Intellect seems to
hold a very high place in Hildegard’s mind when she thinks about the divine.
From intellect seems to grow faith, and most importantly, virtuosity, best
encapsulated by this quote:
„He gives you the best
of treasure, a vivid intelligence. He commands you profit… from your intellect
in good works, and grow rich in virtue” (Hildegard of Bingen, 479).
I want to first focus
on the first half of the statement. On page 473, Hildegard recounts a statement
given to her from the son of Man: “Oh foolish people… you do not want to open
an eye to see how good your souls could be, it is as if you did not know good
and evil, or have the glory of knowing how to avoid evil and do good” (Hildegard
of Bingen, 473).
Man has been gifted
intellect, the knowledge of what is just, but it is what one chooses to do with
it that establishes their character. He is given the tools he needs to live in
harmony with God’s plan, for he is God’s creation and is therefore given what
is needed to best worship Him.
Included in this
package deal is Grace, an entity seemingly devoted to preserving the souls of
God’s creatures. Grace seems to protect those with even the most grotesque of
souls: “For I do not find it loathsome to touch ulcerated wounds surrounded by
the filthy, gnawing worms that are innumerable vices stinking with evil report
and infamy, and stagnating in habitual wickedness. I do not refuse to close
them gently up, drawing forth from them the devouring poison of malice, by
touching them with the mild fire of the breath of the Holy Spirit” (Hildegard
of Bingen, 431). Grace seems pretty set on the whole redemption thing. However,
some can push too far, as the quote goes on to say, “But those who despise and
reject me are dead, and I do not know them”, showing that even divine presences
have their limits (Hildegard of Bingen, 431). But truly, if one rejects even
Grace, their last chance at the redemption of their putrid soul, there is
nothing left to save them; they have taken all of their born intellect and
rejected it, throwing away one of God’s greatest treasures. So really, is there
anything to be done at this point?
To return to the quote
from the beginning: “…profit from your intellect in good works and grow rich in
virtue.”
Hildegard jumps on
this idea of virtuosity and runs with it. First of all, it is only through understanding, not even exaggerated
worship or extravagant prayer, but understanding of faith that brings one to
true virtue. And this concept makes sense- you can fake worship and buy
extravagance, but you cannot feign belief.
From this rooted
intelligence and inherent faith sprouts virtue- without these elements, nothing
can actually, meaningfully grow. By opening oneself up and allowing virtue to
pour in, more can grow or emerge, as virtue begets virtue.
One thing I was still
unsure about after our discussion in class and reading Hildegard’s visions was
the specific breeding grounds for virtue- what are the ingredients for perfection?
The cycle seems to be reminiscent of the chicken and the egg- what comes first,
the perfect soul or complete virtuosity?
Something I
appreciated about the visual component of Hildegard’s imagery of the temple of
God was the correlation shown between the virtues and the temple. Biblical
metaphor has consistently stated that the Christian body is the temple. Congruent
with the goals of the Christian body, the virtues are shown huddled inside God’s
own temple. This provides a blueprint of what a follower of Christ should
aim for, pretty much literally.
After all of this, I
am still left with one question regarding Hildegard’s stance on the Christian’s
intellect. Hildegard often described holy figures, images, or visions of Christ
as incomprehensible. Yet, she seemed to be the best equipped to be able to handle
these images. She should have had the capability to see these images and absorb
them, or who could? She seems to hold within her all of the knowledge of faith
and worship, yet even she cannot digest a vision of Christ. It seems a little
disheartening that someone so well-equipped to handle a biblical image was not
able to. Why are we expected to be able to be blind to what we are aiming to
see? How is God not visible to the one who has supposedly seen everything?
-ID
I agree. Hildegard presents us with a conundrum: if she can't understand fully what she sees, how can we? And yet, as you rightly point out, for her understanding is the basis of virtue. So how can one have virtue, if one does not understand? This is, I think, the role of Grace, and yet, as you point out, it is possible to reject Grace. Perhaps this is where the real virtue of the soul comes in? RLFB
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