A remarkable woman
Together with Teresa of Avila and Julian of Norwich, I consider Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) to be one of my three mystic-sisters. Whenever I’m listless, in a rut, or out of ideas as to how to open myself and to grow in my present life circumstances, I turn to Hildegard. Her inspiration raises me up to see something more, to be something more.
Hildegard was a remarkable woman who, to use a floral analogy, opened all her buds! She lived an overflowing, intensely spiritually aware life of eighty-one years. When the moment came to see our Lord face to face, I think she must have said, “I used every gift you gave me!” As I attempt to describe the work of her life in one sentence, be forewarned, it is a long sentence! Hildegard was a Benedictine nun, an abbess, a foundress of two abbeys in the Rhine Valley, an herbalist, a composer, an artist, a theologian, a healer, a playwright, a scientist, a spiritual director, a political and ecclesiastical activist, a visionary, a prophetess, a reformer, a prodigious author and biographer, the first woman who received express permission from a pope to write theological books, and to preach, a mystic, a saint, and one of the four female doctors of the Catholic Church. [Related: Here’s a general audience from Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 about her life and spirituality.]
All this, and yet she was most humble! Of her own prodigality she said, “…it pleased the king to raise a small feather from the ground, and he commanded it to fly. The feather flew, not because of anything in itself, but because the air bore it along. Thus am I, a feather on the breath of God.”
“Viriditas”
Hildegard coined the term viriditas that meant “greening” or coming to fruitfulness. She spoke of the Holy Spirit as the conduit of divine life, and that we are meant to cultivate the Spirit’s “green power” in ourselves and in others. She had a real concern that people were “drying up.” By practicing the virtues, Hildegard believed humans infused viriditas backinto the world in a continuous process of transformation. She called for humanity to live co-creatively with God in the “greening” of the world, the building of the Kingdom.
Why read and reflect on Hildegard today? There are many reasons, but the one that has sustained me for so many years is her ability to raise me up to more: to see God in all things, to work harmoniously within my circumstances, and to open all my “buds.” Most of all, Hildegard urges all of us to “Put on the helmet of hope.” That is, hope for salvation. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:8.) I find I need that rallying cry every day as I navigate the stormy seas of my own faith journey.
Today, in your own sphere of influence, can you be a channel for the Holy Spirit’s “greening” power, helping to make all things new?
