Today it's Egeria vs. Hildegard of Bingen. The world's original "Mystery Worshipper" vs. a 12th century renaissance woman. Both have had a major impact upon the Christianity we have inherited, yet only one will advance to the Saintly Sixteen. We're expecting a flurry of comments on this. Let the agonizing over votes begin!
But first, speaking of comments, sometime during yesterday's battle between Jackson Kemper and Margery Kempe, we passed the 20,000 comment milestone on the Lent Madness website. That's a lot of conversation about holy people, don't you think?
Oh, and Kemper trounced Kempe 74% to 26% meaning he'll face the winner of Bernard Mizecki vs. Margaret of Antioch in the Saintly Sixteen.
Egeria
Egeria gives us the earliest glimpse we have into organized Christian practice and belief.
We don’t know much about who she was, exactly. Many say she was a Spanish nun, which makes sense given her unusually high level of literacy — and the way she addressed those she wrote to as sisters. Others point out she must have been an unusual sort of nun, if she was a nun at all. Her letters were detailed and practical, betraying none of the fascination with the miraculous and fanciful that some other clerical pilgrims loved. And what sort of nun was free to travel around the known world for years at a time? Possibly this made her a sort of wandering monastic — additionally unusual for her time. Or maybe she was a very devout noblewoman, called to pilgrimage, who wrote letters home to other devout women at her church.
Egeria traveled across much of the known world during 381-384 CE to Jerusalem, Mount Sinai, Constantinople, and Edessa. Her letters were collected in monasteries and copied, then copied again. They were housed in the library of Monte Cassino, and the oldest surviving copies were made there in the eleventh century.
Egeria recorded everything: she stayed in Jerusalem to witness an entire liturgical year and wrote down the liturgical practices of the local Christians. She described the holy sites on the Mount of Olives and the rituals around Holy Week. She told of the ritual of the eucharist as practiced in Jerusalem, and Egeria applauded the practice of reading from the Old and New Testaments as well as passages from the gospels. She described the process by which catechumens were taught the faith and baptized. It is from Egeria that we know about Holy Week rituals like the veneration of the Cross and the procession of the palms on Palm Sunday. It is also from her that we hear for the first time of the Easter Vigil and lighting of the first fire of Easter.
She described liturgical practice at a time when Christian beliefs were just becoming unified across the known world. Remember, the Second Ecumenical Council met in 384 CE, so Egeria was traveling and writing about liturgical practice before the formalization of the Nicene Creed, much less other traditions of the Church.
Through her bravery, her wandering feet, and her meticulous eye for detail, Egeria connected our liturgical practice with that of our earliest sisters and brothers in Christ.
Collect for Egeria
Jesus, our brother, as we, like Egeria, dare to follow in the steps you trod, be our companion on the way. May our eyes see not only the stones that saw you but the people who walk with you now; may our feet tread not only the path of your pain but the streets of a living city; may our prayers embrace not only the memory of your presence but the flesh and blood who jostle us today. Bless us, with them, and make us long to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. Amen.
Hildegard
Hildegard of Bingen is one of the most accomplished women in church history. The twelfth-century abbess was a mystic, theologian, composer, cloistered nun, and autodidact who wrote one of the largest bodies of letters to survive from the Middle Ages.
Born into a noble family and sickly from birth, Hildegard experienced visions beginning in early childhood. Perhaps because of them, her family dedicated her to the church; her fellow brides of Christ recognized her gifts for leadership, unanimously voting her abbess.
At the age of forty-two, Hildegard received a divine vision to“write down that which you see and hear.” Hesitant to do so, she resisted and became physically ill. “But I, though I saw and heard these things, refused to write for a long time through doubt and...in the exercise of humility, until, laid low by the scourge of God, I fell upon a bed of sickness; then, compelled at last by many illnesses...I set my hand to the writing.”
Later, she commissioned an ornate manuscript of her writings, including images of her visions. The original was lost in World War II, but its images were preserved in a copy painted in the 1920s. Notably, these theological works contain one of the earliest descriptions of purgatory.
Hildegard’s musical compositions make up one of the largest extant medieval collections in the world. Her medical writings demonstrate her vast experience in the monastery’s herbal garden and infirmary. Physica and Causae et Curae provide a rare view into the practical medicine employed primarily by medieval women. Hildegard believed there was a vital connection between the natural world and human health. Her reputation as a medical writer and healer was used in early arguments for women’s right to attend medical school. Hildegard also invented an alternative mystical language, the Lingua Ignota, perhaps to strengthen the bonds among her nuns, and potentially as a result of all that time she spent in her herb garden.
On September 17, 1179, Hildegard died, and two beams of light were said to shine across the sky and into her room. Her relics are housed in her parish in Eibingen, Germany. In Anglican churches, she is commemorated on the day of her death.
Modern feminist scholars have drawn attention to the way Hildegard strategically belittled herself and other women in her writing, and thus claimed her wisdom had solely divine origin, giving her the authority to speak in a time and place where few women could do so. She also stated that, “woman may be made from man, but no man can be made without a woman.”
In space, the minor planet 898 Hildegard is named for her, which only seems fair, given her astronomical intellect and accomplishments.
Collect for Hildegard
God of all times and seasons: Give us grace that we, after the example of thy servant Hildegard, may both know and make known the joy and jubilation of being part of thy creation, and show forth thy glory not only with our lips but in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Vote!
[poll id="119"]
364 comments on “Egeria vs. Hildegard”
Thrice a pilgrim to the Holy Land in the past ten years, I don't think Egeria gets enough credit. She gets my vote.
Dear SEC,
Could we not petition for the runner-up of this round to re-emerge as a "wild card" contender down the line?
Now there's a thought!
Another idea: every seventh year, y'all do a year of the "also-ran's", pulling in the "Round of 32" dropouts in the previous 6 years' closest match ups. It would kinda give the SEC a break, ya know. Single elimination is cruel enough before the tough decisions result in the down-select of perfectly good, worthy contenders who otherwise, against less-popular, or less- intriguing match ups, might advance.
I love this idea -- I know there are plenty of saints that were gone too soon for me to have enough information about them!
check this out
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mikef/durham/egetra.html
Thank you! Wow. You have just opened up my world to Egeria. I have been smitten by lent Madness well and truly.
Yes! This is a great idea!
As a musician, I had to go with Hildegard! She was a remarkable woman!
Under critical scrutiny the New Testament yields only fragmentary evidence of Christian worship in the first century. The next couple or three centuries tantalize but also yield few certainties. And then there's Egeria, who noted it all down, our Protoanthropologist extraordinaire. For me liturgy is the cradle of faith, the heart of Tradition (that Quadrilateral again) and the birthplace of theology. Egeria is our witness to liturgy that's come out of the shadows; she didn't create it, the "holy people of God" (St. Augustine's phrase) were doing that, and have continued to do so, and will keep doing so to the end of this world. Hildegard the reluctant visionary laboring in her garden, which I'm sure was a Mappa Mundi or microcosm, is a wonderful icon of the engaged Christian life. Even the Jesuit-trained Voltaire would have praised the way she cultivated her garden!
No I can't find a reason to favor one of these very interesting and special ladies. Unfair is the word, but in the bigger context, learned much and am appreciative of good scholarship. In the end I did a statistical exercise with random numbers (sophisticated, flip a coin) to make the choice for Egeria.
Madness is an understatement today Retlaw
Hildegard today. So rich in experience of the wonders of God's world. So generous in her expression through music, works and the written word.
Aargh! It took these two amazing women to push me from lurker to commenter. So difficult to choose. Cassandra, thank you for posting a Hildegard playlist. Beautiful! At the same time, Egeria's early travels and notations of early liturgy are very inspiring. I'm going off to contemplate for awhile.
I'll vote for anyone with severe writer's block. Team Hildegard!
What a difficult choice! I was all set to go with Hildegard-until I read about Egeria. I now want to find and read all of her writings. I have always been drawn to Hildegard, but today have broken ranks with my fellow HoB suppoters to go with Egeria. Besides, Hildy has a planet already. Surely a shot at the Golden Halo is the least we can do for Ms. E!
Wow! This turned out to be a lot tougher choice than I thought it would be! I had never heard of Egeria before, and now I am driven to learn more about her...but I still voted for Hildegard, whom I admire greatly - I think I would probably vote for her if she were up against Jesus!
Voted with all lights shining, Egeria's light shone brighter. I relish the comments as I listen to the music from a previous comment. Thanks all! This is why I vote first, then read comments(all day mind you). Please, teach me more about Egeria and Hildegard!
I love to be a lay reader, and somehow I feel I owe the opportunity in part to Egeria. I thought I would be voting for the underdog, but for now she is in the lead. Another tough choice today, with the consolation that they're both pretty wonderful and a "wrong" vote is impossible (unless it's your second of the day).
What a match! I would love to vote for both, but had to vote for Egeria. Can you imagine the difficulties a woman traveling along during that time had to face? For her bravery, Egeria won my vote.
I had no clue about the important contribution of Egeria to our liturgy. It gives me goosebumps to know that some of my most cherished practices such as the veneration of the Cross come from her writings. We should indeed bless those monks who copied her letters!
Echoing the other commenters: this was by far the hardest choice yet.
This is the first day I've read completely through the comments - a real treasure! I voted for Egeria for her travel and reporting via letters about the early church. Makes our journey deeper learning about our roots. Hildegard deserves our admiration also. I learned about her healing gifts through God's Hotel.
What a difficult choice today! I too was set to vote for Hildegard until I read about Egeria. Her travels and writings have preserved for the Church many of the practices that are held in our hearts as we approach Holy Week. The choices this year are really interesting and thought provoking!! This exercise so enriches our Lenten discipline!
Wow!! This was the toughest one yet. I hope that whoever loses in this round will get new life with the SEC in future match-ups of Lent Madness. Both of these women are worthy of the Golden Halo!
Egeria = the original Church Lady?
Another IMPOSSIBLE choice! However...
New fire at Easter?
Or healing herbs, sacred songs?
Tough call, but...music.
This was really a toss-up, but because of my love for liturgy I voted for Egeria, who saw its value early.
Even my tie-break rules are busted this time; should I vote for the earliest saint - or for the mystic?
I ended up going with Egeria. I wrote about the Palm Sunday procession a couple of years ago and cited her in re the ceremony in Jerusalem. Anyway, what's not to like about a 4th-Century pilgrim to the Holy Land?
You can read her travelogue here: http://www.ccel.org/m/mcclure/etheria/etheria.htm
"Vision" - A great movie about the life of Hildegard - released in 2009. Here is a link with more about the movie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_%E2%80%93_From_the_Life_of_Hildegard_von_Bingen
So difficult to choose just one of these remarkable women. I finally went with Egeria. She sounds like a sensible and sensitive person. Her great gift to us is recording the liturgy as it was at the beginning. How many wonderful elements of our worship are due to her careful observation and notes! I'm glad to have met Egeria here and now.
What a difficult choice the SEC has given us today! Hildegard would be a shoo-in, but Egeria the underdog with such important contributions gets my vote!
This is indeed really hard. I assumed I'd vote for Hildegard although i did already know about Egeria, as a pilgrim. I have myself pilgrimmed to Santiago de Compostela by foot and by bicycle. Byt i didn't realuse that she is the source of so much of our knowledge about early worship etc. Egeria it shall be. Hildegard won't be forgotten.
you had me at Easter Vigil
Although I admire Hildegard and love her musicality I had to vote for Egeria. I found it challenging enough to travel to the Holy Land in this century, much less in the 300's !And, how wonderful we got more than a "wish you were here" post card !
Both women are extremely worthy of advancement to the next or even top level of Lent Madness. I love Egeria for her love of knowledge, the love of what is happening all over the world now, the courage to pursue it in a man's world, and the foresight to know the importance of what she is observing. I love Hildegard for her intellect as well, and her leadership skills which had a profound effect on the church, again in a man's world. As a physician and musician, I love the fact that she was also a healer and composer. Unable to choose between the two, I rely on the fact that I was place in the Saint Hildegard group for our church supper club and am thus voting for her....
While I voted for Hildegarde, I must say that the collect for Egeria is one of the best I've ever seen for celebrating the life of a saint and what it might mean to us.
I adapted the collect for Egeria from a prayer from Janet Morley's book "Companions of God: Praying for Peace in the Holy Land". The book is a series of prayers that Ms Morley wrote when she was on pilgrimage in the Holy Land in the 1990s.
I found this to be a tough match up. Ultimately I went with Hildegard. Hey, she's even got a planet named for her!!