Letter 38: Daniel, Bishop of Prague, to Hildegard
The Letters of Hildegard ofBingen And so you, O leader of the people, fight victoriously, correct those who have gone astray, and wash the filth from the beautiful pearls, preparing them for the Most High King. And thus let your mind sigh in its eagerness to bring back those pearls to the mountain, just as the gift of God had originally planted them. Now, may God protect you and free your soul from eternal punishment.
Daniel, Bishop of Prague, to Hildegard 1148-67(?) Daniel, bishop of Prague, seeks Hildegard's prayers, and is prevented only by the great distance and the difficulties of travel from coming to see her in person.
Daniel served as bishop of Prague, a suffragan-bishopric of Mainz, from 1148 to 1167. A staunch adherent of the imperial party, he participated in the emperor's
Italian campaign, during which he contracted malaria, from which he died in 1167.
Daniel, by the grace of God servant of the people of Prague, and also bishop, although useless and unworthy, sends whatever the small token of prayers uttered with all devotion can accomplish to Hildegard, the bride of Christ and superior of St. Rupert in Bingen.
We glorify God our Lord and magnify His name, because illumined by His spirit you help many in tribulation with comfort and support, and with the assistance of that same spirit, you lead many people to produce the fruit of good works, as we have heard tell about you even in these far-flung places.
And so, saintly lady, you will already have learned that we have a great desire to see you and to enjoy conversation with you in Christ. The great difficulties of travel, however, have kept us from coming to you. But because we have heard that your love has aided many people in their distress, we have been encouraged to seek the assistance of your prayers and advice, beloved lady, for we are shaken by secular tribulations. From the first time we heard your name and the grace bestowed upon you by Christ, we have always remembered you in our hearts. We earnestly pray that that same grace which originates from the true Light may remain with you always.
The Letters
38r Hildegard to Daniel, Bishop of Prague 1153-54 Hildegard interprets the fruit of the vineyard that Noah planted after the flood typologically as obedience, and urges Daniel to overcome the instability of his character and be obedient to the true sun.
The voice of life and salvation says: Why will a person chew on a grape and still wish to remain ignorant of the nature of that grape? For this is the grape which came forth from the earth, transformed, after the destruction of the people, after God wiped the earth clean and strained it into a form different from that which the first man had scorned.' The reason for his ignorance is because man is frivolous in the instability of his character and in his times of light and darkness. For sometimes a person rises a bit when he is prosperous, but then falls a little when danger comes. In neither case, however, does he give thought to the embraces of the king's daughter, that is, justice and truth.2
Instead, he knocks her royal crown off, since the shepherd flees and, refusing to fight bravely, does not defend the Church of Christ. Rather, he is like a wanton child, playing, without a care in the world. A person who acts like this wants merely to chew and to gratify his own appetite, just as, by nature, he seeks after food. And so his vision is too dull to see where discernment lies, that discernment which wisdom produced,' as may be understood in the figure of the grape. Thus it was that when Adam scorned obedience in the dawn of the world, age after age went to ruin until the great flood, when God cleansed the earth of its terrible iniquity. Then God gave the earth a new vigor when
Noah brought forth in his vineyard that noble seed of obedience which Adam, like a wanton boy, rejected in his foolishment. And thus in the time of Noah the earth brought forth the power of the grape, and, after him, consequently,
Wisdom arose for our salvation.
Now, O man, you who are wavering and unstable in your character, and do not aggressively seek a remedy for yourself and others, rise up and look at the sun with due moderation. And do not flee from the light or shun it because of the severity of your sins, lest you be ashamed when the mighty King examines your works. Then you will live forever.
Notes 1. Quid esl hoc, quod homo manducat et non unit scire que sit uua, que de terra alia modo sudauit post peremptionem populi, c'um Deiis terrain extersit et cribrauit in ahum modum quam primus homo illam derideret? This is a reference, of course, to the grape (the vineyard)
The Letters of Hildegard ofBingen that Noah planted after the flood (cf. Gen 9.20-21). Hildegard is treating this "momentous grape" typologically. Note, too, that our rather tame rendering "which came forth from the earth" renders que de teii'a . . . sudauit, literally "sweated forth," a concept very important in Hildegard's moisture-filled, fertile world of viriditas.
2. Thus it is: one daughter, but two virtues.
3. Again, the word sudavit, making the parallel with the grape "sweated forth" by the earth.
Odo of Soissons1 to Hildegard 1148-49(?) In this humble, even abject, letter, Odo seeks Hildegard's prayers.
Odo of Soissons, a broken reed, the embodiment of evil, food for the devil," sends greetings to Hildegard, saint, friend of God, bride of Christ.
It is written, "having no covering, they embrace the stones" [Job 24.8].
But in our day, alas, all the obstacles to iniquity have been removed: the stones, intended as a barrier to the road of sin; the mountains, ordained to fall upon the heads of sinners; the hills, established to bury those who have fled from Christ. The wicked deeds of men, which have run only half their course, are laid bare before God, and, if no one intervenes, they dash headlong against the stone of transgression and the rock of scandal.
As a direct result of these matters and caught up in them as I am, my lady, cut off from hope I am dashed daily against that rock, and although crushed and broken, I still dare to hope for compassion from God. And so through that same compassion of God, I entreat you not to cast me away, since I depend so fully upon you, and in the name of Him who deigned to be scorned for our sakes, do not scorn me. Please hear my plea, I beseech you, through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, your beloved bridegroom, through that blood flowing from the cross by which He paid your dowry and made you his bride.
In earnest prayer and supplication before your bridegroom, seek to learn why, although I have cried out so often to Him from the depths and slime of my sin, He has not deigned to pull me out. Is it His will that I continue to hope for forgiveness and will He grant me a broken spirit and a contrite heart?
Commit to writing the things that you see. Farewell. Repeating my prayer again and again, I beseech you in the name of Christ not to forsake me.
Note 1. Odo was appointed Cardinal-Bishop of Tuscany in 1170.