Hildegard to the Priest Conrad
/ 54 The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen lay up riches for themselves. Oh, how great is that sanctity which in the midst of mortal plague crushes the poison underfoot! Therefore, a beautiful flower arises from the destruction of sin, and this flower joins company with the angels.
Therefore, O sons of pilgrimage, hastily run to Me, and store up great riches for yourselves, because you are seen by the Living Eye, which ever gazes into the mirror of the dove. Labor, and do not grow weary out of the fatigue of deceptive, wicked works, for the sun has stored up for you the eternal life of light
Run hastily to God because His day is coming [cf. Ps 36.13; Is 13.9; Joel 2.1].
Suffer the man who has been filled with doubt and vacillates like water swelling amid great storms; suffer him as if he were a tree that cannot be bent like a reed because he is too caught up in his own concerns. Let him consider himself in this light, and if no guilt is found in him, then let him look to his concerns.
But you, My lovers, run to Me, because I see your groaning like gold, bright and powerful, and I see your mind joyous and benevolent. Enter the battle, therefore, like valiant servants. Those who are in exile cannot win a sure victory as long as they remain in the body. And so they must flee the disastrous shipwreck of this world and shore up the columns of their mind with the Cornerstone [cf
Ps 117.22; Matt 21.42].
Therefore, brave knights, do not grow weary on account of the instability of the body, because God seeks his lambs among wolves [cf. Luke 10.3].
Reutlingen(?)
Hildegard to the Priest Conrad Before 1153 Hildegard advises Conrad on his duties as a priest.
In His mystic gift, the Spirit of Truth [cf.John 14.17] says: A physician should frequently anoint the wounded man with mercy, the wounded man who has sprinkled oil into his wounds but cannot bear wine poured over them [cf Luke
10.33–34]; and he should not allow that man's bruises to fester, because the Great
Physician cleanses leprosy away when a person shows himself to a priest [cf. Matt
8.4; Luke 5.14; Mark 1.44].
Many come to Me with their minds overclouded, not wishing to see with their eyes how their wounds can be cured, but wishing instead to touch Me with a tongue oozing all sorts of words. For their inner mind cannot comprehend Me, but rather brings them to a way of life that absorbs them in their intoxication with their long-standing vices. But they say: We have drunk the bitterness of