St. Hildegard of Bingen’s gifts served the whole Church, Pope Benedict said

Michie said:

Every gift from the Holy Spirit is meant for the edification of the community of believers, Pope Benedict XVI said in a general audience back in 2010 when he focused his catechesis on the life of St. Hildegard of Bingen, whose feast is celebrated Sept. 17 in the universal Church.

Benedict praised her as a model for modern women religious and noted that she benefited the faithful by her willingness to submit her supernatural visions to the interpretation of the Church.

Referring first to St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem on the role of women in the life of the Church, Benedict XVI noted that the letter “gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine ‘genius’ which have appeared in the course of history.” He then highlighted the figure of St. Hildegard of Bingen as one of the saintly women who stood out nearly a millennium ago.

Born into a noble German family in the year 1098, Hildegard began her studies in human and Christian formation at a Benedictine convent in the town of Bingen, took her vows to cloistered life and, 30 years after she began her formation, became a mother superior.

Continued below.

Pope Benedict taught that St. Hildegard of Bingen was a ‘model’ religious

St. Hildegard of Bingen, one of four female doctors of the Church, is celebrated and remembeed in the Church on Sept. 17.

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I’ve been fascinated by Hildegard for years. Sorry I missed posting this on her feast day.

In addition to her other talents, Hildegard wrote music that was hundreds of years ahead of her time.

Gregorian chant of her time usually stayed within an octave. Hildegard often wrote chants spanning a 9th, 10th, or even 12th. That gave her melodies a soaring quality.

She used more modern melodic shapes. Gregorian chant of her time is often stepwise, with restrained leaps. Hildegard's chants feature dramatic leaps, often as large as fourths, fifths, and even octaves to emphasize lyrics.

Gregorian chant generally follows the eight church modes. Hildegard stretched modal conventions, creating melodies that drew on tonal elements similar to those found in Baroque music, over 500 years after her time.

Her music was highly melismatic. Gregorian chant of the time mostly used one note per syllable. Hildegard used long melismas, i.e., many notes on a single syllable, like that Easter Alleluia nobody can sing right, again to emphasize lyrics.

Most Gregorian chant of the time used biblical or liturgical text. Hildegard wrote original texts, hymns, antiphons, and sequences, often full of cosmic, visionary, and feminine imagery. She emphasized themes of the Virgin Mary, divine light, creation, and female wisdom, which were not common before her time.

Ora pro nobis, indeed.

Here is a good article on her life.

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Lady: Are you the police?
Elwood Blues: No, ma'am, we're musicians ... We're on a mission from God.