‘SELECTED WRITINGS’ – Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Translated by Mark Atherton – ‘Scivias II; pages 61-65
[Saint HILDEGARD OF BINGEN ~ XI-XII Century AD; Bermersheim, Holy Roman Empire/Bingen am Rhein, Holy Roman Empire, aged 81; Abbess, Polymath, Writer, Composer, Mystic, Visionary, Philosopher, Medical Writer and Practitioner, Composer of Sacred Monophony, Virgin, Founder, Doctor of the Church]“3. Before and after the Incarnation the Word remains indivisibly and eternally with the Father
You see in your vision ‘the fire having a flame the colour of the air, brightly burning in the gentle breeze, and as inseparable from the shining fire as a human being is inseparable from his inner organs’. This is the infinite Word, which is in the Father before time, before the working of creation. In the glow of love, this Word was to become incarnate, in the course of time, miraculously and without stain or weight of sin, through the pure green vigour of the Holy Spirit in the dawn of blessed maidenhood. And before his assumption of flesh the Word was indivisible in the Father and remained inseparable in him after his assumption of human nature. For as a human being cannot exist without the breath of air in his inner organs, in the same way, the unique Word cannot be separated in any way from the Father.
4. Why the Son of God is called the Word
And why is he called the Word? For the following reason. Through the speaking of the localized word, which is impermanent, in the dust of humanity, wise and prudent people understand the commands of a ruler and the reason for his commands. Similarly also, through the utterance of the unlocalized Word, which is permanent in the inextinguishable life that lives through eternity, the strength of the Father is understood by the various creatures of the world who sense and recognize it as the origin of their created state. Likewise, just as the capacity and the glory of the human being are known by the functioning word, so the sanctity and the goodness of the Father shine through the perfectly filled Word.
5. How the whole of creation was roused by God’s Word and how humanity came back to life through salvation
When you see the ‘shining flame glow white’, it means that God’s Word revealed its power as it were by catching fire: the whole of creation was roused by him and grew incandescent when the Word became incarnate in the dawn and brilliance of maidenhood, so that from the Word all the virtues and powers flowed in the knowledge of God when humanity came back to life in the salvation of souls.
6. How God’s unknowable power fashioned the world and brought forth the various species
‘And suddenly a dark sphere of air appeared, huge in size.’ This is the basic material of creation, still in the darkness of imperfection and not yet illuminated or filled with creatures. This material is a ‘sphere’ because it is within God’s unknowable power, since his divinity is never absent. It rises in God’s great power and in the winking of an eye is transported to the heights of heavenly will. ‘The shining flame struck many blows upon it,’ as a blacksmith does, ‘and at each blow a spark flew up so that soon the sphere of air was brought to completion, and heaven and earth shone forth in the fullness of perfection.’ The meaning is this. The Word from on high, surpassing the whole of creation, revealed the force of his strength by creating creatures, who pay him their allegiance. From the basic material he brought forth the diverse species of creatures gleaming in the wonder of their birth and awakening - like a smith skilfully fashioning his artefacts out of bronze - until created things shone resplendent in the beauty of fullness. Each was ranked into higher and lower orders, all having the attractiveness and stability of perfect workmanship and shining on each other from above and from below.
7. After the creation of the other creatures the man was created from the clay of the earth
‘The burning flame of heat moved towards a small clump of muddy earth lying on the bottom of the circle of air.’ After creating the other creatures, in the strong will of the Father and in the love of heavenly sweetness, the Word of God contemplated the soft, crumbly material - the weak frailty of human nature - out of which both good and evil humans would be created. This was detained still in the depths of unconsciousness and heaviness and not yet awakened by the rousing breath of life.
‘And it heated the clump of earth, turning it to flesh and blood.’ This means that the flame through green vigour pours heat into the clump of earth, because earth is the material out of which human flesh is made, nourishing it with its moisture like a mother suckling a child. "
‘And breathing life into it so that it rose up as a living man.’ This means that the flame awakens him with heavenly power and marvellously brings forth a rational human being made up of body and soul.”
Image: Hildegard of Bingen ‘Liber Divinorum Operum ‘ /The Book of Divine Works/, I-2, Lucca, Italia, MS 1942 fol 9r
Music: ‘Spiritus Sanctus Vivificans Vite (Antiphon)’ · Christopher Monks · Anna Sandström · Hildegard of Bingen · Armonico Consort
‘Spiritus Sanctus Vivificans Vite (Antiphon)’ = The Holy Spirit Gives Life (Antiphon)’
>>> youtube.com/watch?v=u6WLdFV4mQA