The Monk Guibert to Hildegard
The Letters
tion. And we all especially ask for your prayers. Greeting you also are those whom you love and who love you too, men whom you know personally: Lord Siger de
Waura and Nicholas, a young knight from Niel, whom you saw when the two of them visited you during Lent. Brother Franc, the recluse, an upright son in Christ of our church, sends his greetings. So too does Brother Robert, who is sick of body, but sound of mind, currently in the infirmary at Mount St. Guibert, as it is called. Lord Emmo, parochial priest of our church, sends greetings, as does a certain young man whom I care for greatly. His name and the course of action I am prescribing for him will be fully revealed to you by this penitent woman,3 a woman whom I cherish highly.
All of these people, saintly lady, would gladly impart to you their own special requests about their needs if they could speak to you face-to-face. But, here, we do not have the space. However, since they cannot meet with you at present, we ask that you intercede with God—to Whom all things are known and for Whom all things are possible—for each of them, so that He may come to their aid in these tribulations, and especially for those who are beset by dangers. Thus may the merciful Helper, Who knows our needs, come at the appropriate time, bringing help to these, and, moreover, remission of sins, correction of morals, and eternal joy. May He Who is blessed above all, God forever, grant all these things from His beneficence for the sake of your prayers both for me and for those for whom I pray. Amen.
Farewell in Him, my most beloved lady.
Notes \. This and the following letters from Guibert of Gembloux (Nos. 104, 105, 106,
107, 108, and 109) are translated from the edition by Derolez (Guiberti Gemblacensis
Epistolae, pp. 216-57). Van Acker supplies the numbers, but refers the reader to Derolez for the text.
2. The gender of "messenger" (latricem) is feminine, and indeed in his next letter
(103), Guibert identifies her as "Sister Ida."
3. That is, Sister Ida, the messenger.
The Monk Guibert to Hildegard
Guibert expresses disappointment that Hildegard has postponed sending answers to his previous questions, and then sets about asking new ones.
To Hildegard, the most reverend lady and mother in Christ, Guibert, least of God's servants, with a prayer that the coming Bridegroom find her ready with lamp trimmed among the wise virgins [cf. Matt 25.Iff].
The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen Blessed lady, I and friends of yours who dwell with us recently sent a letter to you, delivered by our Sister Ida, and we waited with eager anticipation for what responses you, worthy lady, would give to our queries. But when she returned, we learned that our hope, while not entirely disappointed, was nevertheless not fully realized, at least not to our complete satisfaction. For she reported that you had been pleased with the salutation of our letter and that you had listened to the rest of it intently when it was read to you at your command a number of times. Still, you put off answering my inquiries, those things I had requested to be revealed to us either in a letter or in a verbal response through Sister Ida, the bearer of our letter. You postponed your reply until such time as it should please God to answer your prayers about what response should be made.
Sister Ida also informed us that although you could have easily answered some of the questions immediately, you preferred to delay your response because you were unwilling to answer others out of your own perceptions alone. You added, however, that after the Feast of the Assumption of the Perpetual Virgin1 you would answer all the questions at once if, according to a sign you had given, we would send a reliable messenger to you.
When we heard this, we were somewhat saddened by the delay, but, in anticipation of the more abundant fruit of happiness which Sister Ida promised would come from your response, saintly lady, we rejoiced greatly, humbly giving thanks to the heavenly dispensation and to your kindness. In the meantime, with the aforementioned Feast day at hand, we were anxiously searching for someone to send to your sweet presence, not an easy task during harvest season.
Then, unexpectedly, help came from one of your especial friends, a nobleman who lives in our district. Lord Siger de Waura, who had previously declined to go, suddenly changed his mind, and sent one of his servants to inform us that he planned to make the trip to see you on that very Feast day of the Assumption of the Mother of Christ, and that if I wanted to write he would take the letter to you. I gave thanks to my friend for his kindness, and especially to God, by Whose will I was able to accomplish, without cost, what I could scarcely have achieved on my own, even with great exertion and expense.
Immediately on the Vigil of that Feast day I have mentioned so frequently, I began to write the letter you now read, with the fervent hope that since I have received no response to my previous letter you will deign to answer the questions I pose here, along with those earlier ones. Do you, for example, receive your visions in a dream while asleep, or do they come to you in an ecstatic state
[cf. Acts 11.5] while awake? Also, is it by divine revelation or merely for the sake of ornamentation that you have your virgins wear crowns?2 And, further, how are we to interpret the distinctions among the various crowns, for we have heard that they are not all the same? Also, how is the title of your book Scivias to be interpreted? Does it mean "Knowing the Ways," or is there a better translation?
And, finally, have you written other books? By the faith you owe God, I pray you not to be slow in disclosing these matters to me, along with the other questions I asked in my previous letter.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, your friends here greet you as enthusiastically as they had in the earlier letter, beseeching you to intercede with God