HILDEGARD of BINGEN

SCIVIAS

TRANSLATED BY

MOTHER COLUMBA HART AND JANE BISHOP

INTRODUCED BY

BARBARA J. NEWMAN

PREFACE BY

CAROLINE WALKER BYNUM

PAULIST PRESS

NEW YORK • MAHWAH

Cover art: MOTHER PLACID DEMPSEY, a Benedictine nun of the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, is also a sculptor, painter, graphics designer and book illustrator. Regarding the cover and inside illustrations she says: “Doing art work for this volume became a unique personal experience in which I was struck by three things. First, I realized there has existed for centuries a body of illustrations of the Visions that are traditionally ascribed to St. Hildegard’s ‘direct supervision.’ Despite their obvious differences in style, which suggest not merely different artists but entirely different historical periods, they have enjoyed a long history of commentaries by various spiritual writers and important scholars, including, in our time, Dr. Carl Jung. Recognizing their unique value in terms of tradition and their own intrinsic aesthetic beauty, I chose to represent them here in all their clarity and forthrightness. In so doing, I came to appreciate that, in a very real sense, they do proceed from her ‘direct supervision.’ Secondly, I came to understand directness and supervision as the marks of St. Hildegard, who looked upon the mystery of nature and mankind with the radical and comprehensive ‘eye’ of Faith, that is, through supernatural ‘seeing’ or, as one may say, through ‘Super-Vision,’ and this is what I have tried to express on the cover. Thirdly, I realized that her ‘Super-Vision’ includes the hidden bringing together of many persons to share and creatively carry out that Vision. In this regard I wish to express my debt to her and, through her, to the Abbess and members of my own community, to Sr. Mary Charles, R.S.M., Dr. John Farina, children’s book illustrator Mercer Mayer, and to Jeanne Parr.”

Copyright © 1990 by the Abbey of Regina Laudis: Benedictine Congregation Regina Laudis of the Strict Observance, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hildegard, Saint, 1098–1179.

[Scivias. English]

Scivias/Hildegard of Bingen: translated by Columba Hart and Jane Bishop; introduction by Barbara Newman; preface by Caroline Walker Bynum.

p. cm.—(The Classics of western spirituality)

Translation of: Scivias.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-8091-0431-8 ISBN 0-8091-3130-7 (pbk.)

1. Mysticism—Early works to 1800. I. Hart, Columba, 1903–. II. Bishop, Jane, 1950–. III. Title. IV. Series.

BV5080.H5413 1990

248.2′2—dc20

89-29315

CIP

Published by Paulist Press

997 Macarthur Boulevard

Mahwah, New Jersey 07430

THE CLASSICS OF WESTERN SPIRITUALITY

A Library of the Great Spiritual Masters

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