I have always seen this light, in my spirit and not with external eyes, and I name it ‘the cloud of the living light.’ But sometimes I behold within this light another light which I name ‘the living light itself.’

Hildegard of Bingen

The Living Light Itself

Topic: Truth, Law, & Principle

From my infancy up to the present time, I now being over seventy years of age, I have always seen this light, in my spirit and not with external eyes, and I name it ‘the cloud of the living light.’ But sometimes I behold within this light another light which I name ‘the living light itself.’ And when I look upon it, every sadness and pain vanishes from my memory, so that I am again as a simple maid and not as an old woman.

Hildegard of Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a Benedictine abbess and mystic of medieval Germany. She was born into a noble family in Bermersheim vor der Höhe, Germany, and entered religious life at the age of eight. She received a rudimentary education, but at the age of forty-two, she began to experience a series of visions that would shape her life and work.

Hildegard described these visions as "the living light," and they were often accompanied by physical sensations such as heat, cold, and pain. She believed that these visions were a gift from God, and she felt called to share them with the world. She began to write down her visions, and she also composed music and poetry to express her spiritual insights.

Hildegard was a prolific writer, and her works cover a wide range of topics, including theology, natural science, medicine, and music. She is best known for her three volumes of visionary theology: Scivias, Liber Vitae Meritorum, and Liber Divinorum Operum. These works are rich in symbolism and imagery, and they offer a unique perspective on the nature of God, the human soul, and the world.

In addition to her writings, Hildegard was also a gifted musician and composer. She wrote over 70 songs, including the Ordo Virtutum, an early example of liturgical drama. Her music is characterized by its simple melodies and its use of plainchant.

Hildegard was a complex and multifaceted figure, and her work continues to inspire and challenge people today. She was a visionary, a mystic, a writer, a composer, a scientist, and a healer. She was also a woman of great courage and determination, and she used her gifts to make a difference in the world.

Hildegard of Bingen was a remarkable woman who left a lasting legacy. She was a pioneer in the fields of theology, natural science, and music, and her work continues to be studied and appreciated today. She was also a powerful voice for women's rights, and she challenged the patriarchal structures of her time. Hildegard of Bingen was a true visionary, and she continues to inspire us with her courage, her intellect, and her creativity.

(1098-1179) Christianity

Hildegard of Bingen. Quoted in Prayers for All People, by Mary Ford-Grabowsky, Doubleday, 1995.

Hildegard of Bingen

Theme: The Light of Truth

About This Hildegard of Bingen Quotation [Commentary]

Hildegard of Bingen speaks of a way of seeing that is “in my spirit and not with external eyes.” She is describing an inward light that has remained with her “from my infancy up to the present time.” She calls it “the cloud of the living light,” giving it a name that holds both presence and mystery. The light is not distant or abstract. It is “living.” In this passage, The Light of Truth is not something constructed by thought alone, but something given and seen inwardly.

Hildegard of Bingen then describes a further grace within that vision: “within this light another light,” which she names “the living light itself.” The order of her words matters. First comes “the cloud of the living light,” and then, at times, “the living light itself.” She keeps these distinctions clear. Her language shows that this light has depth and that truth may be disclosed in degrees, with greater nearness and clarity. What she describes is not merely consoling. It is so real that, when she looks upon it, “every sadness and pain vanishes from my memory.”

Her final words bring the passage back to the human heart. In the presence of “the living light itself,” Hildegard of Bingen says that she becomes “again as a simple maid and not as an old woman.” The light does not erase her life; it releases her, for a moment, from the weight of sorrow and age. It returns her to simplicity, freshness, and joy. In that sense, The Light of Truth is not only illuminating. In Hildegard of Bingen’s own words, it is living light that clears pain from memory and restores the soul.

Richard Rohr, Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias [Excerpted from his commentary]

Throughout the ages, the mystics have kept alive the awareness of our union with God and thus with everything. What some now call creation spirituality, deep salvation, or the holistic Gospel was voiced long ago by the Desert Fathers and Mothers, some Eastern Fathers, in the spirituality of the ancient Celts, by many of the Rhineland mystics, and surely by Francis of Assisi. Many women mystics were not even noticed, I am sorry to say.
Julian of Norwich (c. 1343-c. 1416) and Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) would be two major exceptions (though even they have often been overlooked).

Hildegard of Bingen communicated creation spirituality through music, art, poetry, medicine, gardening, and reflections on nature. She wrote in her famous book, Scivias: “You understand so little of what is around you because you do not use what is within you.” This is key to understanding Hildegard and is very similar to Teresa of Ávila’s view of the soul. Without using the word, Hildegard recognized that the human person is a microcosm with a natural affinity for or resonance with the macrocosm, which many of us would call God. Our little world reflects the big world. The key word here is resonance. Contemplative prayer allows your mind to resonate with what is visible and right in front of you.

—Adapted from Richard Rohr with John Feister, Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of Saint Francis in an Age of Anxiety (Franciscan Media:2001), 135; and unpublished “Rhine” talks (2015) [the Center for Action and Contemplation].

Visionary theology [Excerpt]

Hildegard’s most significant works were her three volumes of visionary theology: Scivias (“Know the Ways”, composed 1142–1151), Liber Vitae Meritorum (“Book of Life’s Merits” or “Book of the Rewards of Life”, composed 1158–1163); and Liber Divinorum Operum (“Book of Divine Works”, also known as De operatione Dei, “On God’s Activity”, composed 1163/4–1172 or 1174). In these volumes, the last of which was completed when she was well into her seventies, Hildegard first describes each vision, whose details are often strange and enigmatic, and then interprets their theological contents in the words of the “voice of the Living Light.”

—Wikipedia [Hildegard of Bingen].

Additional Hildegard of Bingen Quotes

“Humanity, take a good look at yourself. Inside, you’ve got heaven and earth, and all of creation. You’re a world—everything is hidden in you.”

—Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias.

“Divinity is in its omniscience and omnipotence like a wheel, a circle, a whole, that can neither be understood, nor divided, nor begun nor ended.”

—Hildegard of Bingen

“All the arts serving human desires and needs are derived from the breath that God sent into the human body.”

—Hildegard of Bingen

The Living Light Itself

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