Hildegard to the Abbess Hazzecha
The Letters
160r Hildegard to the Abbess Hazzecha About 1161 (?) In large allegorical terms, Hildegard advises the abbess about her administrative duties.
In a true vision I heard these words that with burning desire you sought from me because of your great need. Faithful governance is exceedingly praiseworthy when it has these two edges of a sword: one which, along with shields, breastplates, and other armament, is used to guard the tower, and fight those who would destroy it; the other which defends its city with brave knights so that its walls are not captured by the enemy, its gates opened to treacherous spies, and the knights killed. Under such governance, men are blessed.
Those who lack such governance are worse than peasants who shrewdly and selfishly manage their farms thinking only of their herds and their fodder. About such it cannot be said: "Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer" [Cant 3.6]. Nor can the following be said: "How beautiful are thy steps in shoes, O prince's daughter" [Cant 7.1]. Here is the meaning of the verse: He who denies his own will in the exile of this world (which is what "the desert" signifies) rises up to God, through all his works, by sighing to Him, for, as it is written, the perfume of aromatic spices rises in the sight of the Lord [cf. Cant
3.6]. For he chooses to mortify his flesh, and so from the perfume of the spices and the mortification of the flesh, all the virtues grow in him, and he is never satiated. That passage concerning the celestial citizens of angels and saints is addressed to the one who does this: "How beautiful are thy steps," that is to say, the zeal in which you walk by mortifying the flesh, "O prince's daughter." But, according to the prophet, he who is neither hot nor cold will be spewed out of the mouth [cf. Apoc 3.15–16], because he puts forth no effort in either earthly or heavenly things. I compare such a one to locusts, which do not fly with the birds, nor walk with the animals on the earth. Rather, they drift uselessly, like a whirlwind, which quickly dissipates.
O daughter of the Sacred Name, open your ears, and with diligent heart hear the meaning of this allegorical message: What glorious praise there is for the towers of that well-established city, for they are love and harmony joined. And why do I use the term "tower"? Because the fountain that springs [cf.John 4.14] from the most high God flowed forth, encircling the whole earth, for God Himself so established all of creation in His absolute love that they lacked for nothing. Learn from this, therefore, that holy persons, in whom love dwells, lack for nothing, because their hearts are surrounded with gentleness and peace, as by the flowing aroma of balsam. It is for this reason that the ancient serpent is not able to destroy them, because just as a noisome stench is dispersed by the scent
The Letters of Uildegard of Bingen of balsam, so does the devil flee from love and hide away in a cave. But wherever holy persons, in whom love does not dwell, are gathered together in the name of the Lord, they are like a city that has no tower or like beautiful houses that have no loftiness. Therefore, in this disorder they are despoiled of the money of justice and of the Rule, because they do not have well-built houses and so, frequently, they are destroyed, because just as a tower both adorns and sustains a city, so love adorns and sustains all the virtues. The knights of Love—Obedience, Faith, and Hope—are stationed in the tower. Obedience is girt with a shield, because it is always subordinate. Faith is clad in a breastplate, because it approves all good things which are in God, but which it has never seen with its eyes. And, through Faith, Hope embraces heaven with all its adornments. For Faith always looks to God through Obedience, and thus carries out what has been commanded.
Indeed, "God is love" [I John 4.8], because all His work is holy. But in humility He came down from heaven in order to free His prisoners who abandoned love when they did not know Him. He did this through His humanity, and thereby set an example for us. How? When we have given up our own will in performing the duties of this world, we follow His footsteps. And when we are gathered together in His name, just as all other birds gather to the eagle, we imitate Abraham, who left his people and his native country [cf Gen 12.Iff], and, in accordance with God's command, performed the circumcision [cf. Gen 17.2 3—24], which was foreign to him. And when we are obedient to God's commands, through the Man who is like to us, we are multiplied in blessings like the stars of heaven, just as God promised Abraham through His angel [cf. Gen 22.15ff], for we too are searching for something foreign to us according to His incarnation, and thus we regard ourselves as nothing, and labor in the spiritual life. When we do this, we fortify our tower on all sides with stalwart knights through humility. And we too are stalwart knights when we overcome the desires of this world, subdue the madness of wrath, endure our poverty for the sake of Christ's love, reject the murderous thoughts of envy and hate, spurn not other sinners like ourselves or judge them unjustly, and do not seek false testimony against the upright and innocent.
These stalwart knights are those who guard our city on all sides, so that the wall of the holy Rule and our calling will not be breached by our enemies, that is, by hateful, spiteful morals, nor the door of peace repudiated by contradiction, for if that happens, the bolts of our door will be opened, and our enemies will come unhindered into our city. Let us not join with those who say in their evererring heart: We reject that which man's reason chooses and imposes upon us, because the things we choose and set for ourselves are more useful and just. Those treacherous people are the ones who destroy our city through their treachery, because they repudiate those things which have been passed down to us from our ancient, holy, and learned doctors concerning fasting, vigils, prayer, and other virtuous activities. But they choose, instead, their own will in place of the God
Who created them.
Listen, O holy daughter. No stalwart knights are protecting your tower, and the guardians of your city are asleep. And so they have been led into the desert, through their own will. Thus your tower and city are so arid that they can scarcely stand. So rise up from your sleep, because the cables of your ship (that is, the