Hildegard
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.
Today, however, I note this:
Vatican City, 10 May 2012 (VIS) – The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. During the audience he extended the liturgical cult of St. Hildegard of Bingen (1089-1179) to the universal Church, inscribing her in the catalogue of saints.
Now, she is a saint. There’s even talk that Pope Benedict XVI will name her a Doctor of the Church later this year. Why the wait?
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.
"Universal Man" illumination from Hildegard's Liber Divinorum Operum, 1165
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!
I’m looking forward to celebrating her on her feast day of 17 September when it comes around.