‘SELECTED WRITINGS’ – Saint Hildegard of Bingen Translated by Mark Atherton – ‘Scivias II; pages 57-60
[Saint HILDEGARD OF BINGEN ~ XI-XII Century AD; Bermersheim, Holy Roman Empire/Bingen am Rhein, Holy Roman Empire, aged 81; Abbess, Polymath, Writer, Composer, Mystic, Visionary, Philosopher, Medical Writer and Practitioner, Composer of Sacred Monophony, Virgin, Founder, Doctor of the Church]“3. Redemption (Scivias II, 1)
/Comments: ‘In a version of the creation, the fall of Adam, and the redemption of humanity, Hildegard presents the story of her vision in a series of mysterious pictures. The work of God, for instance, is seen as a shining fire with a flame the ‘colour of air, and the creation of the cosmos takes place when a dark sphere of air representing the basic matter of the world is brought into contact with the divine fire and illumined with light. Later, the fire merges with the brightness of the dawn on earth, the dawn being the light of the Incarnation, and the power of redemption centres on the appearance of a ‘light-filled man’. In the original illustration to the scene, preserved in the Rupertsberg manuscript (see Introduction I. i), the ‘light-filled man’ is a reddish golden figure surrounded by large golden flames above his head and emerging from a red and golden circle, presumably the dawn, at the bottom of the picture./
Scivias, Part II, Vision 1
And I, a human being, neither ablaze with the strength of strong lions nor learned in their exhalations, remaining in the fragility of the weaker rib, but filled with mystical inspiration, saw: a shining fire, unfathomable, inextinguishable, fully alive and existing full of life; with a flame the colour of the air, brightly burning in the gentle breeze, and as inseparable from the shining fire as a human being is inseparable from his inner organs. And I saw the shining flame glow white. And suddenly a dark sphere of air appeared, huge in size, upon which the shining flame struck many blows, and at each blow a spark flew up so that soon the circle of air was brought to completion, and heaven and earth shone forth in the fullness of perfection. The burning flame of heat moved towards a small clump of muddy earth lying on the circle of the ball of air. And it heated the clump of earth, turning it to flesh and blood, and breathing life into it so that it rose up as a living man. Once this was done, the shining fire with its flame burning bright in the gentle breeze offered the man a brilliant white flower that hung in the flame like a drop of dew on a stalk of grass. The man could smell its fragrance with his nose but not taste it with his mouth or touch it with his hands. And he turned away and fell into thick darkness from which he could not raise himself up. But the darkness grew and spread further and further across the air. Then three large stars appeared in the darkness, combining in their brightness, and after them many others, small and large, shining in high splendour. Finally a great star appeared, radiating marvellous clarity and directing its splendour towards the aforesaid flame. But on the earth a brightness like the dawn appeared, merging with the flame in a marvellous manner but nevertheless not becoming separated from the shining fire. And in this way, in the brightness of the dawn, a great will was kindled.
But when I tried to consider more closely the kindling of that will, I was opposed by a secret seal on the vision, - and I heard a voice speak to me from on high: ‘Of this mystery you may not see any more than is granted you through the miracle of belief.’
And I saw a light-filled man emerge from the aforesaid dawn and pour his brightness over the aforementioned darkness; it repulsed him; he turned blood-red and pallid, but struck back against the darkness with such force that the man who was lying in the darkness became visible and resplendent through this contact, and standing up, he came forth out of the darkness. And thus the light-filled man, who had emerged from the dawn, appeared in greater splendour than any human tongue can express, and he proceeded to the utmost heights of immeasurable glory, where he shone out wondrously in the fullness of great fragrance and fruitfulness.
And I heard a voice speaking to me from the living fire I have mentioned: Insignificant earthly creature! Though as a woman you are uneducated4 in any doctrine of fleshly teachers in order to read writings with the understanding of the philosophers, nevertheless you are touched by my light, which touches your inner being with fire like the burning sun. Shout and tell! And write down these my mysteries which you see and hear in the mystical vision! Do not be afraid, but tell the mysteries as you understand them in the spirit, as I speak them through you. May they be ashamed who should be showing righteousness to my people! Through the fickleness of their own morals, they refuse to proclaim openly the justice which they know for themselves!
They have no will to cease from their evil desires, which stick to them as though they were their teachers, causing them to run away from the face of the Lord, so that they are ashamed to speak the truth. Therefore, paltry soul, instructed as you are in your inner being by mystical inspiration, and although you are trampled by the male form because of Eve’s transgression, speak nevertheless of the fiery work of salvation which this most certain vision reveals to you!
The living God, who created all things through his Word, led the miserable human being who had fallen into darkness back to the salvation of faith through the Word incarnate. What does this mean?
1. The omnipotence of God
The ‘shining fire’ which you see^ represents the omnipotent living God, whose light-filled brightness is never obscured by any evil. He remains ‘unfathomable’, because he cannot be divided by any divisions, and he is without beginning or end, not to be comprehended by any glimmer of creaturely knowledge. And he remains ‘inextinguishable’, for he is that plenitude which never reaches an end, and he is ‘fully alive’, since nothing can be completely hidden that he does not know about, and ‘existing full of life’, for everything that is alive draws its life from him, as Job declares and speaks by my inspiration:
2 . The words of Job
‘Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.’? What does this mean? No creature can be so stupid by nature that it is ignorant of all the causes and relationships which make up its fruitfulness and fertility. ^ And how is this? The sky has light, the light air, the air birds; the earth nourishes the greenness, the greenness the fruit, the fruit the animals; all testify that they were established by a mighty hand - the great power of the Lord of all, who through the force of his strength has worked all things so that none may fail in their usefulness. All creatures live and move in the omnipotence of the Creator, not only those who seek the earth and earthly things as do cattle, which do not have rationality by the inspiration of God, but also those who inhabit human flesh in which they partake of rationality, power of discernment, and wisdom.
How is this? The soul encircles earthly matters, at work through the many changes that fleshly customs demand of it. But the spirit raises itself up in two ways: on the one hand by heaving sighs, groanings and desires for God, on the other by seeking as it were through commands to exercise sovereignty, influence and autonomy in various areas, because through reason the spirit has the power of discernment. Therefore, also, the human being contains the likeness of heaven and earth within her. How does this come about? The human creature contains a circle in which there appear the qualities of discernment, breath of life and rationality, just as in the heavens there are stars, air and birds. Likewise, the human creature contains a receptacle in which there appear the moisture of the humours, germination and parturition, just as on earth there is greenness, fruitfulness and animals. What does this mean? Human creature! You are a wholeness in every created thing and yet you forget your creator! All things subject to you obey their creator as they were made to. But only you desire to transgress his commandments?”
Image: Peter Paul Rubens – ‘The Holy Trinity’
Hildegard of Bingen Liber Divinorum Operum, II-1, Lucca, MS_1942_fol_88v /Purgatory and Hell/:
Music: Antonio Vivaldi : ‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo’ - Riccardo Muti / New Philharmonia Orchestra
‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo’ = ‘Glory to God in the highest’
>>> youtube.com/watch?v=yQOgqL4Be10