Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church

Saint Hildegard of Bingen is one of those medieval figures who can cause a lot of confusion to people not paying close attention. She (or, rather, a version of her with her Christianity stripped out) has been adopted by some of the New Agers as one of their own. Of course, if you strip the Christianity out of the life of a saint, you’re really only left with the veneer, not the core.

This “Sibyl of the Rhine” is described by historian Judith Bennet as a German “writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath”.

Although she died in 1179, she was never formally canonized a saint. Rather, she remained at the level of beatification, with her cult restricted to Germany and to the Benedictine Order. So she was officially Blessed Hildegard, not Saint Hildegard – except of course in Benedictine writings and liturgies, including the Benedictine Breviary I use, where it was “saint” all the way.

Then, in 2012, Pope Benedict XVI extended the liturgical cult of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor, to the universal Church, inscribing her in the catalogue of saints.

The rest of the Church finally caught up to the Benedictines!

Why did it take so long? Simply, she was a visionary, and those sorts of things take some time to sort out. Popes as far back as the 16th century were calling her a saint, but it took the bureaucracy a while to catch up. That happens in the Church.

Saint Hildegard was also a composer of hymns – in fact, she’s one of the earliest western composers whose name we actually know.

She was a brilliant illustrator and a largely self-trained theologian. She was also a mystic, an herbalist, a preacher, and a prolific writer.

She once created her own language, and an alphabet to go with it. Somehow, she found time to be abbess at Saint Rupertsberg.

That’s some serious nunning!

In honour of her feast day today, here’s one of her songs that help showcase her genius. You can find hours more online. Enjoy!