Hildegard to the Monk Gerwin
The Letters
Hildegard to the Monk Gerwin
Hildegard responds to the monk Gerwin, who has apparently written her troubled by the fact that he has been elected as abbot. She warns him of the dangers of accepting the office.
O beloved son of God, I will respond to you. This is God's view of that election:
God did not wish you to fall into perdition and into dangerous sins, as the human will frequently causes a person to do. You are not, of course, obliged to accept the results of that election.1
Still, I do not see that it is God's wrath that has placed you in that position to which you were called by men.1 Your discipline will be of this kind: You will not, during your tenure in office, be able to fulfill your will as you would like to do.
May God watch over you, and rule over all things with regard to you, in both body and soul.
Note I. Apparently in answer to Gerwin's own response to this unwanted election.
Hildegard to the Abbot Gerwin 1162–64 This letter seems to justify Hildegard's fears about Gerwin's acceptance of the administrative position. Hildegard offers him advice on the duties of his new office.
The time for your healing [cf.Jer 14.19] has not yet come, for the earth cries out for God's vengeance, and heaven has been overclouded by unrighteousness. And again: not long from now heaven will resound with God's praise, and the earth will be released from its captivity.
The streets of the monastery where you live and hold the rod of correction are darkened by the instability of precarious morals, and they exhale, as it were, the poison of vice and disobedience. This is why disquieting battles arise. But later, when God so wishes, the first dawn will provide an example for you.