Please join us for church on Sunday, July 9.

Rev. Marlene Notes:

The first saint in our “Saints of Summer” series is Hildegard of Bingen. A fascinating, medieval Benedictine nun, also known as the Sibyl of the Rhine (a Sibyl being a woman of ancient times thought to utter prophesies from God). She was known as a mystic, a visionary, a religious leader, a musician, and a healer. Born in 1098, in Bermersheim vor der Hӧhe, to parents Mechtild and Hildebert, Hildegard was given to the church as the family “tithe” at the age of eight, and was privately educated at the Benedictine cloister of Disibodenberg by the anchoress, Jutta. This was to be the beginning of Hildegard’s religious life.

As Hildegard matured, one aspect of her outreach, was the large number of people she corresponded with and advised. She used her letter writing to communicate the divine messages imparted by her visions. Many of her letters were read in public, thereby making them a significant force in shaping public opinion.

She had correspondence partners all over Europe including the Cistercian abbot, Bernhard of Clairvaux. There are over 300 letters documented: more numerous than the collection of any other woman of the Middle Ages. She corresponded with bishops and archbishops; nuns and monks; canons; abbots and abbesses; all of whom held her advice in high esteem. She wrote to political figures such as Emperor Barbarossa; the English royal couple; and the Byzantine Empress Bertha. Her diversity in correspondents reflects her unique worldview and the scope of her influence. Her life and work were becoming a gift to the world.