Last night Sister Marie surprised us by making supper according to what St. Hildegard of Bingen (1089- 1179) might have served for her community of nuns back in the day – or a slight variation thereof.
First Sister Marie told us about the one-day retreat she attended last weekend to prepare for this coming Sunday, October 7, when Pope Benedict VXI will name Hildegard a Doctor of the Church. She spoke about Hildegard’s “viriditas” because Hildegard knew that if we care for the God’s earth it will care for us.
Our prayer and meal were a reflection of Hildegard:
Evening Prayer
Viriditas
“There is a power that has been here since all eternity and that force and potentiality is green.” Hildegard of Bingen
V |
iriditas, gift of God
Life breath
Health, wholeness and holiness
Emerald vitality,
Sparkling water
Damp stone
Ventilating wind
Fiery glow
Igniting the world into being
Illuminating all creatures,
Giving them color and vigor.
Root of growth
Proliferation of spring
Making grasses laugh
Plants sprout
And flowers blossom.
Joy of youthfulness
Zest of the aging
Energy of the heart loving
And the imagination creating
Fragrance of a life lived with compassion and justice
Green sap of the tree of life, drenched in the sun
Exuberant fountain flowing from the Living Light
Bright power of the Luminous Word born from the greenest branch
Grace and healing tonic of the Holy Spirit
Divine Wisdom’s sweet exhalation.
By Nancy Fierro
Based on the thoughts of Hildegard of Bingen
( c. Nancy Fierro; Used with permission)
Menu
Butternut squash soup
Cheese quiche
Couscous with butter, mint, parsley, fresh tomato
Baked apple with cinnamon and nutmeg
Hildegard’s “Nerve Cookies” (We had another simple cookie instead because Marie didn’t have time to bake the “nerve cookies”).
Movie
We concluded the evening by watching “Vision” by director Mararethe Von Trotta, a film I reviewed in 2010 when it was released in the USA: A woman of love who humbly initiated change. “Vision” can be watched instantly in Netflix (in German with English subtitles).
The canonization of Hildegard of Bingen in May and her being named a Doctor of the Church is a sign of hope that the Spirit lives, breathes, and moves among us.
What can we learn from St. Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church?