we can safely conclude that the images are included in Hildegard’s ​Scivias ​because

she put them there, which means that they play an integral role in the work itself. We must,

then, give the images adequate attention if we are to understand the trajectory and import of

Hildegard’s thought, especially her Trinitarianism, as she expresses it through the

complementary mediums of art and literature.

Man in Sapphire Blue: “The Trinity in Unity”

The second vision recorded in the second book of

Scivias​ is associated with an image famously regarded as “The

Man in Sapphire Blue”. The second book of ​Scivias​ is primarily

about the “Redeemer”, Christ, the second person of the

Trinitarian Godhead. Somewhat illogically, the Redeemer is the

first of the Trinity to be discussed by Hildegard, though the

17
Ibid, 2
18
Ibid, 9
19
Ibid, 22
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 10

subject of her second of three books. The sapphire blue figure stands in the midst of two

circles: one golden-colored, its diameter just about the same as Christ's height; the other,

larger one a lighter silvery color, surrounding and enfolding the smaller figure. These circles,

in turn, are surrounded by a blue background and a framework of floral designs. This striking

image, according to Hildegard, is not just of Christ, who is the Man in Sapphire Blue, but

indeed is a vision of the Holy Trinity. This image, carefully placed at the start of the second

book of the Scivias, which is mostly about the Redeemer, Christ, celebrates both the

distinctiveness of the Trinity and their inherent, perfect unity:

Then I saw a most splendid light, and in that light, the whole of which burnt in
a most beautiful, shining fire, was the figure of a man of sapphire color, and
that most splendid light poured over the whole of that shining fire, and the
shining fire over all that splendid light, and that most splendid light and shining
fire over the whole figure of a man, appearing one light in one virtue and
power. And again I heard that living Light saying to me: this is the meaning of
20
the mysteries of God…

As an image of light, it is understood that the light is the “Living Light”, or the light of God,
21
which Hildegard refers to so often. The outer circle is that “Living Light” of the Creator. The

inner circle signifies the “all blazing...gentle glowing fire” of the Holy Spirit. And of course, the
22
figure, washed in a rich, watery blue, is Christ, “without flaw of obstinacy, envy or iniquity” ;

not a lonely, separate Christ but rather, Christ embedded in the golden fire of the Spirit and

the silvery light of the Creator. And, importantly, the image utilizes circles and not the more

masculine triangles often used to depict the Trinity; for circles are perfect, and so is God. In

contrast to the more traditional forms of representing the Trinity, Hildegard offers a

contrasting perception that avoids the usual anthropomorphization of the Trinity, who are

often depicted as separated three human-like persons, such as in, arguably the most famous

icon of the Trinity, by Rublev. Instead, Hildegard depicts the Trinity as fluid, energetic,
23
embedded, and holistic. Tracing Hildegard’s Trinitarian mysticism, Carl McColman helps to

20
​Scivias​, 2.2.0
21
Scivias​, Introduction - Barbara Newman, 23
22
​Scivias​, 2.2.2
23
Website: Carl McColman, http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Mystical-Vision-Carl-
McColman-08-22-2012 (Retrieved January 21, 2017)
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 11

point out how this depiction lays the groundwork for the kind of mystical and religious life that

Hildegard lived.

[The] circles of fire and light, when viewed as a whole, a unity, appear very
much like an eye, evoking the idea of contemplation as beholding, of God as
the Divine Onlooker, that is at the heart of contemplative spirituality. The
Father and the Spirit, through Jesus, gaze upon us. In one of her hymns,
Hildegard suggests that God gazed upon Mary with the same kind of
contemplative attention that we are called to offer to God—and out of that
24
Divine Gaze, Christ was conceived.

There is a deep connection between this circular, continuous, feminine, undivided,

balanced view of the Trinity and the mystical life of Hildegard. Note the open head of the

Sapphire Blue Jesus, open to the pouring in of the Spirit, to the receiving of all that the Spirit

has for him. This is very much similar to the icons that depict Hildegard connected to the

heavens, just as Pope Benedict described her, with an ability to penetrate the heavens and

its mysteries. Hildegard is depicting a Trinity that has her, and all humanity - for Jesus, in his

humanity, represents all humanity - connected to the Triune God. It may remind us of the

Pauline passages about the renewing of the mind and the openness of the person to the

“channels of the Spirit”, to followers of Jesus having visions and dreams. Heinrich

Shipperges observes that, “Nowhere - at least upon a cursory examination - was Hildegard’s

theological worldview dogmatic or moralistic. Rather, it was artistic and erotic in nature,
25
sustained by a spiritual mysticism.” We see Hildegard living as a spiritual mystic, and, thus,

we see the first way in which her Trinitarian thought forms her mysticism. Hildegard’s visions

and role as a prophet of her times is directly related to her depiction of the Trinity in this

image from Scivias, for she, like the Man in Sapphire Blue, was open to and embedded in

the mysteries of God. Indeed, it might be that the root of Hildegard’s mysticism, her

contemplative religious life, is to be found in this image of the Trinity.

Trinity and All Creation: “Cosmic Humanity”

Another important Trinitarian image found in the works of Hildegard, and highly likely

to be orchestrated and designed by Hildegard herself, depicts all three persons of the Trinity

24
Ibid.
25
Heinrich Schipperges, “Hildegard of Bingen: Healing and the Nature of the Cosmos”, 37
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 12

but differently than the Man in Sapphire Blue, for this image incorporates, very explicitly, all

of Creation. Indeed, Hildegard depicts how the second person of the Trinity, the Christ,

becomes the world, that the world becomes the second figure

of the Trinity, for all of Creation is the Body of Christ. Hildegard

is clearly depicting how she sees that the whole world is God’s

body. In other words, she is depicting here that all of Creation is

God’s body, is the very body of Jesus. According to June

Boyce-Tillman, Hildegard is wrestling with God’s relationship to

the world, and the world’s relationship to God. In the process of

this wrestling, Hildegard has opted to depict God as inextricably

linked to the world, that God the Creator contains the whole of

Creation through the Incarnation of the Son and the fiery Love of the Spirit. Further, in a

translation by June Boyce-Tillman, Hildegard describes the loving relationship between

Creator and Creation:

Just as the Creator loves the Creation, so does the Creation love the Creator.
Creation was designed to be beautifully enriched, to be lavished, to be richly
endowed with the love of the Creator. The whole world has been hugged by
26
this kiss.

Regarding the image above, Boyce-Tillman points out that there is a “measure of

transcendence retained” in the image of the Trinity and All Creation, but that Hildegard is

expressing visually her experience of a mutuality between God and creation. In this

recognition of relational interdependence, there is developed a new expression of Church,

an ecclesiology dependent on the reality that God is bound up with creation, “loving it and

generating it”, since, together, God and Creation, this is a real community bound together by
27
love. Further describing Hildegard’s image of the Body of God, Heinrich Shipperges

identifies the significance of the role that humanity plays,

God bears the great wheel of creation in his breast. It is supported and
embraced by the figure of flaming Love [the Spirit]. In the middle of the
universal wheel stands a human being, projecting beyond the tiny earth into
the realms of universal forces with their various elements and rays. The

26
June Boyce-Tillman, “Unconventional Wisdom”, 127
27
Ibid, 67-69.
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 13

human figures seems to hold the universal network or system in its hands,
28
thus accepting humanity’s task of creative commitment to the world.

Hildegard, here, gives us a model of humanity that is caught within the context of all

Creation, which is in the context of the Trinitarian God. The importance of humanity, as

depicted by Hildegard, in God’s construct of the world is that we cooperate with the Creator

and participate in the redemption and reclamation of all that is created. We take on the “task

of creative commitment to the world”, a task entrusted to us by the Creator, sustained by the

love of the Spirit, and taken up in the very world that ​is ​the body of Christ, the Redeemer. In
29
short, the task is that of Justice.

For Hildegard, this Trinitarian God, who is in relationship with all of Creation -

perhaps even to the point of all Creation being the very body of God, and has placed

humanity in the center of that relationship - is ​in right relationship with all created things and

also within the Trinitarian God itself​. The essence of Hildegard’s mysticism is not her belief,

or even her phenomenal use of multiple mediums, but is her lived reality as a Christian

mystic. Her beliefs, so beautifully rendered in word, art, music, and medicine are made

concrete in her way of living her religious life. Hildegard’s life springs out of her core

convictions and beliefs about the Trinity, in a mystical way. Not only did she write and create

art and compose things about the Trinity’s inter-relatedness with the world, but she went on

a journey over several years to preach about these insights that she received from the living

Light, prophetically speaking to thousands of priests, leaders, princes, monks, nuns, and

laypeople. In total, Hildegard embarked on four preaching tours, around her native Germany

and even into France. This is wonderful in itself, but in the context of the 12th century, it is

important to note that monks and clergy did not do this at the time, and women certainly
30
never ​did this. What was the core of her message that she preached hundreds of times

over the course of a cumulative several years of touring? Justice. Justice is, for Hildegard, to

be understood as a direct outworking of her Trinitarian framework, in that Justice is ​right

28
Heinrich Shipperges (1997), as quoted by June Boyce-Tillman, “Unconventional Wisdom”, 66.
29
June Boyce-Tillman, “Unconventional Wisdom”, 212
30
Website: “Heroines of History” (https://heroinesofhistory.wikispaces.com/Hildegard+of+Bingen,
Retrieved January 28, 2017)
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 14

relationship with all things​. Indeed, Hildegard even equates the Creator God, the Father, with
31
Justice. In this way, we see how Hildegard extrapolates from the Trinity the inextricable

truths of Love and Justice, in that Christ the Redeemer is embedded in those two persons,

for Love is the Spirit, and Justice is the Creator. That these are not just traits to admire but is

the essence of life itself, for Life comes from the God whose very body is the world, namely,

Christ.

Let’s keep in mind that Hildegard and her teachings, writings and art was accepted

by her contemporaries. She was accepted as orthodox by not only her pope, but also by

Bernard and those who were sent to report on her writings, who then returned to Pope
32
Eugenius III with a positive report on her theological and visionary orthodoxy. With that

theological reaffirmation in mind, let’s turn to the second theme, Community, that ties

together her use of multiple mediums and demonstrates her profound, polymathic skills.

PART B: ​Hildegard as Communitarian Mystic

A key to understanding Hildegard may be in how she is depicted, which is directly

attributable to her engagement with the Trinity. Ruth Boyce-Tillman points out that, “unlike

many saints who are depicted alone, Hildegard is most often depicted with others - in

Community.” To illustrate how Hildegard is remembered, as a Communitarian, we will look at

a few pieces of art and icons that depict Hildegard in community. We will also reflect on

some of the material that Hildegard produced which highlight this theme, paying particular

attention to the way that her Communitarian theology springs out of her Trinitarian

framework.

The first image to discuss is that of Hildegard as a visionary. It is

important to note, here, that her “penetrating the heavens” is depicted

in a communal way, showing Hildegard not on her own but

accompanied by others. In particular, this first icon shows Hildegard

receiving visionary insight from above while in the presence of her

31
June Boyce-Tillman, “Unconventional Wisdom”, 212
32
​Scivias​, Introduction - Barbara Newman, 12-13
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 15

long-time secretary, Volmer. There is a thematic connection with this image, and many other

images like it, when it depicts Hildegard receiving visions from God above, in that it is similar

to the Christ figure in “The Man in Sapphire Blue”, whose head is open to the Spirit, in whom

the Christ-man is embedded. Furthermore, not only is Hildegard pictured here with another

person, in community, but she is “embedded” also, but embedded in her monastery, an

institution of the Church, which, again, is communal in nature. There is a certain kind of

Trinitarian appearance to this image, also, in that we see Hildegard, Volmer and the Church

together.

In a similar way, we can see in a second image,

that depicts Hildegard receiving a vision, that her visionary

gift occurs in a communal setting. Hildegard is, to the

right, depicted as receiving a vision from the True Light

with Volmer, but this image includes yet another person,

one of her sisters from her monastic community. One

interesting piece about this image is that both Hildegard

and Volmer appear to be recording the vision that Hildegard is receiving, thus emphasizing

the direct and personal role Hildegard played in the production of her writings and art.

In a third painting, whose artist is unknown and so is its date, Hildegard is depicted

as speaking to other nuns. Her position among them suggests

that she is their superior, for she sits alone and they are clustered

before her, giving the appearance that she is teaching or

instructing them. The staff she carries likely signifies her role as

shepherd of the flock, accrediting to Hildegard her role as leader

among the nuns. As head of the sister community other nuns

would have sought her help and listened to her visions and

respected her, which would have been uncommon in a male

dominated era. She appears to be offering her blessing to other nuns who were said to have

travelled from all over Germany to receive her counsel.

 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 16

And still a fourth image, though not a painting but an engraving, that depicts

Hildegard when she was dedicated to the convent and to the tutelage of Jutta, at around the

date of 1106, when Hildegard was about 8 years old. Notice in

this engraving that not only are her parents present, but a

priest, elevated at the back of the group, is blessing the

dedication while three sisters are receiving Hildegard. Likely,

the nun holding the hand of young Hildegard is meant to be

Jutta, the leader of the small cloister of women at the monastery of St. Disibod, where

Hildegard lived for about 40 years.

Beyond icons and images, Hildegard employed other mediums to discuss and

examine the theme of community. Hildegard’s morality play Ordo virtutum (Play of the

Virtues), was later set to music and intended for performance by nuns. It is the finale of the

third book of ​Scivias​. Hildegard may have intended ​Ordo virtutum​ to celebrate the opening of

Hildegard's convent after she and the nuns in her cloister left St. Disibod, and could have
33
been performed before or after a service. It is in this play that Hildegard displays some of

her polymathic skills for all the music and lyrics are newly composed and written by her. As

Barbara Newman clearly states, “There's no borrowed chant here, but [only] new
34
composition.” An intriguing quality of ​Ordo virtutum​ is that the highest register of the chant
35
is reserved for rejoicing when the Devil in the drama is bound. Moreover, the Devil cannot

sing or create music, but can only speak or yell his lines, indicating that he is not capable of

music or that there is no music in hell. The communitarian quality in the play is seen in how

the protagonist, a young girl, must cooperate with the Virtues, all of whom are personified.

Together they engage in conflict with the Devil, who is trying to lead the young girl into evil.

At the temptation of the Devil, the young girl slips from well-meaning innocence to
36
impatience when she asks the Virtues for a "kiss of the heart." Rather than blessing her in

33
​Scivias​, Introduction - Barabara Newman, 43
34
Ibid, 43
35
Ibid, 43
36
Ibid, 43
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 17

this way, which is akin to vanity and pride, the personified Virtues warn her that she must do

battle by their side. The devil then intervenes and leads her into sin. In contrast to later

morality plays, “Hildegard is not interested in dramatizing the soul's adventures in evil;

instead she presents a verbal contest between the devil and the Virtues to fill the time until
37
the soul's repentance.” In the end the Virtues receive the weeping penitent, and led by their

queen Humility and celestial Victory, they conquer and bind the Devil, which results in the

highest register of choral singing. All the Virtues, together with the nine choirs of angels, the
38
saints ​and ​sinners in Heaven, sing with joy at the girl’s redemption.

It is possible, now, to see how much the theme of unity comes about in Hildegard’s

writing, images and even her own life. She lived in community. She received visions in

community. She created art and wrote theatre for the purpose of forming community. She

toured her world to preach while traveling with members of her community. And she is

remembered by later generations for how embedded she was among her community.

Heinrich Schipperges, in reflecting on Hildegard’s picture of “Cosmic Humanity”, picks up the

continuous theme of community and connectedness that is in all Hildegard’s work.

The universe is an orderly cosmic unity. In the midst of the cosmos appears a
human figure standing upright, arms extended. … God made humanity from the
same material with which he created the cosmos. He endowed the human being
with the spirit of reason so that the world would be at its command and he could
collaborate with humankind on the evolution of the universe. … We have drawn a
bead on the fundamental elements that make up humanity’s place in the cosmos:
the human being as a creature dependent upon God (​opus Dei​); humanity
working together with God (​opus alterum per alterum)​ , and humanity’s
responsibility in and to the world (​opus creatum​). … It is simply impossible to
conceive of humans as purely autonomous beings. In their personal relationships
they always devote themselves to another, and their devotion is always validated
in terms of another.
Humans could not exist in isolation, without reference to anyone else or as
ends in themselves, as abstract beings. Rather, God purposely designed them as
male and female to live in a reciprocal relationship in which one human being
39
realized itself through and together with another and then set itself in motion.

37
Ibid, 43
38
Ibid, 43
39
Heinrich Schipperges, “Hildegard of Bingen: Healing and the Nature of the Cosmos”, 40, 42
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 18

That it is entirely appropriate to summarize Hildegard’s thought on both the Trinity and the

Community in such a way as Schipperges does, that in Hildegard’s framework of the world it

is “simply impossible to conceive of humans as purely autonomous beings”. Indeed, much of

Hildegard’s thinking, though at times difficult to decipher, hinges on the notion that God is the

foundation of life, that all that exists is in existence because of and in and for God; that

through this Light and Life and Love, all things are connected together, especially humanity,

since we are created by God and for God and to be in right relationship, a relationship

characterized by justice, with all Creation. Those relationships, based on the relationship the

three persons of God have with one another - Creator/Father, Redeemer/Christ, Spirit/Love -

is what constitutes community. It is through reflection on God as Trinity that Hildegard, the

sapiential theologian, arrives at such a robust articulation of community. And yet, it seems

prudent to discuss a little further the practical implications of such a Trinitarian Community.

Conclusion: The Integration of Trinity and Community as Depicted by the

“Interdict” and the End of Hildegard’s Life

Only at the end of her life did Hildegard fall afoul of the Church hierarchy, which she

had usually praised and supported. Never did Hildegard come across as theologically errant,

but rather it was her decisions as a leader, based on her theology, that snared her in the

final year of her life. In a way, this story of the interdict on her convent and its resolution

helps mightily to illustrate the themes of Hildegard’s Trinitarian and Communitarian

mysticism.

Late in life, when she was 80 years old, Hildegard permitted the burial of a man who

had been excommunicated by the church for involvement in revolutionary activity. He was

buried in her abbey’s cemetery. With the local bishop absent, the canons of the church

demanded Hildegard exhume the body from consecrated ground. The logic from the ‘canon’,

a Church lawyer in the Middle Ages, was that an unholy person cannot be buried in holy

ground. Hildegard refused to dig up the man’s body, claiming she knew the man's sins had

been forgiven. So the canons authorized civil authorities to dig up the body. However, on the

evening before their arrival, Hildegard, dressed in her attire as leader of the community of
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 19

sisters, went to the grave, blessed it, and then, with the help of other nuns, removed all the

cemetery markers and stones, so the plot of the excommunicated man could not be

identified. The following morning the canons discovered what happened and, apparently,

became angry. In their anger they placed the abbey under interdict.

Months after these events, Hildegard wrote to the leadership of the diocese in which

her abbey resided, Mainz. Hildegard began the letter to the Prelates of Mainz by appealing

to her mystical (sapiential) reputation and gifts:

By a vision, which was implanted in my soul by God the Great Artisan before I
was born, I have been compelled to write these things because of the interdict by
which our superiors have bound us, on account of the certain dead man buried at
our monastery, a man buried without any objection, with his own priest officiating.
… Seized by no small terror...I looked as usual to the True Light, and, with
40
wakeful eyes, I saw in my spirit...

The first point to be made here is that Hildegard is building the letter off of a foundation that

is only really useful for her: the entire letter is to be heeded because it emerges from her

mystical, visionary gifts. This may help to answer the question posed at the beginning of this

discussion about whether she would have been taken seriously as a woman in a

male-dominated world had she not used the medium of visions and heavenly insights to

articulate and share her message. Furthermore, Hildegard is insisting on her right to appeal

to these particular and unique gifts because these gifts, she is arguing, do not usurp the

authority of her religious superiors in the hierarchy of the church, but, by the very nature of a

divine gift from God, her visions are not to be questioned but only heeded. In other words,

God is authorizing Hildegard to call upon his authority which naturally supplants the authority

of the Prelates of Mainz.

The essence of this letter, which verifies the legitimacy of her divinely-inspired visions

from the True Light, Hildegard records a couple visions from God that specifically address

the Interdict. In these visions, Hildegard recounts the very words of God as she heard them.

This technique has the same effect as the Old Testament prophets when they speak with the

voice of God, the “True Light”. Unlike the Jewish prophets of old, Hildegard’s version utilizes

40
​Scivias​, 1.1.1-1.1.2
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 20

very specific Christian - Trinitarian - language, connecting Christ to the sacraments, the

Spirit to music and playing instruments, and the Creator to the originator of the Church
41
herself, especially her hierarchy of leaders. The chief complaint of Hildegard’s, which

required a wonderful and immensely unique discussion on the theology of music, was that

the interdict hindered the religious life of the sisters and herself in three ways: they were
42
forbidden to practice the Eucharist, sing the daily offices and administer the monthly mass.

If we are tempted to take this lightly, since our own experience of Church may not prioritize

these communal practices, it must be noted these habits form the core elements of

Hildegard’s communal living and spirituality, rooted in the Trinity. Worshipping in the Mass

as a community was central for the life and rhythm of the nuns together, for out of the Mass

comes the creativity that propels the world into continual existence and renewal and
43
redemption. This is particularly reflective of the Creator. Celebrating the sacraments, such

as the Eucharist, was forbidden, which again was central to the communal worship time as

sisters since it allowed them all to participate together in the very life of Jesus, the Incarnate

Son, in whom the whole cosmos is collected. Thirdly, the singing of the Daily Office is

something that Hildegard deeply treasured, to the point that she had even written hundreds

of hymns for the singing of the Daily Office and Mass, against the entrenched tradition of the

male-dominated church of the 12th century. Singing is particularly resonant of the songs and
44
groanings of Creation, interpreted and given on our behalf by the Spirit, who is Love.

Lest we then suspect that Hildegard did not take seriously the Interdict placed on her

convent, it is important to highlight Hildegard’s notion of obedience. While Hildegard and her

sisters did not obey the command to exhume the body of the buried man, we get the

impression that the Interdict and its three communal prohibitions ​were​ obeyed. This, too, has

significant theological implications, and speaks, too, of her commitment to live in community

with all of Creation, which includes obedience - to a degree - of the hierarchy of the Church,

41
See Appendix B for full letter to the Prelates of Mainz, Hildegard Letter 72
42
Hildegard, “Letter 72”. (Website: http://viriditasllc.com/blog/st-hildegards-letter-to-the-prelates-at-
mainz/, Retreived January 2, 2017)
43
Website: https://symphonialisestanima.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/primary-source-breakthrough-
hildegards-letter-to-the-prelates-of-mainz/, Retrieved January 29, 2017
44
Barabara Newman, “Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard’s Theology of the Feminine”, 179-181
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 21

in which she was embedded.

I saw in my spirit that if this man were disinterred in accordance with their
commands, a terrible and lamentable danger would come upon us like a dark
cloud before a threatening thunderstorm.
Therefore, we have not presumed to remove the body of the deceased
inasmuch as he had confessed his sins, had received extreme unction and
communion, and had been buried without objection. Furthermore, we have not
yielded to those who advised or even commanded this course of action.
Not certainly, that we take the counsel of upright men or the orders of our
superiors lightly, but we would not have it appear that, out of feminine harshness
we did injustice to the sacraments of Christ, with which this man had been
fortified while he was still alive. But so that we may not be totally disobedient we
have, in accordance with their injunction, ceased from singing the divine praises
and from participation in Mass, as had been our regular monthly custom.
45
As a result, my sisters and I have been greatly distressed and saddened.

Hildegard rebukes her ecclesiological superiors, but obeys them. This actually highlights her

role as a prophet of her times for she speaks God’s words to the current order of things,

while obeying them, and not revolutionizing the order. And yet, even with an Interdict placed

on her convent she would not yield the body of the buried man. Such was her conviction of

solidarity with the man whose sins were forgiven.

Church authorities from Mainz finally lifted the interdict, only a few short months

before Hildegard died. It would be wonderful if they did this after reading Hildegard’s letter,

which may be true, but it is entirely possible that the canons in Mainz ignored the letter
46
altogether. But, for symmetry’s sake, it may be helpful to imagine that after decades of

Hildegard writing letters, preaching and administering healing arts to thousands of people

that the canons at Mainz would take a letter from her seriously. Insofar as it is a helpful

thought experiment, I suggest that the Prelates of Mainz heeded the most strongly worded

rebuke in the letter, after being compared to the the Devil who silences music, that “those

who prevent God's praises in this life will, in their own afterlife, go to ‘the place of no music’.”
47

45
Hildegard, “Letter 72”. (Website: http://viriditasllc.com/blog/st-hildegards-letter-to-the-prelates-at-
mainz/, Retreived January 2, 2017)
46
Website: https://symphonialisestanima.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/primary-source-breakthrough-
hildegards-letter-to-the-prelates-of-mainz/, Retrieved January 29, 2017
47
Hildegard, “Letter 72”. (Website: http://viriditasllc.com/blog/st-hildegards-letter-to-the-prelates-at-
mainz/, Retreived January 2, 2017)
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 22

Therefore, we conclude this discussion on Hildegard’s Trinitarian and Communitarian

Mysticism with a summary of her thought, as it combines these two important themes, which

emerge out of the tension created by her marginlization and polymathic skills. Hildegard

would say something like, Creation is an act of Love and Justice by which the world can

emerge from nothingness. Through the whole range of Creation and creatures, divine Love,

like a beautiful melody, knits all things together in praise and worship of God. Of all creatures

God loves humanity in a special way, taking on humanity himself as the Redeemer of all

Creation. In this act of embedding into the fabric of Creation itself, justice is done and all

relationships - between God and humanity, humanity and God, humanity and the world, and

the world with its Creator - are then able to be made right. It is then the incredible

responsibility of humanity to enact that same justice, to participate with the Creator,

Redeemer, and Spirit in the redemption of all Creation, making right all relationships. In true

Hildegardian fashion, let us conclude with an artistic flair, with a poem by Hildegard herself:

Who is the Trinity?

You are music. / You are life. / Source of everything, / Creator of everything, / angelic
hosts sing your praise.
Wonderfully radiant, / deep, / mysterious.
48
Invisible life that sustains all.

48
Heather James, Sarah Powell, Eds. “The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, Volume 1 [8th
Edition]”, 458
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 23

APPENDIX A: Brief Timeline of Hildegard of Bingen

1098: Hildegard von Bingen was born in Bermershein (now Germany) to Hildebert
and Mechthild

1106: Aged 8 Hildegard is sent to live in a retreat adjacent to a friary in

Disibodenberg

1113: Hildegard takes monastic vows and becomes a Benedictine nun

1136: Jutta dies and Hildegard is elected Head of her sister community by her fellow
nuns

1141: Hildegard, who claimed to have visions from a very young age, receives a
prophetic call from God demanding her to record her visions. She starts writing them
down with the help of Brother Volmar and Sister Richardis von Stade

1150: Hildegard founds the all-female Convent Rupertsberg, near Bingen

1151–58: Hildegard finishes her volume “Liber scivias domini” (Know the Paths of
the Lord). She also writes books on natural sciences, including “Physica” (The
Healing Power of Nature) and “Causae et curae” (Holistic Healing)

1158–63: Hildegard makes several teaching and missionary tours through Germany

1163: Hildegard writes “Liber vitae meritorum” (Book of Life’s Merits) and begins
work on “Liber divinorum operum” (Book of Divine Works), the last of her texts on her
visions

1165–1170: Hildegard founds the all-female Convent Eibingen, near Rudesheim,

and embarks on additional teaching and missionary tours throughout Europe

1178: Hildegard runs into conflicts with the Church for refusing to have the body of
an excommunicated man who had been buried in consecrated ground dug up

1179: The Church reverses the ruling against her that spring; on September 17,
Hildegard von Bingen dies at the age of 81
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 24

APPENDIX B: Hildegard’s Letter 72, to the Prelates of Mainz

Letter 72- to the Prelates at Mainz.

“By a vision, which was implanted in my soul by God the Great Artisan before I was born,
I have been compelled to write these things because of the interdict by which our superiors
have bound us, on account of the certain dead man buried at our monastery, a man buried
without any objection, with his own priest officiating. Yet only a few days after his burial,
these men ordered us to remove him from our cemetery. Seized by no small terror, as a
result, I looked as usual to the True Light, and, with wakeful eyes, I saw in my spirit that if
this man were disinterred in accordance with their commands, a terrible and lamentable
danger would come upon us like a dark cloud before a threatening thunderstorm.
Therefore, we have not presumed to remove the body of the deceased inasmuch as
he had confessed his sins, had received extreme unction and communion, and had been
buried without objection. Furthermore, we have not yielded to those who advised or even
commanded this course of action. Not certainly, that we take the counsel of upright men or
the orders of our superiors lightly, but we would not have it appear that, out of feminine
harshness we did injustice to the sacraments of Christ, with which this man had been
fortified while he was still alive. But so that we may not be totally disobedient we have, in
accordance with their injunction, ceased from singing the divine praises and from
participation in Mass, as had been our regular monthly custom.
As a result, my sisters and I have been greatly distressed and saddened. Weighed
down by this burden, therefore, I heard these words in a vision: “It is improper for you to
obey human words ordering you to abandon the sacraments of the Garment of the Word of
God, Who, born virginally of the Virgin Mary, is your salvation. Still, it is incumbent upon you
to seek permission to participate in the sacraments from those prelates who laid the
obligation of obedience upon you. For ever since Adam was driven from the bright region of
paradise into the exile of this world on account of his disobedience, the conception of all
people is justly tainted by that first transgression. Therefore, in accordance with God’s
inscrutable plan, it was necessary for a man free from all pollution to be born in human flesh,
through whom all who are predestined to life might be cleansed from corruption and might
be sanctified by the communion of his body so that he might remain in them and they in him
for their fortification. That person, however, who is disobedient to the commands of God, as
Adam was, and is completely forgetful of Him must be completely cut off from participation in
His body, just as he himself has turned away from Him in disobedience. And he must remain
so until, purged through penitence, he is permitted by the authorities to receive the
communion of the Lord’s body again. In contrast, however, a person who is aware that he
has incurred such a restriction not as a result of anything he has done, either consciously or
deliberately, may be present at the service of the life-giving sacrament, to be cleansed by
the Lamb without sin, Who, in obedience to the Father, allowed Himself to be sacrificed on
the altar of the cross that he might restore salvation to all.”
In the same vision I also heard that I had erred in not going humbly and devoutly to
my superiors for permission to participate in the communion, especially since we were not at
fault in receiving that dead man into our cemetery. For, after all, he had been fortified by his
own priest with proper Christian procedure, and, without objection to anyone, was buried in
our cemetery, with all Bingen joining in the funeral procession. And so God has commanded
me to report these things to you, our lords and prelates. Further, I saw in my vision also that
by obeying you we have been celebrating the divine office incorrectly, for from the time of
your restriction up to the present, we have ceased to sing the divine office, merely reading it
instead. And I heard a voice coming from the Living Light concerning the various kinds of
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 25

praises, about which David speaks in the psalm: “Praise Him with sound of trumpet: praise
Him with psaltery and harp,” and so forth up to this point: “Let every spirit praise the Lord.”
(Ps 150.3-5) These words use outward, visible things to teach us about inward things. Thus
the material composition and the quality of these instruments instruct us how we ought to
give form to the praise of the Creator and turn all the convictions of our inner being to the
same. When we consider these things carefully, we recall that man needed the voice of the
living Spirit, but Adam lost this divine voice through disobedience. For while he was still
innocent, before his transgression, his voice blended fully with the voices of the angels in
their praise of God. Angels are called spirits from that Spirit which is God, and thus they
have such voices by virtue of their spiritual nature. But Adam lost that angelic voice which
he had in paradise, for he fell asleep to that knowledge which he possessed before his sin,
just as a person on waking up only dimly remembers what he had seen in his dreams. And
so when he was deceived by the trick of the devil and rejected the will of his Creator, he
became wrapped up in the darkness of inward ignorance as the just result of his iniquity.
God, however, restores the souls of the elect to that pristine blessedness by infusing them
with the light of truth. And in accordance with His eternal plan, He so devised it that
whenever He renews the hearts of many with the pouring out of the prophetic spirit, they
might, by means of His interior illumination, regain some of the knowledge which Adam had
before he was punished for his sin.
And so the holy prophets, inspired by the Spirit which they had received, were called
for this purpose: not only to compose psalms and canticles (by which the hearts of listeners
would be inflamed) but also to construct various kinds of musical instruments to enhance
these songs of praise with melodic strains. Thereby, both through the form and the quality of
the instruments, as well as through the meaning of the words which accompany them, those
who hear might be taught, as we said above, about inward things, since they have been
admonished and aroused by outward things. In such a way, these holy prophets get beyond
the music of this exile and recall to mind that divine melody of praise which Adam, in
company with the angels, enjoyed in God before his fall.
Men of zeal and wisdom have imitated the holy prophets and have themselves, with
human skill, invented several kinds of musical instruments, so that they might be able to sing
for the delight of their souls, and they accompanied their singing with instruments played
with the flexing of fingers, recalling, in this way, Adam, who was formed by God’s finger,
which is the Holy Spirit. For, before he sinned, his voice had the sweetness of all musical
harmony. Indeed, if he had remained in his original state, the weakness of mortal man would
not have been able to endure the power and resonance of his voice.
But when the devil, man’s great deceiver, learned that man had begun to sing
through God’s inspiration and, therefore, was being transformed to bring back the sweetness
of the songs of heaven, mankind’s homeland, he was so terrified at seeing his clever
machinations go to ruin that he was greatly tormented. Therefore, he devotes himself
continually to thinking up and working out all kinds of wicked contrivances. Thus he never
ceases from confounding confession and the sweet beauty of both divine praise and spiritual
hymns, eradicating them through wicked suggestions, impure thoughts, or various
distractions from the heart of man and even from the mouth of the Church itself, wherever he
can, through dissension, scandal, or unjust oppression.
Therefore, you and all prelates must exercise the greatest vigilance to clear the air by
full and thorough discussion of the justification for such actions before your verdict closes the
mouth of any church singing praises to God or suspends it from handling or receiving the
divine sacraments. And you must be especially certain that you are drawn to this action out
of zeal for God’s justice, rather than out of indignation, unjust emotions, or a desire for
 Jesse James - Hildegard of Bingen’s Thought & Theology 26

revenge, and you must always be on your guard not to be circumvented in your decisions by
Satan, who drove man from celestial harmony and the delights of paradise.
Consider too that just as the body of Jesus Christ was born of the purity of the Virgin
Mary through the operation of the Holy Spirit so too the canticle of praise, reflecting celestial
harmony, is rooted in the Church through the Holy Spirit. The body is the vestment of the
spirit, which has a living voice, and so it is proper for the body, in harmony with the soul, to
use its voice to sing praises to God. Whence, in metaphor, the prophetic spirit commands
us to praise God with clashing cymbals and cymbals of jubilation (cf.Ps 150.5), as well as
other musical instruments which men of wisdom and zeal have invented, because all arts
pertaining to things useful and necessary for mankind have been created by the breath that
God sent into man’s body. For this reason it is proper that God be praised in all things.
And because sometimes a person sighs and groans at the sound of singing,
remembering, as it were, the nature of celestial harmony, the prophet, aware that the soul is
symphonic and thoughtfully reflecting on the profound nature of the spirit, urges us in the
psalm (cf.Ps 32.3) to confess to the Lord with the harp and to sing a psalm to Him with the
ten-stringed psaltery. His meaning is that the harp, which is plucked from below, relates to
the disciplines of the body; the psaltery, which is plucked from above, pertains to the
exertion of the spirit; the ten chords, to the fulfillment of the law.
Therefore, those who, without just cause, impose silence on a church and prohibit
the singing of God’s praises and those who have on earth unjustly despoiled God of His
honor and glory will lose their place among the chorus of angels, unless they have amended
their lives through true penitence and humble restitution. Moreover, let those who hold the
keys of heaven beware not to open those things which are meant to be kept closed nor to
close those things which are to be kept open, for harsh judgment will fall upon those who
rule, unless, as the apostle says (cf. Rom 12.8), they rule with good judgment.
And I heard a voice saying thus: Who created heaven? God. Who opens heaven to
the faithful? God. Who is like Him? No one. And so, O men of faith, let none of you resist
Him or oppose Him, lest he fall on you in His might and you have no helper to protect you
from His judgment. This time is a womanish time, because the dispensation of God’s justice
is weak. But the strength of God’s justice is exerting itself, a female warrior battling against
injustice so that it might fall defeated.” – St. Hildegard