Egeria vs. Hildegard

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 3Egeria

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.

-Megan Castellan

Hildegard_von_BingenHildegard

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.

-Amber Belldene

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364 comments on “Egeria vs. Hildegard”

  1. I don't recall ever having thought of the SEC as cruel, but I find this match-up a cruel choice. Both are remarkable women. I've pondered all day and finally chosen to vote for Egeria, a traveler and writer - two things dear to my heart.

  2. Really, SEC??? I can't figure out anything to distinguish one of these women from the other in such a way as to make one the obvious winner. They are both kind of ridiculously awesome and speak to me equally. This will be my first ever coin flip vote!

    1. Noooo! Don't flip a coin...just listen to some more of Hildegard's music, and you'll hear why you should vote for her 🙂

  3. Go Hidegard Go!

    Making a comeback...almost there!

    Now we just need the Hidegard vote to do one of those lofty jumps to the heavens as is so distinctive in her music!

    1. YES! Been a big fan of Egeria since Louis Weil introduced us to her back in the day. But I've known of and admired Hildegard for much longer and as a [former?] musician and current mystic-o-phile I've gotta say I hope she wins today. A very close race. Where's the Hilde-guard?

  4. I figured if I waited all day and kept reading posts I would be able to make an "informed decision" but Nooooooo. The only thing I accomplished by waiting all day was waiting all day!

  5. I thought this was a done deal for me. I've always been a fan of Hildegard. But then I read the biography of Egeria, and I love the idea of a roving reporter, an early Brenda Starr. (Okay, I'm dating myself.) My daughter, who is at this moment in Africa and will report on that, began her writing career as a newspaper reporter. So, Egeria, you have my vote!

  6. Len Freeman, your poem of Hildegard is so beautiful. Thank you for your loving, inspirational contribution.

  7. Wow, this is the closest yet. Both are worthy women. It will be exciting to wake tomorrow to discover the winner.

  8. What a tight race between these two amazingly faithful women! I enjoyed learning about Egeria, but I cast my vote for Hildegard as I have long been a fan of her music and her writings. With two more hours left to vote, I hope Hildegard will gain the edge to advance to the Saintly Sixteen!

  9. Oh, how I hated to have to choose between these two women! Both writers, and one a musician like me! I had never heard of Egeria. Thanks for the education, Lent Madness!

  10. oh so difficult of a choice today - i would have delighted in spending a month with each. but choice goes today with medieval music. anyway, three cheers for the scribes!

  11. As a life long healthcare provider I have to side with Hildegard for two reasons. She was an early health healer and she advanced the cause of women.

  12. I was very excited to see Egeria in the bracket since she was one of the first (& favorite) resources I found when looking for more insight into Lenten practices. She gave us so many images that would have been lost without her desire to share, vividly, her experiences with her sister nuns back at home and to quote her: "Journeys are not hard when they are the fulfilment of hopes." She is still guiding modern day pilgrims too. Please vote for Egeria!

  13. To say Egeria just wrote what she saw and that wasn't such a big deal is the same as saying the apostles, who only wrote what they saw or heard aren't that important either ....

  14. I majored in Journalism and love liturgy, so Egeria it is.

    Also someone in the comments up above mentioned having a masters in liturgical arts and all I could think of was which schools offer that degree program. (If anyone knows please let me know!)

  15. I was all set to vote for Hildegard, especially given her gorgeous music. We had studied her in our "Christian Mystics" study last fall, and she was the first one I had decided upon when the bracket first came out.

    But then I read about Egeria, her travels, and all the early church rituals and practices that she observed and documented - I was blown away! No contest - Egeria gets my vote!

  16. I regard Egeria as vastly more than a "cultural anthropologist" or the "Margaret Mead" of her day. I feel blessed to learn about this amazing woman who chronicled so many important Christian liturgical rituals as they existed in her day and continued to be practiced today.
    This was a tough vote for me, being a physician, I was really impressed (how can one not be) by the wundersame Werke von Hildegard, especially trying to get women accepted into medical education, but the life of Egeria, the traveler and chronicler won me over. It's a tight race! There are no real "losers" in Lent Madness anyway. How much I have learned.