This is the article on Hildegard von Bingen I mentioned (or, fangirled over) this evening:
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/11/19/saint-hildegard-coronavirus-catholic-joy
A few quotes/excerpts I particularly enjoy-
Because Hildegard cookies are made with spelt flour and the aforementioned spices, they are the equivalent of a medieval happiness bomb.
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Cookies of joy some call them in English, because according to the 12th-century Benedictine abbess, the cookies remove hate from the heart and calm the nerves. As a lifelong cookie aficionado, I must confess that I find this true of most cookies.
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Covid-19 taught me that isolation and solitude are not the same thing; one is like being locked behind a stone wall, while the other is like drinking from a holy well. Often they go hand in hand, and we must abide loneliness to cultivate solitude and arrive at the well.
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She was both wild and obedient, frail and unstoppable, a simple nun and a human dynamo, the likes of which the world had rarely seen.
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You can love something with your whole heart, Hildegard shows, and still want to improve it. Our collective and personal wounds must be tended, Hildegard says with the actions of her life, but neither should they keep us from our joys and commitments—what she called “the festive service of God.”
Fun fact- it is dishearteningly difficult to find an image of Hildegard where she doesn't look absolutely annoyed with life. Which makes no sense considering how radiantly joyful she evidently was! This one is OK though.
We should do a class where we read Hildegard of Bingen, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Juiian of Norwich, and Teresa of Avila, minimum.
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