The Year of Faith: St Hildegard of Bingen

On 10 May 2012, Pope Benedict XVI extended the liturgical cult of St. Hildegard of Bingen to the universal Church

One of the most important women in medieval Europe has in effect been canonised

Hildegard’s parish and pilgrimage church in Eibingen near Rüdesheim houses her relics.

Benedict XVI is set to appoint her as a Doctor of the Church in October  2012

There is a great deal of interest in this newly canonised saint and soon to be Doctor

There have been attempts by New Age believers to "hijack" her for their own ideological ends but her work far transcendssuch narrow confines, work which is all the more remarkable for being caried out in spite of great debilitating illness.

YouTube has a channel devoted to Saint Hildegard of Bingen. At the moment it has 903 videos.

Many are beautiful renditions of her work.

Some are erudite lectures.

The German film "Vision" about her life can be viewed in its entirety -  in Spanish.

Here is a version of the plainchant Columba aspexit (The Dove peered in), a sequence for St Maximinus  ca. 1140 -1179 :

Columba aspexit

per cancellos fenestrae

ubi ante faciem eius

sudando sudavit balsamum

de lucido Maximino. 

Calor solis exarsit

et in tenebras resplenduit

unde gemma surrexit

in edificatione templi

purissimi cor dis benivoli. 

Iste turris excelsa,

de ligno Libani et cipresso facta,

iacincto et sardio ornata est,

urbs precellens artes

aliorum artificum. 

Ipse velox cervus cucurrit

ad fontem purissime aque

fluentis de fortissimo lapide

qui dulcia aromata irrigavit. 

O pigmentari

qui estis in suavissima viriditate

hortorum regis,

ascendentes in altum

quando sanctum sacrificium

in arietibus perfecistis. 

Inter vos fulget hic artifex,

paries templi,

qui desideravit alas aquile

osculando nutricem Sapientiam

in gloriosa fecunditate Ecclesie. 

O Maximine,

mons et vallis es,

et in utroque alta edificatio appares,

ubi capricornus cum elephante exivit,

et Sapientia in deliciis fuit. 

Tu es fortis

et suavis in cerimoniis

et in choruscatiane altaris,

ascendens ut fumus aromatum

ad columpnam laudis. 

Ubi intercedis pro populo

qui tendit ad speculum lucis,

cui laus est in altis.

Here is a translation from the Hyperion Records album: A Feather On The Breath Of God 

The dove peered in

through the lattices of the windows

where, before its face,

a balm exuded

from incandescent Maximilian. 

The heat of the sun burned

dazzling into the gloom:

whence a jewel sprang forth

in the building of the temple

of the purest loving heart. 

He, the high tower,

constructed of Lebanon wood and cypress,

has been adorned with jacinth and diamonds,

a city excelling the crafts

of other builders. 

This swift hart sped

to the fountain of clearest water

flowing from the most powerful stone

which courses with delightful spices. 

O Perfume-Makers,

you who are in the sweetest greenness

of the gardens of the King,

ascending on high

when you have completed the holy sacrifice

with the rams. 

This builder shines among you,

the wall of the temple,

who longed for the wings of an eagle,

kissing his nurse Wisdom 

in the glorious fecundity of the Church.

O Maximilian,

you are the mount and the valley

and in both you seem a high building,

where the goat went with the elephant

and Wisdom was in rapture. 

You are strong

and beautiful in rites

and in the shining of the altar,

mounting like the smoke of perfumes

to the column of praise. 

Where you intercede for the people

who stretch towards the mirror of light

to whom there is praise on high.

French Catholic TV (KTO) produced an hour long documentary in French on her life and works. It is well worth looking at for the views of the Rhine scenery , the chant and the interviews with the nuns who follow Hildegard:

Here is the first 15 minute clip if the film "Vision" - in Spanish. The other clips can be seen on You Tube. It shows her as a little girl and being taken to the convent at aged 8 years

Here in the Sunday Forum series held at St Paul's Cathedral, London we see and hear a lecture on the new Saint by Reverend Professor June Boyce-Tillman who amongst other things discusses the saint`s life and her view of the Trinity:

It is no coincidence that St Hildegard (and St John of Avila) are being proclaimed Doctirs of the Church before the Year of Faith. Pope Benedict made this quite clear

On Penetcost Sunday this year (Sunday, 27 May 2012) he saidl

"But the sanctity of their life and the profundity of their doctrine render them perennially relevant: the grace of the Holy Spirit, in fact, projected them into the experience of penetrating understanding of divine revelation and intelligent dialogue with that world which constitutes the eternal horizon of the life and action of the Church. 

Especially in light of the project for a new evangelization, to which the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, mentioned above will be dedicated on the eve of the Year of Faith, these two Saints and Doctors are of considerable and timely importance. Even today, through their teaching, the Spirit of the Risen Lord continues to resonate his voice and illuminate the way which leads to the Truth that alone can set us free and give full meaning to our lives."