These famous Hildegard of Bingen quotes illustrate the broad spectrum of her contribution to humanity. Her creative power resonates herein!
“Humanity, take a good look at yourself. Inside, you’ve got heaven and earth, and all of creation. You’re a world—everything is hidden in you.” -Hildegard of Bingen
“Trust shows the way.“
“A person who lacks the verdancy of justice is dry, totally without tender goodness, totally without illuminating virtue.”
“Even in a world that’s being shipwrecked, remain brave and strong.”
“The fire has its flame and praises God. The wind blows the flame and praises God. In the voice we hear the word which praises God. And the word, when heard, praises God. So all of creation is a song of praise to God.“
“The soul is not in the body; the body is in the soul.”
“Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars. Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings. Now, think. What delight God gives to humankind with all these things . All nature is at the disposal of humankind. We are to work with it. For without we cannot survive.”
“The earth which sustains humanity must not be injured. It must not be destroyed!”
“You are the mountain and the valley.”
”Holy Wisdom, Soaring Power, encompass us with wings unfurled, and carry us, encircling all, above, below, and through the world.“
“All living creatures are sparks from the radiation of God’s brilliance, emerging from God like the rays of the sun.“
“Love abounds in all things, excels from the depths to beyond the stars, is lovingly disposed to all things. She has given the king on high the kiss of peace.”
“Like billowing clouds, Like the incessant gurgle of the brook The longing of the spirit can never be stilled.”
“Cerevisiam Bibat! (drink beer for health)”
“If one intends to make beer from oats, it is prepared with hops.”
“The truly holy person welcomes all that is earthly.”
“We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.”
“Underneath all the texts, all the sacred psalms and canticles, these watery varieties of sounds and silences, terrifying, mysterious, whirling and sometimes gestating and gentle must somehow be felt in the pulse, ebb, and flow of the music that sings in me. My new song must float like a feather on the breath of God.”
“A human being is a vessel that God has built for himself and filled with his inspiration so that his works are perfected in it.”
“Our souls should be like a transparent crystal through which God can be perceived.”
“Now in the people that were meant to be green there is no more life of any kind. There is only shriveled barrenness. The winds are burdened by the utterly awful stink of evil, selfish goings-on. Thunderstorms menace. The air belches out the filthy uncleanliness of the peoples.”
“Divinity is aimed at humanity.”
“Every element has a sound, an original sound from the order of God; all those sounds unite like the harmony from harps and zithers.”
“The soul is a breath of living spirit, that with excellent sensitivity, permeates the entire body to give it life. Just so, the breath of the air makes the earth fruitful. Thus the air is the soul of the earth, moistening it, greening it.”
“Everything that is in the heavens, on earth, and under the earth is penetrated with connectedness, penetrated with relatedness.”
“Every creature is a glittering, glistening mirror of Divinity.” – Hildegard of Bingen
“With nature’s help, humankind can set into creation all that is necessary and life sustaining.”
“Holy Spirit, the life that gives life: You are the cause of all movement. You are the breath of all creatures. You are the salve that purifies our souls. You are the ointment that heals our wounds. You are the fire that warms our hearts. You are the light that guides our feet. Let all the world praise you.”
“The word stands for the body, but the symphony stands for the spirit.”
“Holy persons draw to themselves all that is earthly.”
“Be not lax in celebrating. Be not lazy in the festive service of God. Be ablaze with enthusiasm. Let us be an alive, burning offering before the altar of God.“
“Like billowing clouds, Like the incessant gurgle of the brook, the longing of the spirit can never be stilled.”
“I so loved the nobility of your character, your wisdom, your chastity, your spirit, and indeed every aspect of your life that many people have said to me: What are you doing?”
“There is the music of Heaven in all things.” – Hildegard of Bingen
“The earth is at the same time mother, She is mother of all that is natural, mother of all that is human. She is mother of all, for contained in her are the seeds of all. The earth of human kind contains all moistness, all verdancy, all germinating power. It is in so many ways fruitful. All creation comes from it. Yet it forms not only the basic raw material for humankind, but also the substance of the incarnation of God’s son.”
“Everything that is in the heavens, on earth, and under the earth is penetrated with connectedness, penetrated with relatedness.”
“We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.”
“Love, which, in concert with Abstinence, established Faith, and which, along with Patience, builds up Chastity, is like the columns that sustain the four corners of a house. For it was that same Love which planted a glorious garden redolent with precious herbs and noble flowers–roses and lilies–which breathed forth a wondrous fragrance, that garden on which the true Solomon was accustomed to feast his eyes.”
“I welcome all the creatures of the world with grace.”
“Good People, most royal greening verdancy, rooted in the sun, you shine with radiant light.”
“God has arranged everything in the universe in consideration of everything else.”
Image from Liber Divinorum Operum (Lucca-Codex)
“I, God, am in your midst. Whoever knows me can never fall. Not in the heights, nor in the depths, nor in the breadths. For I am love, which the vast expanses of evil can never still.”
“The soul is kissed by God in its innermost regions.”
“Just as a mirror, which reflects all things, is set in its own container, so too the rational soul is placed in the fragile container of the body. In this way, the body is governed in its earthly life by the soul, and the soul contemplates heavenly things through faith.”
“Rivers of living water are to be poured out over the whole world, to ensure that people, like fishes caught in a net, can be restored to wholeness.”
“Divinity is in its omniscience and omnipotence like a wheel, a circle, a whole, that can neither be understood, nor divided, nor begun nor ended.”
“When one’s thoughts are neither frivolous nor flippant, when one’s thoughts are neither stiff-necked nor stupid, but rather, are harmonious — they habitually render physical calm and deep insight.”
“It is easier to gaze into the sun, than into the face of the mystery of God. Such is its beauty and its radiance.”
“Sometimes when we hear a song we breathe deeply and sigh. This reminds the prophet that the soul arises from heavenly harmony. In thinking about this, he was aware that the soul itself has something in itself of this music…”
“The mystery of God hugs you in its all-encompassing arms.”
Scivia Codex, Plate 14, The Mystic Body
“When the words come, they are merely empty shells without the music. They live as they are sung, for the words are the body and the music the spirit.”
“All the arts serving human desires and needs are derived from the breath that God sent into the human body.”
“Every element has a sound, an original sound from the order of God; all those sounds unite like the harmony from harps and zithers.”
”Holy Wisdom, Soaring Power, encompass us with wings unfurled, and carry us, encircling all, above, below, and through the world.”
“Dare to declare who you are. It is not far from the shores of silence to the boundaries of speech. The path is not long, but the way is deep. You must not only walk there, you must be prepared to leap.”
“O, You who are ever giving life to all life, moving all creatures, root of all things, washing them clean, wiping out their mistakes, healing their wounds, You are our true life, luminous, wonderful, awakening the heart from its ancient sleep.”
“God is the good and all things which proceed from him are good.”
Scivias Codex, Plate 19, The Almighty
“Don’t let yourself forget that God’s grace rewards not only those who never slip, but also those who bend and fall. So sing! The song of rejoicing softens hard hearts. It makes tears of godly sorrow flow from them. Singing summons the Holy Spirit. Happy praises offered in simplicity and love lead the faithful to complete harmony, without discord. Don’t stop singing.”
“Humankind, full of all creative possibilities, is God’s work. Humankind alone is called to assist God. Humankind is called to co-create. With nature’s help, humankind can set into creation all that is necessary and life-sustaining.”
“The soul is kissed by God in its innermost regions. With interior yearning, grace and blessing are bestowed. It is a yearning to take on God’s gentle yoke, It is a yearning to give one’s self to God’s Way.”
“I am the fiery life of the essence of God; I am the flame above the beauty in the fields; I shine in the waters; I burn in the sun, the moon, and the stars. And with the airy wind, I quicken all things vitally by an unseen, all-sustaining life.”
“I, the fiery life of divine wisdom, I ignite the beauty of the plains, I sparkle the water, I burn in the sun, and the moon, and the stars.”
“With my mouth,’ God says, ‘I kiss my own chosen creation. I uniquely, lovingly, embrace every image I have made out of the earth’s clay. With a fiery spirit I transform it into a body to serve all the world.”
“God has arranged all things in the world in consideration of everything else.”
CatholicNetwork.US 