Hildegard of Bingen: prayer, supper & movie with a saint

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

“There is a power that has been here since all eternity and that force and potentiality is green.”  Hildegard of Bingen

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?