Feast Day of Hl. Hildegard von Bingen (17 September)

Today is the feast day of one of the greatest women in the Latin church, Hl. Hildegard von Bingen, and arguably, in the West. No other woman prior to the twelfth century and from the West created as many texts as is credited to St. Hildegard.

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a German foundress of two Benedictine monasteries. Through her gift as a visionary mystic, she is responsible for three major theological and philosophical texts: Scivias (Scito vias domini, or Know the Ways of God), Liber vitae meritorum (Book of Life's Merits), and Liber divinorum operum (or The Book of Divine Works). 

Hildegard is a core saint for the CHRISTA Apostolate. This is because her approach to healing will be a foundational base for CHRISTA. And as my research is showing, her thinking is not only relevant to the modern Catholic church of today but ... desperately needed. 

Many non-Hildegardian scholars profess she is too idiosyncratic, problematic, and that her Latin was insufficient. In reality, none of this actually makes sense on account of a number of factors. I would say a primary counter to these bogus and unfounded propositions are that the scholars suggesting such things, don't actually understand her thinking. Her thinking is complex not because of her lack of formal educational training but because ... she is a philosopher AND writing in the twelfth century (which is a completely different ball game). 

That I have stated she is a philosopher, is both a compliment (and maybe, a little bit of a slap!). But it is true. Her thinking is not that of a theologian though she theologizes. Principally, she thinks and communicates her ideas as a philosopher. So to understand her, one must also approach her as a philosopher. And philosophers both write and think in a specific way. If you don't agree, simply read Heidegger ... Note: simply.

I think once we approach her in this sense, it completely changes the methodology required to approach her thinking; and in this, we can appreciate her on her own terms rather than the methodologies that would have been alien to her.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of Hildegard was her understanding of health and healing. My research at the Universität Hamburg in Hamburg, Deutschland investigates this question inquiring as to how does Hildegard approach healing theologically and philosophically? This is part of my research question.

Hildegard was very level-headed and pragmatic. Her earliest caretaker, Jutta of Sponheim, lived a very ascetical and austerely, penitential life. Hildegard not only disapproved of this way of living; but there is enough evidence to show she lived an opposite way of life, and she was opposed to such severe practices except in very exceptional cases. Her life was balanced and she understood the importance of the influence of nature on our health, the relationship between persons as affecting health, the role of evil affecting health, and also one's relationship with God as a core component of health and healing.

Here are some plates depicting her visions -- the encounter with God which was her basis for the content of her theology and philosophy.

I am interested in how she addressed healing; but most importantly, what can we draw from her thinking for our context today? Please stay tuned as my research develops.

Hl. Hildegard von Bingen, bitte für uns!