Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
- 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.
- 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 it, we cannot survive.
- Even in a world that’s being shipwrecked, remain brave and strong.
- Words are merely empty shells without music. They live as they are sung, for the words are the body and the music the spirit.
- Humanity, take a good look at yourself. Inside, you have Heaven and Earth and all of creation. You are a world — everything is hidden in you.
- 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.
- The mystery of God enfolds you in its all-encompassing arms.
- The Earth which sustains humanity must not be injured. It must not be destroyed!
- God has arranged everything in the universe in consideration of everything else.
- Every creature is a glittering, glistening mirror of Divinity.
- 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 soul. 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.
- Everything that is in the Heavens, on Earth, and under the Earth is penetrated with connectedness, penetrated with relatedness.
- Sing! The song of rejoicing softens hard hearts. It makes tears of godly sorrow flow. Singing summons the Holy Spirit. Happy praises offered in simplicity and love lead the faithful to complete harmony, without discord. Don’t stop singing.
- We cannot live in a world that is not our own, in a world that is interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a home. Part of the fear is to take back our own listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.
- There is the music of Heaven in all things.
- Be ablaze with enthusiasm.
- 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.
- All living creatures are sparks radiating God’s brilliance; emerging like rays of the sun.
- The Word is living, being, spirit, all verdant greening, all creativity. The Word manifests itself in every creature.
- I am a feather on the breath of God.
- 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.