Hildegard to the Abbot Conrad
The Letters
From the first time that I heard of your splendid virtues and the special gift bequeathed to you by God, holy mother, I loved you with the whole affection of my mind, although I was not known to you personally. I rejoice with you in your glory, because you have merited to find the Beloved Whom your soul sought, and you refuse to wander after the flocks of your companions [cf. Cant 1.6], for He Who feeds among the lilies [cf Cant 4.5] has rested in your tabernacle [cf.
Ecclus 24.12], and has filled your garden with a myriad of delights.
Beloved lady, since you are, as it were, a river springing from the fountain of Goodness, pouring forth your benevolence on all who desire to know and hear the great things of God [cf. Ex 14.13] through you, I marvel why you close up the bowels of mercy to me [cf. I John 3.17], a humble soul laboring in great anxiety of heart, and why you are so slow to send me the little gift that I desire more out of love than out of presumption.
I beseech you with full devotion, therefore, to intercede for me to the Bridegroom Who rests in the cubicle of your heart and gladly inclines the ear of His mercy to all your petitions. I ask also that you ask Him to make clear to you whether it would be best for me to lay aside my burden of pastoral care, for I am sorely oppressed by my duties, and am indeed wasting away. Or should I continue to bear my burden? If I get a response from you, I will know that He has heard you.
Farewell, lady dear to God.
144r Hildegard to the Abbot Conrad
Hildegard admonishes the abbot against sin, specifically the sin of homosexuality, and advises penitence.
The piercing Light sees and says: O man, you are pale and sickly because your mind has doubts, as if you lack the strength to stand. Why do I say this? I see your works, for they pertain to me. But you know how rebels think. Why, therefore, when you are before my altar, do you blush to look upon my sanctuary, and fail to adorn it like a temple endowed with living eyes?
O, what a burden for a good shepherd to lift his lambs up onto his shoulders [John 10.1 Iff; Luke 15.5]! When his sheep do not walk in the straight path, the gentle shepherd should lift them up through the solicitude of his soul, and should correct and anoint them, and teach them good works. For just as the hand works in conjunction with the arm, and the arm with the shoulder, so should the shepherd give examples to his sheep with the hand of good works, extend medicinal relief with the arm of assistance, and offer dissolution of sins through the bond of the cross, as with a mighty shoulder. For, truly, penitents should receive for-
The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen giveness for their sins. The devil, indeed, spews forth the might of his heart and the taste of his throat and the blazing flame of his serpentine mouth.
O man, listen to the wail of grief that is poured forth at the commission of that sin which is the contagion of the flesh that sullies the beautiful form of the human being. O virginity, weep at the loss of your primal sanctity! For the hand of the Great Artisan formed you, and set you in a garden of delight But a flaming mind deceived mankind in the vain desire for its own will through pride and the sinful counsel of the deceiver. Thus mankind was cast out through the taste of disobedience. And so his belly went astray, even though, before, his side had been pierced by that most holy gift. But now his thigh is polluted with oozing poison. Thus man touched the taste of the serpent's throat when it burned in his poisoned veins. Then, later, he committed fornication in his viperish desire, which is the burning flame from the mouth of the devil. It was disobedience that produced this food. And because God made a person from a rib [Gen
2.22], the devil gave man the idea of homicide, so that he turned all His works aside, and brought about the unveiling of burning sin through the might of his heart.
O man, how great are the sins that you commit in imitation of the ancient destroyer. How is this so? The wicked accuser was cast behind [cf. Apoc 12.10] and cut off from all bliss. And because he was cast behind, he thought in the malignity of his heart that he might, in turn, lead mankind into that sin that was against his nature. Thus man abandons the form of the rib, and so, there, in that change, the formation of mankind perishes when he spills his seed.* Therefore, let the earth mourn, let the heavens tremble at these crimes. For when a man sins through the taste of his own work, though without having cast aside the creature formed from a rib, he still feels, at least to some little degree, that he is God's creation. But those crimes that take place behind are not a part of any creation, so that the man who commits them does not see himself as a man. O man, why do you reject the fact that you are God's creation. Ach, ach, O man, God formed you zealously, but you are entangled in many crimes. But, still, God is leading you back to him through His Son. Therefore, rise up through penitence and run to Me quickly.
Now, be a stalwart knight, arm yourself, go forth into the broad ways, and bring back viridity to the dry fields. Gird up the loins of those in your care, and force yourself to do good works. In this way, your heart may be illuminated by the sun, and you yourself will not grow weary on the straight path, fighting against your own self. Therefore, do not lay down your pastoral office, but let the perfumer,1 who has a fragrant and well-watered garden [Is 58.11; Jer 31.12], see to it that His garden will bring forth good fruit that does not wither.
Note 1. Pigmentarius, Hildegard's usual term for prelates of the Church. See Introduction, Vol. l,p. 8.