Hildegard to an Abbess
1 0 The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen Now, let your mind be at ease, and take peace unto yourself. For I see in the True Light that this will be salutary for your spirit. But see to it that you show proper concern for your little garden,3 being careful not to overwork it, lest the viridity of the herbs and aromatic virtues fail, so that they become incapable of bearing seed because they have been worn down by the plow of your toil. I frequently see that when a person afflicts the body by overzealous abstinence, weariness sets in, and, as a result, vices flourish more than if the body had been nourished properly.4
A compassionate, loving mind has been planted in you. Therefore, beware lest you heed the commands to wound the body too frequently. But announce the times properly appointed for the balm of salvation to those committed to your care, and then you will live forever.
I see your spirit shining brightly in pure light, Notes 1. The entire first half of this letter poses a number of difficulties for a reader, perhaps even a twelfth-century reader. See the endnotes for the Latin text.
2. We have broken the paragraph at this point to indicate the end of Hildegard's illustrative anecdote. It could be, however, that the anecdote continues through the end of the next paragraph.
3. Hildegard's word here is terrain, which, apparently, in the immediate context stands for the body, but should, perhaps (as the next paragraph suggests), be broadened to include the entire community. The abbess/abbot (gardener) overseeing (cultivating) the community of those souls committed to her/his care (the garden) is an image dear to Hildegard.
4. Hildegard's sense of moderation is one of her more attractive characteristics: she is neither a body-denying ecstatic nor a flesh-scourging ascetic.
Erlesburen(?)
Hildegard to an Abbess 1166-70(?) Hildegard admonishes the abbess to follow the Rule of St. Benedict assiduously, and singles out a particular nun whom she should "nourish with the milk of consolation."
O blessed soul, you have climbed the ladder of celestial desire to seek the kingdom of God, according to His command: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God," and so forth [Matt 6.33]. For when you first submitted yourself to God's service, you were given the desire for heaven which would lead you to the heavenly abode.