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    Let There Be Light
    Let There Be Light
    Let There Be Light
    Ebook116 pages1 hour

    Let There Be Light

    By Hildegard of Bingen and John Kirvan

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    About this ebook

    Let There Be Light is an easy-to-use devotional that encourages you to experience the light of God in your daily life. This book offers you a personal, thirty-day retreat based on the spiritual insight and wisdom of St. Hildegard of Bingen, the Benedictine who was canonized in 2012 and who became only the fourth woman to be elevated as a Doctor of the Church. Part of the bestselling 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series, Let There Be Light will help you find your way through the darkness and into the light of divine love.

    First published in 1997 and now back in print, Let There Be Light is an excellent prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of St. Hildegard of Bingen’s timeless and timely teachings on living in the light of God. Hildegard (1098–1179) was a renowned Benedictine abbess and a popular preacher, teacher, and healer who has been venerated by Christians for centuries. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in May of 2012 and in October of that same year was elevated as a Doctor of the Church.

    Rather than a mystic who wrote out of an intense personal experience of God, St. Hildegard is more properly seen as a visionary and a prophet who provides complex images in her writing that are ripe for interpretation. As you reflect on the images offered to her by God, Hildegard offers you a path to live in the light of God each moment of the day.

    All titles in the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series contain a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the author’s writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus your thoughts as the day ends.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAve Maria Press
    Release dateJan 24, 2020
    ISBN9781594719783
    Let There Be Light
    Author

    Hildegard of Bingen

    St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), a renowned Benedictine abbess, reformer, composer, and scientist, is one of the most prominent women of the medieval period. She traveled widely throughout Germany, evangelizing to large groups about her visions and religious insights. Venerated by Catholics since the time of her death, Pope Benedict XVI declared Hildegard a saint in 2012 and proclaimed her a doctor of the church.

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    • 5/5

      Dec 14, 2021

      Beautiful retreat for the soul! I really felt connected to the wise and holy St. Hildegard.

    Book preview

    Let There Be Light - Hildegard of Bingen

    Bingen

    CONTENTS

    TIMELINE

    HILDEGARD OF BINGEN

    HOW TO PRAY THIS BOOK

    THIRTY DAYS WITH HILDEGARD OF BINGEN

    ONE FINAL WORD

    TIMELINE

    1098

    Hildegard is born to noble parents atBöckelheim, near modern-day Frankfurt.

    1106

    Hildegard begins her education at the Benedictine monastery of Disibodenberg by Jutta, a religious recluse and visionary.

    1111

    Henry V, king of Germany, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

    1113

    Invested with the habit of the Benedictines, Hildegard makes her religious profession.

    1120

    The Knights Templar is founded to protect journeying pilgrims from Muslims on the way to Jerusalem.

    1122

    The Concordat of Worms is drawn up between Emperor Henry V and Pope Calixtus II and brings an end to the power struggle between the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy.

    1130

    The Papal Schism begins, as a double election leads to two popes, Pope Innocent II and Antipope Anacletus II.

    1136

    Following Jutta’s death, Hildegard succeeds her as Prioress of their community of nuns.

    1139

    The Papal Schism is resolved in April at the Second Lateran Council.

    1141

    Having experienced visions since she was a child, Hildegard consults her confessor and the Archbishop of Mainz. After a committee of theologians confirmed the authenticity of her visions, Hildegard begins work on her first volume of visionary theology, Scivias.

    1142–1151

    Scivias is composed by Hildegard during this period.

    1144

    Pope Eugenius III calls for a Second Crusade to recapture the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia.

    1147

    Impelled to move locations by divine command, Hildegard encounters difficulties with her superiors. Eventually, the superiors relented and Hildegard and several of the nuns left to found a convent at Rupertsberg.

    1165

    Hildegard likely founded another convent at Eibingen, where a failed community had been established in 1148.

    1178–1179

    In the last year of her life, Hildegard pushed back against the ecclesiastical authorities of Mainz regarding the burial of a young man who had once been under excommunication. Since the man had received the last sacraments and was supposed to have been reconciled with the Church again, Hildegard eventually succeeded in having the prohibition of his burial removed.

    1179

    At the age of eighty-one, on September 17, Hildegard of Bingen dies.

    1326

    Hildegard is beatified by Pope John XXII.

    2012

    Pope Benedict XVI canonizes Hildegard of Bingen in May and names her a doctor of the Church in October.

    HILDEGARD OF BINGEN

    Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) has penetrated today’s consciousness, gaining not only media celebrity, but almost cult status. Among many who laud her are some who would otherwise never dream of associating with an aristocratic, visionary abbess of the twelfth century, or for that matter with anything even vaguely resembling religion. In many cases her biggest fans are either unaware of her religious status or prefer to ignore it in favor of the extraordinary talents and accomplishments that have made her a source of inspiration and admiration.

    The fascination is understandable. She was a mystic (perhaps Germany’s first) and a visionary, but she was also a prophet, a reformer, a scientist, an encyclopedist, a composer, and a dramatist—a Renaissance personality well before the Renaissance.

    Her Book of Simple Medicine is an encyclopedia of natural science. Add to it her four books on animals, two on herbs and trees, three on gems and metals, and you are still describing only a part of her productivity and a narrow segment of her wide-ranging interests. But it is a part that plays directly to today’s interest in natural medicine and holistic health. Her accomplishments as a composer and dramatist focus special attention on her at a time when there is a worldwide effort to recover the neglected works of many all but invisible women composers.

    Her time, without question, has come.

    Sometimes lost in the flurry of admiration for her more measurable achievements is her powerful spiritual vision. As in so many other things, she is unique here as well.

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