Today is the commemoration of Hildegard of Bingen in the Episcopal Church’s calendar. She was a remarkable woman, an abbess, visionary, poet, musician, and scientist.
A recording of “Vision 4: Love” by anonymous 4:
I’ve written previously about Margarethe von Trotta’s 2009 biopic.
Is Pope Benedict XVI going to canonize Hildegard of Bingen?
From his own experience, Ignatius deduced a series of methodological and pedagogical principles that will be characteristic in the way he acted when trying to assist men and women to find their way, in other words, helping them to achieve freedom and be responsible for their own lives. A major event was particularly important to the newly converted Ignatius, an enlightenment that transformed him during a stroll along the banks of the Cardoner, a river that flows in the neighborhood of Manresa. “The eyes of insight started to open. He didn’t have a vision, but he understood and learnt several things, spiritual as well as others concerning faith and words, and with such a huge enlightenment that all these things seemed to be new.”
A “one-nun show” on the life of Catherine of Siena, written and performed by Bill Murray’s sister (yes,that Bill Murray).
I suppose for all those despairing of the future of Christianity, and of Roman Catholicism, these three are witnesses to the rich streams of Christian spirituality that can’t be controlled or destroyed by hierarchies or institutions.
I was intrigued last fall when I read the NY Times review of this film by Margarethe von Trotta so we went as soon as we found out it was playing in Madison. Hildegard is a fascinating character–a Benedictine abbess who had visions, wrote music, visionary works, as well as books on healing and nature. The film is by one of Germany’s most important directors. It’s not a great film, by any means, but for the most part it comes across as a fairly decent historical depiction of Hildegard. The film does a good job of showing the interplay of religion, politics, and family ties, and also highlights the patriarchy of the Middle Ages and of the medieval Church. At times, it seems to be something of a catalog of Hildegard’s activities, moving from scenes showing her instructing her nuns on the healing powers of herbs, to composing music, to writing. The visions are a constant and von Trotta also subtly raises questions about the relationship between Hildegard’s physical ailments and her religious experiences. She also hints that Hildegard may have used faked illness to get her way.
It’s definitely worth seeing if you are interested in medieval history or German cinema, but if you’re looking for action and excitement, the most you’ll get are a few scenes of monks and nuns flagellating themselves, a practice Hildegard criticized.
Preaching Grace on the Square 