Letter 33: Hildegard to Gero, Bishop of Halberstadt
The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen 32r Hildegard to Henry, Bishop of Beauvais 1148-62 Hildegard sends Henry comfort through the voices of personified virtues.
The Living Light showed me the following vision and said, Say to that man:
I saw, as it were, the beautiful form of virtue, which was Pure Knowledge. Her face was extremely bright, her eyes like jacinth, and her clothes like a silken cloak. And on her shoulders she had a bishop's pallium like carnelian. She summoned a lovely friend of the king, that is to say, Divine Love, and said,
Come with me. And they went along together and knocked at the door of your heart, calling out: We wish to live with you. Therefore, beware: don't close us out, but close out instead vices, secular concerns, and changing winds which rise up like smoke in tornadoes, and like water which flies in storms. For these are the disturbances of the human mind when provoked to anger and similar emotions. Do not, in your weariness, keep silent, but let your voice ring forth like a trumpet in the rites of the Church. Let your eyes be pure in knowledge so that you may not be reluctant to cleanse yourself of the dishonorable dust of the burden you bear. For you are covered with the drops of the night [cf.
Cant 5.2]. But the persuasive voice of pride has said to you: Do not cleanse yourself. But this is contrary to our wishes, for we want you to eradicate every vestige of darkness from yourself, and not to be fearful of the many terrors inflicted by your enemies, for they speak neither well nor rightly about you.
O knight, keep us with you and give us a dwelling place in your heart, and we will take you with us to the palace of the king.
Hildegard to Gero, Bishop of Halberstadt 1160-70 Although Gero's letter to Ilildegard has not been preserved, it seems clear from the context of Hildcgard's response that he had queried her about the state of some recently deceased person's soul.