by St. Hildegard of Bingen[1]
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| Scivias I.4: Conception of Soul and Body. Rupertsberg MS, fol. 22r (detail) |
| O splendidissima gemma et serenum decus solis qui tibi infusus est, fons saliens de corde Patris, quod est unicum Verbum suum, per quod creavit mundi primam materiam, quam Eva turbavit. Hoc Verbum effabricavit tibi Pater hominem, et ob hoc es tu illa lucida materia per quam hoc ipsum Verbum exspiravit omnes virtutes, ut eduxit in prima materia omnes creaturas. |
O jewel resplendent and bright and joyous beauty of the sun that’s flooded into you— the fountain leaping from the Father’s heart. This is his single Word by which he did create the world’s primordial matter, a motherhood into confusion cast by Eve. This Word the Father made for you into a man— and this is why you are that bright and shining matter, through which that Word has breathed forth every virtue’s pow’r, as he brought forth all creatures in a primal motherhood. |
