Feast Day of St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
September 17

Twelfth century Benedictine abbess, visionary, musician, playwright, counselor to kings and popes, with particular 21st century relevance for her holistic and ecological views. Hildegard challenges us to live in gratefulness for the whole creation.

Known as the "Sybil of the Rhine," Hildegard carried her public ministry and social action beyond Germany’s boundaries and throughout the Rhineland. The tenth and last child of devout parents whose gratefulness for their many blessings prompted them to promise seven of their children to God's service in monastery or cathedral, Hildegard was only eight years of age when she was entrusted to Jutta of Sponheim, an anchoress whose hermitage flourished into a monastery observing the Benedictine Rule.

Hildegard became prioress at age 38, attracting large numbers of pilgrims and women seeking to enter the monastery of Eibingen-am-Rhein, which she founded. Her care of the Sisters extended to physical needs: warm baths and nutritious food. Some of her recipes for healthy cookies still exist! The monastery practiced generous hospitality in accord with the Benedictine Rule: "All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ."

Hildegard's writings include a liturgical drama, 77 songs, correspondence with Pope Eugenius III, nine books, many poems. Her best known book is Scivias (Know the Way). Her combination of devotional life and social action was exemplified in the "Living Light" motif of her path. Hers was a life of service, seeking justice for all, and gratefulness for viriditas, or "the greening power of life."

Recommended reading: Praying with Hildegard of Bingen by Gloria Durka, Professor of Religious Education and Theology, Fordham University. Tapes of Hildegard's music: "A Feather on the Breath of God" (as Hildegard described herself), elaborate Sequences and Hymns with Gothic Voices.

For a longer biography and a summary of Hildegard's major works, please see this link.

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