Their arrangement, she believed, is not orderly, and this very disorder illustrates one of Hildegard's fundamental doctrines regarding the relation of this world to the universe: Before man's fall, the elements were united in an harmonious combination, and earth was paradise; after that catastrophe, the harmony of the universe was disturbed, with the center of all the trouble on this planet which has ever since remained in its now familiar state of chaotic confusion or mistio, as Hildegard's age called it.
The Real Hildegard
Hildegard had no use for schismatics and heretics such as the Cathars, who thrived in southern France and northern Italy at the time. She preached against them her entire life, rebuking them severely.
Hildegard, like her friend St. Bernard of Clairvaux, also supported the Second Crusade. When Philip of Flanders arrived in the Holy Land in 1176 AD to lend support to the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the leper King Baldwin IV, he was supported by Hildegard's mandate: “If the time shall come when the infidels seek to destroy the fountain of faith, then fight them as hard as, with God’s help, you may be able to do.”
In what was to be her final year of her earthly sojourn Hildegard was forced to go through a grim test. In a cemetery next to her convent, an excommunicated young man had been buried. The Church authorities in Mainz demanded that she remove his body, which she refused to do, because the young man had received the Last Rites and had been reconciled to the Church. Her convent was placed under interdict by Christian Buch, Bishop of Mainz. After notifying Rome of her predicament, she was successful at having the unjust interdict removed. She died a peaceful, holy death in 1179 AD.
Hildegard Today
There has been a renewal of interest in Hildegard’s life in recent years, especially after her fellow countryman, Pope Benedict XVI, made her a Doctor of the Church in 2012. (Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, various New Age groups within and outside of Catholicism have hijacked some of that interest. No doubt St. Hildegard would have had as much use for them as she had for the Cathars. Hildegard was beatified by Pope John XXII on August 26, 1326 and formally canonized after almost seven centuries by Pope Benedict XVI.
About the author: Ed Masters was born in Brooklyn NY and obtained an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts from SUNY Ulster. He has an eclectic variety of interests including history (in particular ancient Roman and Church history), astronomy, arts and entertainment and is an avid collector of comic books. Eddie does the research for all our saints of the day posts. Eddie has been with REGINA since our early days.
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