76 Tbr Lmn:, of Hildegord of lJillj!

,r1I
23
Hildegard to the prelates at
Mainz
l
11 78- 79
T his is the most the most intriguing--of all I lildc-
gard's letters, because of her elawnl(ion of the idea of music as a means of recap-
turing the original joy ,md beamy of paudisc. Pla<.:cd under intcrdi<.:t fur her
failure to obey the prelates of M ai ln, I lil dcgard and her (;ommuni ty felt the loss
of music- specifically si nglcl l OUI hy the inrcrcii(;t-l11ost intensely, as onc l--Jn
sce fr0111 wh:lt follows. In this Icn.: r, 'lS Peter Dronkc points out (lVolllen rVrite1"S,
p. 197), I-i ildcg.lrd "works out her own philosophy of music music becomes not
only the 11I11siCtl 1JllllldllJltl. the cosm;{" harmony familiar from Bocthius's Dr JHIIIIUI ,
but a way of understanding hisrury- Adam and Lucifer, the Ol d Testamcnt
prophets and the New Testament Church- and a way in whieh human beill b'S
ca n still incarnate heavenl y beauty 111 an earthly mode. The symboli sm then turns
into micro-cosmic '1Ilegory-lllusic is the body and soul, and the princi-
pl es with which they aTC informed-all allegory that is dynamic and in no way
forced, aTising effortlessly out of l-lildegard's pattern of thoughts and images."
Despite the comllClling argument tbat Hildegard makes, Ihe prclales of Maim:
paid absolutely no heed to this leuer, and persisted innexibly with the interdict.
Bya vision, which was implanted in my soul by God the Great Artisan before
I was born, I have bcen compelled to write these things because of the interdict
by which our superiors have bound us, on accounrof a certain dead man buried
at our monastery, a man burie(l wi thout any objecti on, with his own priest
officiating. Yet onl y a few days after his hurial, these men ordered us to remove
him from our cemetery. Seized by no small terror, as a result, I looked as usual
to the T rue Light, and, with wakeful eyes, I saw in my spi rit that if thi s man
were disinterred in accordance with their eommall<ls, a terrible and lamentable
danger would wllle upon us like a dark cloud before a threatening thunder-
storm."
Therefore, wc have not presumed to remove the body of the deceased
inasmuch as he had confessed his si ns, had received extreme unction and COIll-
!lmnion, and had been buried without objection. Furthermore, we have nor
yielded to those who advised or even commanded thi s course of action. Not,
certainl y, that wc take the counsel of upright men or the orders of our superiors
lightly, bur wc would not have it appear that , our of femi nine harshness' wc
did injustice to the sacraments of Christ, with which this man had been fortified
whil e he was sti ll alive. But so that we lIlay not be totally di sobedient we have,
in accordance with thei r injunction, ceased from singi ng the divinc praises and
from participation in Mass, as had been our reguhr monthly custom.
l

Tbr 77
As a result, my sisters and I been greatly distressed and saddened.
Weighed down by this burden, therefore, I heard these words in a vision: It is
improper for you to obey human words ordering you to :l bandon the sacr.l-
merus of the Ga rmcntof the Word of Cod: \ho, born virginally of thc Virgin
Mary, is your sa lv:ltion. Still , il is incumhem upon you to seek permission to
participate in the sacraments from those prelates who laid the oblib<;ltioll of
obedience upon you. For ever since Adarn was driven from the bright region
of paradise into the exi le of this world on account of his disobediem:e, the
conception of all people is justly tainted by that fi rst tr:lllsgression. Therefore,
in accordance with God's inscrll[able plan, it was necessary for a man free from
all pollution to be horn in hum<ln flesh, through WhOll1'1 all who arc predestined
to life mi ght be cte:msed from corruption :l1ld might he sanctified by the com-
munion of his body so that he might rem:lin in them and they in him for their
fortification. T h:H person, however, who is disobedient to the commands of
God, as Adam was, and is completely forgetful of Him must be completely cut
off from pa n icipation in the saU:llllent of His body, just as he himself h:ls
turned aWll)' from Him in di sohedience. And he Illust relll:lin so until, purged
through penitence, he is permitted by the to receive thc communion
of the Lord's body again. In contrast, however, a person who is 'lware that he
has incurred such II restriction not as a result of anything tll:lt he has done,
either consciously or dc1ibcr,u"Ciy, ll1:ly he present at the service of the life-
giving sacramcnt, to be cieanse(1 by the Lamb without sin, \Vho, in obedience
1'0 the F:l ther, allowed Hi mself 10 be sacrificed on the altar of the cross that he
might restore salv,l ti on to all :
In that same vision I also heard that I had erred in not going humbly and
devoutly to my superiors for permission to participate il\ the communion, espe-
cially since we were not at fa ult in receiving that dead man into our ccmctely.
For, after all, he had been fonified by his own priest with proper Christian
procedllfe, :lIld, without object'ion ftOm anyone, was buried in our cemetery,
with all Bingen joini ng in the funeral procession. And so God has commanded
me to report these things to you. our lords and prelates. Further, r saw in my
vision also that by obeying you wc have been cclebrating the divine office
incorrectly, for from the time of your restriction up to Ihe present, wc have
ceased to si ng the divine office. merely reading it instead. And I heard a voice
coming from the Livi ng Light concerni ng the varioll S kinds of praises, about
which David speaks in the psalm: " Pr:lise Him with sound of trumpet: praise
Him with psaltery and harp, " and so forth up to this point: " Let every spirit
praise the Lord" [Ps 150.3, 6J. These words use outward, vi sible things to teach
us about inwa rd thi ngs. Thus the material composition and the {luality of these
instruments instruct us how we OllghT to give form to the praise ofthc Creator
:md turn all the convictions of our inner being to the same. \hen we consider
these things carefully, we recall that lIl<ln needed the voice of the living Spirit,
but Adam lost this divine voice through disobedience. For while he was still
innocent, before his transgressi on, his voice blended full y with the voices of
the angels in thcir praise of Cod.' Angels arc clllled spi rits from [hat Spirit
which is Cod, and thus they havc such voices by virtue of their spiritual nature.
78 7'lJf Lmm of Hildfgnrd of Bil/gm
But Adarn lost that angelic voice which he had in paradise, for he fell asleep to
t hat knowledge which he possessed before his sin, jusr as a person on waking
up onl y dimly remembers what he had seen in his And so when he
was deceived by the tri ck of the devi l and rejected rhe will of his Creator, he
became wrapped up in the darkness of inward ignor.mcc as the just result of
his iniquity.
God, however, rcswrcs rhe souls of the elect to that pristine blessedness
by infusing them with t he light of truth. And in accordance with His etcrn:ll
plan, He so devised it that whenever He renews the hCllrts of many with the
pouring out of rhe prophetic spirit, they might, by means of His imcrior illu-
mination, regain some of the knowledge which Adam had before he was pun-
ished for his sin.h
And so the holy prophets, inspired by the Spi rit which they had received,
were called for this purpose: not only to compose psal ms :md cantieles (by
which the hearts of listeners would be inflamed) but al so to construct various
kinds of musical instruments to enhance these songs of praise with melodic
strains. Thereby, both through the form and qual ity of the instruments, as well
as through the meaning of the words which accompany them, those who hear
might be taught, as we said above, about inward things, since they have been
admonished and aroused by outward things. In such a W,IY, these holy prophets
get beyond the music of this exile and recall to mind that divine melody of
praise which Adam, in company with the angels, enjoyed in God before
his fall.
Men of zeal and wisdom have imitated the holy prophets and have them-
selves, with human skill , invemed several kinds of musical instruments, so that
they might be able to si ng for the delight of thei r souls, and they accompanied
their singing wit h instruments played with the flexing of the fingers, recalling,
in this way, Adam, who was formed by God's finger, which is the Holy Spirit.
For, before he si nned, his voice had the sweetnt:ss of all musical harmony.
Indeed, if he had remained in his original state, the weakness of mortal man
would not have been able to endure the power and the resonance of his voice.;
But when the devil, man's great (leceiver, learned lhat man had begun to
sing through God's inspiration and, therefore, was being transformed to bring
back the sweetness of the songs of heaven, mankind's homeland, hc was so
terrified at seeing hi s clever machinati ons go to ruin that he was greatly tor-
mented. Therefore. he devotes himself continually to t11inking up and working
out all kinds of wicked contrivances. Thus he never ceases from confoundi ng
confession and rhe sweet beauty of both divine praise and spiritual hymns,
eradicating them through wicked suggestions, impure thoughts. or various dis-
tractions from the heart of man and even from the mouth of the Church itself,
wherever he can, through dissemion, scandal, or unjusl oppression.
Therefore, you and al l prelates must exercise the greatest vigilance to clear
the air by full and thorough di scussion of the justification for such actions
before your verdict eloses the mouth of any church singing praises to God or
suspends it from handling or receiving the divine sacraments. And you must
be especiall y certain that YOlL are drawn to this action out of zeal for God's
justice, rather than out of indignation, unjust emotions, or a desire for revenge,
79
and yOll must always be on your b'1larJ not [0 be circumvcmcd in your decisions
by Satan, who drove man from celestial harmony and the delights of paradise.
Consider, too, that just as the body of Jesus Christ was born of the purity
of the Virgin Mary through the operation of the Holy Spirit so, too, the can-
ticle of praise, reflecting celestial harmony, is rooted in the Church through
the Holy Spirit. The body is the vestment of the spirit, which has a living voice,
and so it is proper for the body, in harmony with the soul, to use its voice to
sing pr.liscs to God. \hence, in metaphor, the prophetic spirit commands us
to praise God with clashing cymbals and cymbals of jubibtion lef. Ps 150.5],
as well as other musical instruments which men of wisdom :md zeal have
invented, because all arts pertaining to things useful and necessary for mankind
have been created by the breath that God sent into man's body. For this reason
it is proper that God be pra ised in all things.
And because sometimes a person sighs and groans at the sound of singi ng,
remembering, as it were, the nature of celestial harmony, the prophet, aware
that the soul is symphonic and thoughtfully reflecting on the profound nature
of the spirit, urges us in the psalm (cf. Ps 32.2, 91.4J to confess to the Lord
with the harp and to sing a pS;llm to Him with the ten-stringed psaltery. His
meaning is that the harp, which is plucked from below, relates to the discipline
of the body; the psaltery, which is plucked from above, pertains to the exertion
of the spirit; the ten chords, to the fulfillmem of the law.
1
Therefore, those who, without just cause, imllOse silence on :1 church and
prohibit the si nging of God's praises and those who have on earth unjustly
despoi1c<1 God of His honor and glory will lose their place among the chorus
of angels, unless they have amended their lives through true penitence and
humble restitution. Moreover, let those who hold the keys of heaven beware
not to open those things which arc to be kept d osed nor to close those things
which are to be kept open, for ha rsh judgment will fa ll upon those who rule,
unless, as the apostle says [er. Rom 12.8J, they rule with good judgmem.
And I heard a voice saying thus: VVho created heaven? God. Who opens
heaven to the faithful? God. VVho is like Him? No one. And so, 0 men of
faith, let none of you resist Him or oppose Him, lest He fa ll on you in His
might and you have no helper to protect you from His judgment. T his rime
is a womanish timc/ beCluse the dispensation of God's justice is weak. But the
strength of God's justice is exerting itsel f, a fe male warrior ba u ling against
injustice, so that it might fall d e f e a t e d . ~
Notes
I. In 11 78 1-1ildegard had permitted the burial of a ccrrnin noblcman-whose name
has not come down to us- in consecrated ground at Mount St. RUI.>Crt. 11\;s secmingl y
innocuous decision was to lead to I he bitterest confrontation that i-lildq,'<lrd, now eighty
years old, had ever faced in her long career. For the dead nobleman had oncc bce[1
excommunicated, and there remained some question of whether he had been absolved
from that interdict. At least so alleged the prelates of Maim:, who ordered Hildegard,
under pain of cX<"'OITIlmmiC"dtion herself, to have the corpse exhumed and cast out of
holy ground. The motives of the prelates, however, are suspect, eSI.>Ccinlly on account
of the haste with which they acted, while their archbishop was away in Rome serving as
80 1be Lctt('1, of f-lildfWml of Bil/gm
mediator between Frcdcrick Ihrha rossa and Pope Ill - not to mention the
apparent case with which H i1ril;g-Jrd could locate eyewitnesses to ;lrtirm the truth of the
absolution. In any C"JSC, Il ildcg;lrd was obdurate, resolutely refusing to give up the body.
( rhe " protocol" of her canonization reports that she Illade thl' sign of the cross over
the grave with her hIm/Ills, causing the tomb to vanish without a truce.) J-lildegard
remained sp!t:ndidly dcfiam, suffering. at this lone stage in her life, all the consequences
of excommunication, seeking all the whi le to have the decision oVCrfiJrncd.
Z. How cmnily Hrldcgard pla}'S her masculiuc audience!
J. This is a frcquem theme in Ihe leTters and the other works: the loss of the
"virility" of the earlier Church. Hence a woman, par:ldoxically, has been called by God
to help restore this lost \.irility. [n nnc of the numerous autnhiogl":lphical scctions in thc
ViM. [Iildeg:ml writes, "Eleven hundred years after the Incarnation of Christ the doc-
trine of the apostles and the burning justice which had been firmly estahlished in the
Christians and spirirual people bcg.m to falter ;m<l runled into hesitation." And then
she makes the specific ;lpplieation to herself. "/ U'IIS 110171 ill thou rillles." Sce Newman,
Sister of Wisdolll, pp. 138-49.
24
Hildegard to Christian,
Archbishop of Mainz
l
11 79
The prelates of Maim: of the previous letter ha,1 acted in the name of their arch-
bishop, Christi;Jn, who was away in Italy serving as mediator between Pope Alex-
ander HI llnd Frederick Barbarossa. Here, HildCf,t;ml informs Christian of the
causes of the contliCf and the steps she had taken to resolve it, and pl":lys for his
assistance.
o most gentle father and lord, appointed to be Christ's representative as shep-
herd of the flock of the Church, wc humbly give thanks to almi ghty God and
to your paternal piety that you have received our letter compassionately, poor
though wc arc, and that in your mercy you have deigned ro send a letter to
our superiors in Mainz on our behalf when we were sorely tried and perplexed,z
We give thanks also for the kind words expressed with your usual clemency,
which (brought by Hefmann, dean of the church of the Holy Apostles ill
Cologne) so consoled and cheered us in our trials and tribulations that wc have
run to you in al l confidence, like daughters to their cherished futher. Therefore,
gracious lord, we your servants, who sit in the grief of our tria ls and tribulations
and have humbly cast ourselves at your feet, now tearfull y lay bare to you the
full truth cont:erni ng the (;:1Use of our intolerable grief. We arc confident that
the fire of Love, which is God, will so inspi re you tha t your paternal piety will
deign to hear the cry of lament, which, in our tribulation, wc T';lise to yOIl.