Hildegard to the
The Letters
Hildegard to the Abbot Manegold(?) 1156–65(?) This brief letter is in answer to a query from the abbot about the relations between some unnamed man and woman.
Regarding the subject you ask me about: Victory does not drink deep of lust in this matter. But, still, the bond of flesh, which you seek to know about, is stronger in that man than in the woman. Yet I would not want to see that sinful deed consummated. But in you I see a whirlwind of heat that, having spent itself, will disappear harmlessly.
Hordt
Hildegard to the Canon Lemphrid 1153–54 In answer to the canon, who had apparently asked her advice about changing communities, Hildegard gives her usual advice: stay where you are; the pastures only look greener over there.
He Who poured the good and sweet intelligence into mankind says these things:
Faithful men have the sweet odor of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. So in whatever community holiness is, there man can be restored to life in the shipwreck of this world. Therefore, O worthy knight of Christ, seek the salvation of your soul in the community where you are, where the living fountain pours a sweet flood into your soul, because those foreign monasteries that you have so firmly fixed in your mind offer no security for you. Therefore, stay in your place, and, there, love the first gift given to you from above [cf. James 1.17], when your soul was renewed in righteousness. For it is not conducive to the safety of your soul to seek out a different place. But flee this desire for change, lest your mind be confounded by fear.
Now, be such that you become the friend of God, and do not flee the ceremonies of God [cf. Deut 8.11]. And God will save you.