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!
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364 comments on “Egeria vs. Hildegard”
I really liked both of these candidates, but I'd heard of Hildegard before and never had a clue about this Egeria. In the end, Egeria got my vote simply because I want to know more about her!
I'm voting for Hildegard, but I want to read Egeria.
To read Egeria, try this:
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/jhs/TSspeger.html
The namesake for our nonprofit arts organization is Saint HIldegard von Bingen, so I'm delighted to vote for dear Hildegard! Her contributions to the arts and message of hope, spiritual healing and care for the earth have inspired Hildegard Center for the Arts to "be the change". Everyone is invited to "Celebrate the Arts and Inspire Humanity" at Hildegard. To learn more, please visit our website at http://www.hildegardcenter.org.
As a modern day "Mystery Worshipper," my vote went immediately to Egeria. I'd never heard of her before and am totally fascinated. http://christythomas.com/mystery-worship-series/
Had to vote for Egeria. I had no particular knowledge of this woman before reading about her here. I admire her mobility, willingness to study and to learn about other Christians of the known world. We need to be in touch with other Christians, especially those who are in perils path in dangerous parts of the world. Maybe we would rise out of our complacency and proclaim the Gospel with more passion.
Not too tough of a decision for me..Hildagard truly turned her all to walking this earth for God.
Hildegard for the Golden Halo!
Wow, what a tough decision. I told myself that I would be voting for Egeria no matter what, but Hildegard made such outstanding contributions - in the end I had to vote for the traveling historian who helped preserve and save for veneration some of our most precious liturgies and practices.
As a woman physician and singer, I have to vote for Hildegard.
For the first time, I'm really torn. As a liturgical junkie whose greatest joy in life is to chant the Exultet at the Easter Vigil, I'm deeply indebted to Egeria. OTOH, I've translated three books by or about Hildegard, and have much of her music recorded by the Anonymous 4, so am especially close to her. In the end, my cat Hildegarde, purring on my lap, made the choice inevitable.
Except that the Exultet (and other Triduum liturgical practices) were preserved in the life of the Church, quite independently of Egeria's description of them. Even if Egeria had never written her Itinerarium, we would still have the Triduum liturgy, and we would still call out to the choirs of angels to Rejoice!
I'm equally impressed by Hildegard's musical and language skills.
This was a tough match up. I was all set to vote for Hildegard before reading about each woman. Then I was tempted by Egeria because of all of her hard work to record the practices of early Christainity. Then back to Hildegard as a mystic, healer and leader.....usually I vote within seconds of reading about the day's saints. Not today, I had to mull it over, read comments, talk to my husband. Now hours later I can vote for Hildegard. I love Lent Madness and learning about new people and more about people that I thought I knew.
Such a tough choice! But I am going with Egeria. Holy Week and the Easter Vigil are my most favorite times. I can still recall with awe the first Easter Vigil I ever attended, which was during seminary almost 40 years ago. It took my breath away then and it still does now. I'm glad Egeria wrote about it way back then so I could see it in my lifetime!
Every. Single. Day. Difficult choices. The above comments beautifully contain all the reasons to vote for either of these fine saints. For me, it came down to the realization that while there is a patron saint of archaeology, there is not a patron saint of cultural anthropologists. I would like to recommend that in addition to the Golden Halo, Egeria be also presented with the patronage of cultural anthropology. She was doing ethnographic field work centuries before anyone had ever thought of it or faced the difficulty of being a female ethnographist, and in so doing preserved cultural information that informs our actions to this day.
Interesting match today. My nephew just gave me an album of Hilda's music and as I was listening to her music this morning we experienced an earth tremor. Okay...it's Hilda for me.
Both yesterday's Margery Kempe and today's Egeria were diarists whose vivid descriptions of the everyday experience of Christian life in their respective time periods are valuable historical artifacts and poignant spiritual testimonies. Yet Kempe was widely denigrated as a nutcase in need of therapy, while Egeria is being celebrated as a "journalist."
I wonder what accounts for the difference in how moderns react to these two women and their accounts?
I had never heard of Egeria, but she is a woman after my own heart. I am a member of the Anamchara Fellowship, a group founded in the Celtic tradition, and the spirit of pilgrimage is very Celtic, and very much valued by our Fellowship. So I was delighted to vote for Egeria--but it will be a tough battle to make it to the Saintly Sixteen, I think.
This is a truly difficult choice - the SEC is definitely not being kind to us today! - but I simply had to vote for Egeria. Not only is she less known and thus a learning experience, as someone else pointed out, but she appears to have played a major role in documenting and maintaining the liturgy and rituals we have. These are aspects of the Episcopal Church that attracted me at the beginning (at a fairly advanced age) and continue to comfort and amaze me.
This was a rough one, actually. I finally decided on Hildegard because she used such ingenuity to work around those in power to get done what she needed done. Her music is amazing as well. Egeria was new to me, and I was really moved by her story. She needs more attention, for sure.
No comments about WWII impact on both these saints? A reminder that our civilized western countries have destroyed important parts of our heritage. It's not just "those infidels"..... Monte Casino, Dresden, etc... plenty of destruction to go around. Pray for peace and understanding.
The write-up on Hildegard did mention the fact that the illuminated Rupertsberg manuscript of her Scivias had been lost since WWII, though it did gloss over the fact that it went missing after being evacuated to Dresden for safekeeping (!).
However, Barbara Newman recently pieced together new information on the circumstances. The illuminated Scivias manuscript (Wiesbaden Manuscript 2) was, in fact, kept in the same bank vault as the Riesenkodex (Wiesbaden Manuscript 1), which is the "giant" one-volume collected works of Hildegard copied right at the end of her life. That manuscript, it turns out, fell into the hands of the Soviets, from whom an art historian (known in the archival documents only as "Frau Dr. K.," but whom I suspect to have been Dr. Hiltgart Keller) managed to repatriate it in 1947 (it's now digitally available online from the Hessische Landesbibliothek in Wiesbaden). This information gives us new hope that, rather than being destroyed in the firebombing, the illuminated Scivias manuscript is simply languishing somewhere in a former Soviet warehouse -- perhaps even the cavernous storehouses of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
(Newman's report on this in the following article: https://www.academia.edu/3492609/St._Hildegard_Doctor_of_the_Church_and_the_Fate_of_Feminist_Theology_2013_ )
i love them both! ultimately i chose Egeria, as she seems to embody our current Eucharist, which without, may have been so very different now. i also love the mystery of her. And Hildegard! ah, what a beautiful story. What wonderful choices these were today! thank you!
How can we not vote for Egeria? I would never have known about her had it not been through Lenten Madness. Let's vote for Egeria so that others can say, Egeria who? And then they can discover this awesome woman of God. Thank you!!!!
Had to vote for Egeria. Our church is currently working on learning more about liturgy and she fits right in. Are her writings in one or two volumes or are they scattered all over? Does anyone know where I could find a copy of her writing? Thanks in advance.
Here's one site: http://www.ccel.org/m/mcclure/etheria/etheria.htm
There are a couple of others linked in comments here, too.
Although the quantity of Hildegards work is greater, Egeria contributed unique insight into faith and practice that no other source reveals. Hildegard gets the "great effort " award, but the uniquely saint halo goes to Egeria.
Many comments ago someone mentioned a combination, Hildaria. It was so hard to choose I wish we had the hybrid. I adore Hildegard the spunky, persistent, intellectual, faithful musician. I also deeply appreciate Egeria the early anthropologist. No matter who she was, she was gutsy, to travel so much and document as she did in that tumultuous world. By a hair, the nod goes to Egeria, who did what she did alone.
This was a hard choice. Both saints contributed in ways I felt were exceptional. After reAdding the information again Hildegard received my vote.
Easter is the reason we are Christians. Holy Week has always been the most important , moving, and beautiful time of the church year for me. As directness of the altar guild, I have helped plan for many a Holy Week over the years .
In one church I attended, The Great Vigil of Easter in all it's glory was declared by many as a "new" service and not really an Episcopalian liturgy!! Well, we all need to become educated
. It wasn't until this Shreve Tuesday that I read about Egeria . WOW I was amazed. To think about a woman traveling so far in her era is awesome in itself, but to have been able to take in all the detail of the liturgy of the Christians in Jerusalem for an entire year and write it all down is quite an undaunting task. I am forever grateful to this woman, be she noblewoman or nun. To write about the church service reading from the Old Testament as well as from the Gospels to the Procession on Palm Sunday, to the lighting of the first Fire of Easter. thank you Egeria. and my thanks to Hildegard whose music is a joy and a service in itself.
Yes, today was a tough matchup. I would have voted for Hildegard bad she been up against anyone else, but Egeria will always get my vote. I hope she may win the Golden Halo. She was courageous to preserve our liturgy. Go E Go!!!
Let it be Hildegard!
So. If all the folks who were going to vote for Hildegard had, in fact voted for her, she'd be in the lead. Seems the "I feel sorry for" vote and the "I didn't know this person before today" vote really is why this is called Lent Madness! Go Hildy, GO!
Except that yesterday, the "I fell sorry for" folks voted *against* Margery Kempe, because they felt sorry for her, rather than *for* her.
The pattern that I'm seeing emerging is a marked preference for saints from before 500 and after 1500, and a disdain for those who came during the half of the Church's life in between.
Disdain is a little strong, don't you think? People have expressed their rationales in both serious and lighthearted ways, but most seem to be to be voting for rather than against (and often with great anguish in the decision-making).
I think you're correct, Linda, disdain is much too strong a word for what has been seen happening. I really can't believe that people are voting against a candidate simply because of the tie period he or she is from. The comments I read are very heartfelt and personal feelings and reactions to a particular saint because of voter identification, voter experience, etc.
Quite right -- I retract the ill-will implied by "disdain." The difficulty of choosing between two great holy women is well attested in the comments; and in yesterday's contest, Bp. Kemper's was the advantage of being so much more directly linked to the lives of so many American Christians.
Actually, 44% (14 out of 32) on this bracket are female this year, vs. 56% (18/32) male.....
Given that primarily men wrote the history of the church the 80% of saints being men is not surprising. What's surprising is that there are any women saints at all and that more of them don't have the gift of tears.
I've never heard of Egeria and am intrigued that she had the forethought to WRITE THINGS DOWN. Everyone knows about Hildegard and I appreciate the fact that she wrote sacred music (since I'm a musician) and did other wonderful things, but I feel inspired to vote for Egeria!