Hildegard of Bingen - Medieval Mystic and Abbess 1098 - 1179 Feast Day September 17

The soul is like a wind that waves over herbs,
Is like the dew that moistens the grass,
Is like the rain-soaked air that lets things grow.

In the same way you should radiate kindness
To all who are filled with longing.

Be a wind, helping those in need.
Be a dew, consoling the abandoned.
Be the rain-soaked air, giving heart to the weary,
Filling their hunger with instruction
By giving them your soul.

When preparing for talks about Hildegard of Bingen, I have tried to think of a modern woman, or man for that matter, who could match Hildegard in the scope of her achievements. We must consider that by virtue of her correspondence with saints, popes, kings and emperors she was a politician; by virtue of her chant compositions for the Liturgy of the Hours she was a musician; by virtue of her vocation and her constant awareness of God's majestic presence she was a mystic; by virtue of the texts of her visionary experiences she becomes a theologian and cosmologist; by virtue of her works concerning medicine and natural history she becomes physician and scientist; and lastly, by virtue of her leadership in the establishment of new foundations of her Benedictine Order she becomes administrator; I could not come up with anyone, male or female, of recent history whose curriculum vitae included them all.

Any Google search will bring you to great sites for more information about this amazing woman.