Writings of
St. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
on the Holy Spirit Wisdom
* * *
Oh children of humanity, why have you corrupted tender Love, who gazes far
into my depths and flows forth in works abounding? Because She flows within me,
from Her in turn flow the living waters. She resembles a budding branch, for, as
a virgin's embraces are most tender because of her integrity, even so Love's
embraces are more tender than those of any other. But now She mourns, because
audacious men tear her to pieces with their evil grumbling. Hence, She flees
from them to that height whence She came, and weeps because Her children, whom
She suckled at Her fertile breasts, fall sick and will not be cleansed from the
corruption of their flighty minds.
O wretched humanity! Why do they take on themselves the misery of alienation
and exile, tearing themselves away... She is always ready... Yet they separate
themselves from the Bride, whence they are darkened and shadowed by clouds as if
they had ruptured heaven.
The Holy Spirit as Caritas (Grace/World Soul)
St. Hildegard von Bingen
trans. B.
Newman (mod.)
* * *
I heard a voice saying to me, "This Lady whom you see is Love, who has
Her dwelling place in eternity. When God wished to create the world, He leaned
down, and with tender Love, provided all that was needed, as a parent prepares
an inheritance for a child. And thus, in a mighty blaze the Lord ordained all
His works.
Then creation recognized its Creator in its own forms and appearances. For in
the beginning, when God said, "Let it be!" and it came to pass, the
means and the Matrix of creation was Love, because all creation was formed
through Her as in the twinkling of an eye.
The Holy Spirit as Sapientia (Wisdom/Creatrix)
St. Hildegard von Bingen
trans. B.
Newman (mod.)
* * *
I am Wisdom. Mine is the blast of the resounding Word through which all
creation came to be, and I quickened all things with my breath so that not one
of them is mortal in its kind; for I am Life. Indeed I am Life, whole and
undivided -- not hewn from any stone, or budded from branches, or rooted in
virile strength; but all that lives has its root in Me. For Wisdom is the root
whose blossom is the resounding Word....
I flame above the beauty of the fields to signify the earth -- the matter
from which humanity was made. I shine in the waters to indicate the soul, for,
as water suffuses the whole earth, the soul pervades the whole body. I burn in
the sun and the moon to denote Wisdom, and the stars are the innumerable words
of Wisdom.
The Holy Spirit as Caritas (Grace/World Soul & Wisdom/Creatrix)
St. Hildegard von Bingen
trans. B.
Newman (mod.)
* * *
May the Holy Spirit cleanse you from all faults of malice, and win you the
friendship of Love, most sweet, most tender; who captured the mighty Stag and
poured forth song above all heavens; who entered the bridal chamber of all the
King's mysteries; and who revealed Herself in all Her beauty in the mirror of
the Cherubim.
The Holy Spirit as Caritas (Grace/World Soul)
St. Hildegard von Bingen
trans. B.
Newman (mod.)
* * *
I am the Supreme and Fiery Force who kindles every living spark....As I
circled the whirling sphere with my upper wings (that is, with Wisdom), rightly
I ordained it. And I am the fiery life of the Divine essence: I flame above the
beauty of the fields; I shine in the waters; I burn in the sun, the moon, and
the stars. And, with the airy wind, I quicken all things vitally by an unseen,
all-sustaining life. For the air is alive in the verdure and the flowers; the
waters flow as if they lived; the sun too lives in its light; and when the moon
wanes it is rekindled by the light of the sun, as if it lived anew. Even the
stars glisten in their light as if alive.
The Holy Spirit as Caritas (Grace/World Soul)
St. Hildegard von Bingen
trans. B.
Newman (mod.)
* * *
She is Divine Wisdom. She watches over all people and all things in heaven
and on earth, being of such radiance and brightness that, for the measureless
splendor that shines in Her, you cannot gaze on Her face or on the garments She
wears. For She is awesome in terror as the Thunderer's lightening, and gentle in
goodness as the sunshine. Hence, in Her terror and Her gentleness, She is
incomprehensible to mortals, because of the dread radiance of divinity in Her
face and the brightness that dwells in Her as the robe of Her beauty. She is
like the Sun, which none can contemplate in its blazing face or in the glorious
garment of its rays. For She is with all and in all, and of beauty so great in
Her mystery that no one could know how sweetly She bears with people, and with
what unfathomable mercy She spares them.
The Holy Spirit as Wisdom: Scientia Dei (Knowledge of God)
St. Hildegard von Bingen
trans. B. Newman (mod.)
[Primary source: B. Newman, Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard's Theology of the
Feminine (1987). See also L. Boff, O.F.M., The Maternal Face of God
(1987); F. Bowie & O. Davies, Eds., Hildegard of Bingen: Mystical
Writings (1990); E. Johnson, C.S.J., Women, Earth, and Creator Spirit (1993); C.
Matthews, Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom (1991); B. M. Meehan, S.S.C., Delighting in
the Feminine Divine (1994); B. M. Meehan, S.S.C., Exploring the Feminine Face of
God: A Prayerful Journey (1991); T. Schipflinger, Sophia-Maria (1998); G. Uhlein,
O.S.F., Meditations with Hildegard of Bingen (1983).
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All Gods and
Goddesses
are aspects of
the One Deity

The One
Deity
is reflected in
all Gods and Goddesses

The One
Deity
is Deity of all

Deity is
male and female,
yet genderless

Deity is
all forms,
yet formless

Deity is
within all;
Deity is
beyond all

Deity is
all-embracing
love

With all
that
is known by all
the world's sages,
with all that
is written in all
sacred books,
with all that
is experienced
in all
spiritual traditions,
we still cannot
know
the unknowable--
Deity is
Mystery

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