Hildegard of Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen is a beautiful example of a person of faith who delights in discovering God in science, art, and music.

Hildegard saw humans as the thinking heart of all creation, called to work with God in shaping our world. Humans, and indeed all of creation, are “living sparks,” “rays of his splendor, just as the rays of the sun proceed from the sun itself.” She taught that our separation from God through sin brought harm to us as humans and to all of creation, but through Christ, we have the way for all to return to our original state of blessing.

All living creatures are sparks from the radiation of God’s brilliance, and these sparks emerge from God like the rays of the sun. If God did not give off these sparks, how would the divine flame become fully visible?

– St. Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church

13th Century Image: Hildegard of Bingen and her nuns – public domain because copyright expired