“Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice!” (Ps 95[96].11)

The Nativity of Christ,
from the Floreffe Bible, British Library,
Add MS 17738, fol. 168r
(ca. 1170, Belgium)

A Sermon for the Nativity of the Lord

From the Speculum Ecclesiae of Honorius Augustodunensis (early 12th cen.)^[1]

Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice! Let the mountains break into songs of praise, for the Lord has comforted his people and will have mercy on his poor (Ps 95[96].11 / Is 49.13).^[2] It is right that the heavens are bid to be glad today, for today they have gained the illumination of new light and new joy. Today indeed heavens’ King has willed to visit the earth with his presence and to restore through humans the loss incurred in heaven by the angels’ fall.^[3] So at once the heavens have shown their cheerful joy to the world by sending forth a shining star in honor for their King. It is also right to urge the earth to rejoice today, for the Truth that sprung up from the earth (Ps 84.12[85.11]) has come today to free her from the curse and to unite humankind, born from the earth, with the angels in heaven. The earth has made her great exultation known to the world today by pouring forth from her womb a spring of oil for her God, who is born from her bosom, and offering it to those who look in wonder ^[4] The mountains, too, are urged to break into song in praise of God.^[5] The mountains are the patriarchs and prophets, who transcended human merits by their holy way of life like mountains that rose high above the plains of the earth. Today they have broken into song in praise of God, for what the patriarchs once foretold in figures and the prophets in Scripture, they rejoice today to see fulfilled—that the people of the Gentiles who walked in the darkness of ignorance have seen today the great light of God’s eternal Wisdom (Is 9.2). And on those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death—that is, hell—light has risen (Is 9.2): Christ is born, the splendor of the everlasting Father;^[6] after coming down for them and snatching them from the darkness, he drew them towards eternal light.

“By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their power by the spirit of his mouth.” (Ps 32[33].6)

A Sermon for Pentecost

Pentecost
From British Library, MS Egerton 809, fol. 35v
(Gospel Lectionary, early 12th cen., Germany)

From the Speculum Ecclesiae of Honorius Augustodunensis (early 12th-cen.)^[1]

By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their power by the spirit of his mouth (Ps 32[33].6).^[2] Through the Son, who is the Word of God, not only the heavens but all things were created from nothing, and so that they would not be again melted into nothing, they were confirmed by that same Word and all their power furnished by the spirit of his mouth. The angels, too, are called “heavens” who, when the others fell, were confirmed in divine love through the Word and decked out by his spirit with all power.^[3] So it is written, The Spirit of God has adorned the heavens (Job 26.13), for he graced both the heavens with the stars and the angels with the virtues.

“The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood fixed in its order.” (Hbk 3.11)

The Ascension of Christ
13th-c. apse window, Lyons Cathedral
(Image: Wikipedia)

A Sermon for the Ascension of the Lord

From the Speculum Ecclesiae of Honorius Augustodunensis (early 12th cen.)^[1]

The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood fixed in its order (Hbk 3.11).^[2] Christ is the eternal sun, by which all the angels’ choirs are enlightened; he is the true light, by which all souls are enlightened (Jn 1.9). While hidden here beneath the cloud of the flesh, he is surrounded by the gloom of our fragility—but at last he surfaced from the darkness of hell and today is lifted gloriously up above the stars and exalted above all the angels’ dignities, the Lord of Majesty at the right hand of the Father. The moon or Church, enlightened by him, stood fixed in her order,^[3] as with the apostles she watched him ascend the heavens. The apostles indeed formed the Church’s order as they established for her the order of living rightly and instructed her in how to direct her course according to the Sun of righteousness (Mal 4.6). O how splendid these horns the newborn moon has extended today, as the sun rising high poured into it the brilliance of eternal splendor! O how clear her visage, as she stood fixed in her order, watching with the apostolic choir—who formed her order—and with the Virgin Mother of God—who served as her type—as her flesh penetrated the outer heavens with her head, that is, with her Redeemer, with her Bridegroom, with her God! O what happiness mounts up today in heaven for the angels, as the Son of God, who was directed from the palace to the prison on behalf of a servant—indeed from his homeland into exile, an exile on behalf of an exile—as he returns today triumphantly to the Father’s kingdom! So too this is called the day of God’s triumph, when the singular Conqueror of death is glorified as the Author of life with hymns of praise by the Senate of the heavenly Court.

“This is the day that the Lord has made!”

Opening of the sermon De Paschali Die,
from Oxford, Bodleian Library,
MS Lyell 56, fol. 58v.

A Sermon for Easter Day

From the Speculum Ecclesiae of Honorius Augustodunensis (early 12th cen.)^[1]

This is the day that the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Ps 117[118].24) Dear friends, the Lord has made all days in his majesty, but this one he chose in his loving kindness before all of them, as a joy for both angels and humans. Indeed, the night of death and pain that began with Adam’s sin and keeps all things wrapped in its gloom—this holy night has brought it to an end. And today began the day of happiness and joy that will have no evening. The entire course of time from Adam until Christ was called the day of death, in which every person was led at death into hell. But this time is called the day of life and resurrection—it begins when Christ is declared to have risen again with many; and when it ends, there is no doubt that the whole human^[2] race will be raised again on that very same day. In that day indeed, that time of grace, the elect who have been withdrawn from the flesh soon shall enter the joy of the Lord (Mt 25.21); but when the last resurrection has been accomplished, they shall possess double in their land (Is 61.7), when they rejoice everlastingly in body together with the soul at the Lord’s good things.

Now Published: St. Hildegard of Bingen’s The Book of Divine Works

I am pleased to announce that my translation of The Book of Divine Works by St. Hildegard of Bingen is now available from The Catholic University of America Press. This is the first time that the Visionary Doctor’s final and most important visionary work has been issued in a complete and scholarly English translation. The volume includes:

• a Select Bibliography, with editions and translations of Hildegard’s works and secondary scholarship;
• a 22-page Introduction;
• black-and-white reproductions of the ten famous illustrations for the work from the thirteenth-century Lucca manuscript (online color gallery here);
• extensive explanatory notes and references to Scripture, Hildegard’s corpus, and other works of the Christian tradition;
• special indices of Scriptural citations (with exegetical passages marked in bold) and References to Hildegard’s Works.

You can get it directly from CUA Press here; through through Amazon here; European distribution can be accessed here, or email here.

I’ve been working on this project for nearly five years now. My oldest son was born at its beginnings, and my wife’s patience has been tested throughout. I owe my whole family the deepest debt of gratitude and reparations for its burden. Friends, too, have provided invaluable support, especially in accessing research materials unavailable to me. To all those who have helped: a big thank you!

Cum processit factura (Symphonia 13)

For the Octave of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
An Antiphon by St. Hildegard of Bingen ^[1]

Scivias I.2: The Fall.
Rupertsberg MS,
fol. 4r.

Cum processit factura digiti Dei, formata ad imaginem Dei in ortu mixti sanguinis per peregrinationem casus Ade, elementa susceperunt gaudia in te,  o laudabilis Maria, celo rutilante et in laudibus sonante.

Although the craft of God’s extended finger, created in God’s image, came forth in birth of blood commingled, in pilgrimage exiled by Adam’s fall; the elements received their joys in you, O Mary, worthy of our praise, as heaven gleams with rubied light and echoes gladsome shouts of praise.

O quam magnum miraculum (Symphonia 16)

For the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
An Antiphon by St. Hildegard of Bingen^[1]

Virgin Mary, Queen of Heavens'
Symphony, Scivias III.13
Rupertsberg MS, fol. 229r

O quam magnum miraculum est   quod in subditam femineam formam rex introivit. Hoc Deus fecit quia humilitas super omnia ascendit. Et o quam magna felicitas est in ista forma, quia malicia, que de femina fluxit hanc femina postea      detersit et omnem suavissimum odorem virtutum edificavit ac celum ornavit plus quam terram prius turbavit.

How great the wonder is! Into the female form subdued the King has come. This God has done, for meekness mounts o’er all. And O how great the happiness is in that form, for malice, which from a woman flowed— a woman then this malice wiped      away, and ev’ry sweet perfume of virtues she has raised— the heavens graced far more than e’er the earth in chaos cast.

O viriditas digiti Dei (Symphonia 42)

For the Octave of St. Disibod, a Responsory by St. Hildegard of Bingen^[1]

St. Disibod
Oil on canvas, 17th c.
(From Colonial Art)

V. O viriditas digiti Dei, in qua Deus constituit      plantationem que in excelso resplendent      ut statuta columna: R. Tu gloriosa in preparatione Dei. V. Et o altitudo montis que numquam dissipaberis in discretione Dei, tu tamen stas a longe ut exul, sed non est in potestate armati    qui te rapiat.

V. O fresh viridity of God’s creative finger, in which God planted his      green vineyard that glistens in the heights,      a lofty pillar: R. How glorious you are as you prepare for God! V. And O, the mountain’s height! O never shall you be laid low at God’s discerning judgment— no, you stand yet afar, an exile, but not ensnared by that brigand’s power who snatches after you.

O mirum admirandum (Symphonia 41)

For the Feast of St. Disibod, an Antiphon by St. Hildegard of Bingen^[1]

“The Ruins of the Disibodenberg
Monastery,” Lithograph, 1833.
From Gemeinfrei IGL-Bildarchiv.

O mirum admirandum quod    absconsa forma precellit      ardua in honesta statura, ubi vivens altitudo profert mistica. Unde, o Disibode, surges in fine, succurrente flore omnium ramorum      mundi, ut primum surrexisti.

O wonder, O how wondrous! A hidden form, so hard, so high,      so steep, surpasses in its lofty honor— where Living Height itself reveals the mysteries. And so, O Disibod, you shall arise at th’ end of time as first you rose— the flow’r of all the branches      of the world comes to your aid.

O vos felices radices (Symphonia 32)

For the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist,
A Responsory for Patriarchs and Prophets by St. Hildegard of Bingen ^[1]

Scivias III.13: Symphonia in
Heaven: Choir of Patriarchs
and Prophets (detail).
Rupertsberg MS, fol. 229r

V. O vos felices radices cum quibus opus miraculorum   et non opus criminum per torrens iter perspicue umbre plantatum est, et o tu ruminans ignea vox, precurrens limantem lapidem subvertentem abyssum: R. Gaudete in capite vestro. V. Gaudete in illo quem non viderunt in terris multi qui ipsum ardenter vocaverunt. R. Gaudete in capite vestro.

V. O merry roots, with whom the work of miracles— but not the work of crimes— was planted by a journey rushing, tearing forth, a path of shade perlucid; and you, O voice of ruminating fire, forerunner of the Rock that grinds to polish and to topple the abyss: R. Rejoice in him, your captain! V. Rejoice in him whom most on earth have never seen— yet ardently have called upon. R. Rejoice in him, your captain!

An Explanation of the Athanasian Creed

Explanatio Symboli Sancti Athanasii by St. Hildegard of Bingen

This treatise can also be viewed and downloaded as a PDF here.

Introduction

Scivias II.2: The Trinity.
Rupertsberg MS, fol. 47r.

Hildegard composed this commentary on the Pseudo-Athanasian Creed as part of a series of shorter works written in the early 1170’s in response to a letter from her secretary and provost, Volmar, expressing on behalf of her community of nuns their anxiety that, as the Visionary Doctor entered her seventies, she would not be long for the earth. The letter draws a particularly striking contrast between the vanities of scholastic disputes and the truly divine teaching with which Hildegard had been inspired. Hildegard’s response to this letter is preserved in the manuscripts as the preface to her Explanatio Symboli Sancti Athanasii.^[1] She likely chose to write a commentary on this standard liturgical text because its treatment of “the catholic faith” offered her a structure on which to provide her community a summary of her most characteristic thoughts about the relationship between the triune divinity and its work of creation, with humankind at its center.

O ignis Spiritus Paracliti (Symphonia 28)

For Pentecost, a Sequence for the Holy Spirit by St. Hildegard of Bingen^[1]

Pentecost, from the
Ingeborg Psalter, ca. 1195
(Web Gallery of Art)

1a. O ignis Spiritus Paracliti,     vita vite omnis creature, sanctus es vivificando      formas. 1b. Sanctus es ungendo       periculose fractos, sanctus es       tergendo fetida vulnera.

1a. O fire of the Spirit and Defender, the life of every life created: Holy are you—giving life      to all the forms. 1b. Holy are you—anointing to heal       those danger has broken. Holy are you—cleansing       to clean the festering wounds.

Fundamentum Ecclesiae solum

“The Church’s One Foundation,” translated into Latin
in the style of St. Hildegard of Bingen

Scivias II.3:
The Church & Christ.
Rupertsberg MS, fol. 51r.

1. The Church’s one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord, She is His new creation By water and the Word. From heav’n He came and sought her   To be His holy bride; With His own blood He bought her And for her life He died.

1. Fundamentum Ecclesiae solum est Christus eius Dominus, quam novam creaturam facit per aquam atque Verbum, de caelo veniens et eam requirens quam sanctam sibi desponsavit et suo sanguine redemit, cui vitam morte dedit.

Nunc gaudeant materna (Symphonia 67)

For Easter, the Resurrection of the Lord, an Antiphon for the Church
by St. Hildegard of Bingen^[1]

Scivias II.3:
Mother Church & Baptism.
Rupertsberg MS, fol. 51r.

Nunc gaudeant materna viscera      Ecclesie, quia in superna simphonia      filii eius in sinum suum collocati sunt. Unde, o turpissime serpens,      confusus es, quoniam quos tua estimatio      in visceribus      suis habuit nunc fulgent in sanguine      Filii Dei, et ideo laus tibi sit, Rex altissime.        Alleluia.

Now let the womb and heart      of Mother Church rejoice! For in the starry symphony      her children are gathered to her bosom. O vile snake, you are      confounded, for those your hollow jealousy      had thought      it clutched within its guts now sparkle in the blood      of God’s own Son— praise be to you, the highest King!      Alleluia!

O virgo Ecclesia (Symphonia 66)

For Holy Week, an Antiphon for the Church by St. Hildegard of Bingen^[1]

Scivias II.6: The Crucifixion.
Rupertsberg MS, fol. 86rr.

O virgo Ecclesia, plangendum est, quod sevissimus lupus filios tuos   de latere tuo abstraxit. O ve callido serpenti! Sed o quam preciosus est       sanguis Salvatoris, qui in vexillo regis Ecclesiam ipsi      desponsavit, unde filios illius requirit.

O Virgin Mother Church, lament and mourn! A savage wolf has snatched your children from your side. O woe to serpent’s trickery! But O, how precious is       the Savior’s blood that with the royal banner sealed his bridegroom’s promise      to the Church, whose children he is seeking.

O spectabiles viri (Symphonia 31)

For the Feast of the Prophet Ezekiel, an Antiphon for Patriarchs and Prophets
by St. Hildegard of Bingen ^[1]

Scivias III.4: The Pillar
of the Word of God.
Rupertsberg MS, fol. 145v.

O spectabiles viri qui pertransistis occulta, aspicientes per oculos spiritus et annuntiantes in lucida umbra acutam et viventem lucem in virga germinantem, que sola floruit de introitu radicantis luminis: Vos antiqui sancti, predixistis salvationem exulum animarum que inmerse fuerant morti, qui circuisti ut rote, mirabiliter loquentes      mistica montis qui celum tangit, pertransiens ungendo      multas aquas, cum etiam inter vos surrexit lucida lucerna, que ipsum montem precurrens          ostendit.

O men of sight—what a sight! Through mysteries you’ve passed with gaze of spirit’s eyes, to announce in shining shadow a living, piercing light that buds upon that single branch that flourished at the entrance of deep-rooted light: You saints of old! You have foretold salvation of souls in exile plunged, in death immersed. You circled, spun like wheels as wondrously proclaimed      the mountain’s mysteries whose top the heavens touched and passed through many waters      with anointing— yet still among you arose a shining lamp that raced ahead, that mountain      to reveal.

O successores (Symphonia 40)

For the Feast of St. Isidore of Seville, an Antiphon for Confessors
by St. Hildegard of Bingen ^[1]

Initial D: Lion of Judah
Stammheim / Hildesheim
Missal (ca. 1160-70), fol. 111v.
J. Paul Getty Museum

O successores fortissimi leonis, inter templum et altare dominantes in ministratione eius   sicut angeli sonant in laudibus et sicut assunt populis      in adiutorio, vos estis inter illos qui hec faciunt, semper curam habentes      in officio Agni.

Successors of the mighty Lion, between the temple and the altar commanding in his service: as angels sing in praise resounding and quicken to defend the people      with their aid— so you among them as they do these things, keep ever carefully the office      of the Lamb.

O tu illustrata (Symphonia 23)

For the Feast of the Annunciation, an Antiphon for the Virgin
by St. Hildegard of Bingen^[1]

Chastity, from
Scivias III.8: The Pillar
of the Savior's Humanity.
Rupertsberg MS, fol. 178r.

O tu illustrata de divina claritate, clara Virgo Maria, Verbo Dei infusa, unde venter tuus floruit de introitu Spiritus Dei, qui in te sufflavit et in te exsuxit quod Eva abstulit in abscisione puritatis, per contractam contagionem        de suggestione diaboli.

Illumined by God’s clearest brightness, O Virgin Mary bright, and flooded with the Word of God: your womb then flourished at the entrance of God’s Spirit— he breathed within you, within drew out the loss of Eve, a purity cut off and silenced by that disease contracted at the Devil’s sly persuasion.

O vos imitatores (Symphonia 39)

For the Feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great, a Responsory for Confessors
by St. Hildegard of Bingen ^[1]

Scivias II.6: Eucharist.
Rupertsberg MS, fol. 86v.

V. O vos imitatores      excelse persone in preciosissima et gloriosissima significatione,      o quam magnus est      vester ornatus, ubi homo procedit, solvens et stringens in Deo pigros et peregrinos, R. etiam ornans      candidos et nigros et magna onera remittens.

V. O actors, you who play      the Highest Role within that precious drama, that glorious sacrament! How great and beautiful      your vested costume, as steps forth such a man to loose and bind in God the slacker and sojourner, R. the shining and the squalid      both to beautify and all their heavy burdens to remit.

Vos flores rosarum (Symphonia 38)

For the Feast of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, a Responsory for Martyrs
by St. Hildegard of Bingen^[1]

Agony in the Garden.
Drawing from the Abbey of
St. Walburg, Eichstätt, ca. 1500.
(From J. Hamburger,
Nuns as Artists, plate 8)

V. Vos flores rosarum, qui in effusione sanguinis vestri   beati estis in maximis gaudiis, redolentibus et sudantibus in emptione que fluxit de interiori mente consilii manentis ante evum R. in illo, in quo non erat constitutio a capite. V. Sit honor in consortio vestro,   qui estis instrumentum ecclesie et qui in vulneribus vestri sanguinis undatis: R. In illo, in quo non erat constitutio a capite.

V. You blooms of roses, within your blood outpoured you’re blessed in joys supreme— the fragrance and distilled perfume of that redemption that flowed from th’ inmost heart of counsel kept before all time R. in him who was unfounded at the start. V. An honor in your fellowship! The Church’s instrument you are as in your wounds, your waves of blood, you surge and gush: R. in him who was unfounded at the start.