An Abbess to Hildegard
The Letters
Now, you, O knight of Christ, heed this parable. This lord is your God, Who keeps watch from the heights, because God ought to be invoked by all things.
And God exhorts men with this admonition: You must be judged by your works.
But some men labor in honor to the Divine, while others dawdle in the doldrums of tedium. Yet those who honor God say: By the instigation of the devil, we fell when Adam went astray, and we have contracted many vices in our works. But we tearfully lament that transgression, and for the glory of Your name, we promise that we desire to abstain from our sins. And in great love, we have venerated Your honor, Your justice, and the Scriptures that You have given us. And the Lord,
Who is inscrutable, praises them, and gives them charge over many good things [cf Matt 25.2Iff], and He does not condemn them, because they invoked Him in penitence. But those who slumber in disregard of divine fear say: Your glory has afflicted us, Your justice has wounded us, the multitude of Your Scriptures has suffocated us, the viridity of Your Spirit has turned aside the desire of our mind, and the outpouring of Your zeal has tired us out so that we cannot look to You in joy, and we cannot excuse ourselves. And the Lord calls them iniquitous servants, declaring that He had no need of their aid in administering His justice.
Moreover, He asks why they do not blush to assail Him with the temerity of their words. Therefore, they ought to be bound and punished until they get rid of all their vices.
Now, you, O knight of Christ, understand that all these things pertain to you. Indeed, the servant who was standing denotes you. For you did few good things when you were in secular life. But the admonition of the Holy Spirit struck you, and turned you to good. Yet beware lest you be like the sitting servant, that is, lest you say that you are burned by the Rule as by the sun, or lest you have contempt for governance as for the moon, or lest you grow tired of the communion of your brothers as of the stars, or lest you bring derision upon the admonition of the Holy Spirit as the dew, or lest you disdain correction as the rain. But always embrace God in good will and desire, and, by embracing, persevere in Him. Then you will live.
Metz (St. Glodesindis)
An Abbess to Hildegard Before 1173 Greatly concerned about her ability to perform the duties of her office, the abbess asks advice of Hildegard.
To the lady Hildegard, sister dearest to her in Christ, N., abbess (although unworthy) of St. Glodesindis in Metz, with a prayer for salvation in the true Savior.