Hildergada was a German Benedictine abbess, head nun of a monastery in the Rhine River region. Author of mystical works, church hymns and music. She is also famous for her work on healing and herbal preparations.
Beginning of life and early years
Hildegarde of Bingen was born around 1098, although the exact date is unknown. Her parents were from the German state of Hesse. They were representatives of the lower nobility, the father served Count Maginhard. Frail from birth, Hildegard, traditionally considered the youngest of ten children, was very often ill. Since the girl was sickly, doctors and local monks were often invited. Hildegard of Bingen, whose biography is not known in all details, lived in an era of terrible medieval hard times.
Chants
Hildegarde of Bingen is the author of many church compositions and hymns. Her work is revered by the Lutheran flock. Hildegard stated: "I was not taught by anyone, because I never studied musical notation or any chant." She said that she composed and sang a chorale with a melody, wishing to glorify God and his saints.
The chants she composed were nothing more to Hildegard than periodic epiphanies or a physical sign of God's presence. Every day she and her sisters sang prayers and hymns during the hours. They were based on the liturgical service to God, they participated in "symphonies of harmony and heavenly revelations." This is the title that Hildegard gave to her collected works.
For Hildegard, music rises almost to the level of a sacrament, directing the perfection of divine grace from heavenly choirs to people, at the moments when the blissful joy of the song sounds. The nun sees an intimate connection between the repetition of the “work of God” (Opus dei) within the framework of monastic life according to the rule of St. Benedict and the eternal dynamic harmony of creating, maintaining and perfecting the world. A comprehensive history of salvation is the main theme of many of her works, stories in symbolic poetry. After all, when the Word of God says that God created the world at the beginning of time, then the world was established on its beautiful field, and the malicious machinations of the devil were brought to naught.
It is not yet possible to accurately date all Hildegard's musical compositions, but it is possible to assume that most of them date back to around 1140-1160. Each was written for certain days and holidays in the church calendar. More than half of the composition is antiphons; these verses were sung before and after each of the psalms during monastic prayer, while longer ones, known as votive antiphons, may be sung separately during various liturgies, including processions.
There arealso other musical forms, such as a series of solo verses interspersed with choral singing. They are performed during vigil (in the morning). There are hymns that were sung at different times during the monastic mass; musical sequences between which the Alleluia and the Gospel are sung; masses in which each stanza has its own common melodic motifs, divided between two verses.
Visions
Legend says that the nun had visions and strange dreams from a very young age. Hildegard said that she noticed "shadows of living light" at the age of three and by the age of five began to understand that she was experiencing visions. She used the term "visio" and admitted that it was a gift that she could not explain to others. Hildegard of Bingen explained that she perceived all things in the light of God through five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. She hesitated to share her insights, sharing them only with the head nun. Throughout her life, she still had many signs. At the age of 42, Hildegard received a vision, which she considered an indication from God, she decided to write down what you saw and heard.
Monastic life
Perhaps because of Hildegard's visions or as a way of political influence, her parents suggested sending her to a Benedictine monastery in the Palatinate Forest. The exact date of Hildegard's entry into the monastery is unknown. Chronicles say that she began to confess the elderlya woman, Jutta, daughter of Count Stephen II of Sponheim, at the age of eight. In 1112, when Hildegard was fourteen, she took a vow of service and began to live with other women from the monastery with the consent and blessing of the bishop.
After the death of Jutta, already in 1136, Hildegard was unanimously elected master of the community of his fellow nuns. Hildegard says in her books that Jutta taught her to read and write because she was uneducated and therefore incapable of learning biblical interpretation. In any case, Hildegard and Jutta worked together at the monastery and were leaders of the growing community of women attached to it. Jutta was also a seer and thus attracted many followers.
Creativity of the abbess
The nun created her own language, the progenitor of Esperanto, and called it lingua ignota, which translates as "unknown language". She herself came up with the spelling of specific letters, just for her development as an author, Hildegard of Bingen. Her books are mainly aimed at understanding the divine nature. For example, her work "On the Inner Essence of Various Natural Creations" tells about the medieval concept of the world and the universe. Hildegard of Bingen thought a lot about these questions. Her work is permeated with love for God and people.
Healing
Besides her musical gift, she had the talent of a healer and healer. Her books on medicinehelped many suffering people. Basically, these are recipes for herbal tinctures and decoctions. The work "Physics" describes herbs, minerals, trees, stones, fauna, metals with their characteristic healing and non-healing features. The nun is famous for her recipes for healing herbal teas.
Many of Hildegard's medical advice is only of historical significance, but there is information and advice that is still relevant today. Her melodic works are used by psychologists and psychotherapists and now for healing spiritual wounds.
Death and trace in history
September 17, 1179, when on the day of her death, the nuns claimed that they saw two streams of light appear in the sky and cross the room where Hildegard of Bingen was dying. The reviews of the sisters-nuns spoke of her incredible kindness and self-denial. She left us her musical compositions, collections of essays and medicinal books over the centuries.
Her artwork:
- "Know the Way";
- "The Book of Righteous Living";
- The Book of Divine Creations and others are still bringing people the light of faith.
Hildegarde of Bingen canonized by the Lutheran Church and revered by the Protestant flock. She lived for eighty-two years.
