October 28, 2018

Pentecost: Ordinary Women: Hildegard of Bingen


This week we look back to the Middle Ages to a woman who stood up to popes and kings 400 years before Teresa of Avila. Hildegard of Bingen was influential in her time. She was the youngest child of Mechtild of Merxheim-Nahet and Hildebert of Bermersheim, born around 1098. Nobility, the family was in the service of Count Meginhard of Sponheim.

Hildegard’s life might be summed up in James 3:13-18. “Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.”

Throughout her life, Hildegard had health problems. Like Teresa, it was during these episodes that she experienced visions. As often happened with younger children, she was sent to the Benedictine monastery at Disibodenberg in the Palatinate Forest of Germany. She took her profession with Jutta, daughter of Count Stephan II of Sponheim around 1112. The pair was the core for a community of women who joined the monastery. Jutta taught Hildegard to read and write. Hildegard also learned to play the 10-stringed psaltery and started creating music around that time.

When Jutta died in 1136, Hildegard was elected magistra of the community. Although Abbot Kuno of the Disinbodenberg monastery asked Hildegard to take the position of Prioress, she declined. Preferring independence for her community, she requested a move to Rupertsberg to establish a separate community. Despite the Abbot’s refusal, she persevered and received approval from Archbishop Henry I of Mainz. However, it was not until 1150 that the nuns moved to St. Rupertsberg monastery. Fifteen years later Hildegard founded a second monastery at Eibingen.

Hildegard knew that her visio, her visions, were a gift from God that helped her see all things in the light of God through her senses. She shared them with only a few trusted friends, like Jutta and her confessor. Then in 1141, she received the instruction to “write down that which you see and hear”. She didn’t want to obey and became physically ill as she tells in Scivias (Know the Ways), “But I, though I saw and heard these things, refused to write for a long time through doubt and bad opinion and the diversity of human words, not with stubbornness but 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, and by the witness of a certain noble maiden of good conduct [the nun Richardis von Stade] and of that man whom I had secretly sought and found, as mentioned above, I set my hand to the writing. While I was doing it, I sensed, as I mentioned before, the deep profundity of scriptural exposition; and, raising myself from illness by the strength I received, I brought this work to a close – though just barely – in ten years. (...) And I spoke and wrote these things not by the invention of my heart or that of any other person, but as by the secret mysteries of God I heard and received them in the heavenly places. And again I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me, 'Cry out therefore, and write thus’.”

As James 3:17 notes, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits.” Hildegard’s works of writing, music, and art came from her devotion to God. Pope Eugenius learned of Hildegard’s work and gave Papal approval in 1148. This gave her credence and fame. She went on to author 3 books of her visions, 2 books on natural medicine, music for liturgy and a musical morality play (Ordo Virtutum). She was an avid correspondent and nearly 400 of her letters survive. Her recipients ranged from popes and emperors to abbots and abbesses. Hildegard drew many of her visions as mandalas and these remain popular today.

Hildegard died September 17, 1179. Although she was one of the first persons to be put forward for canonization as a saint, the process was never completed. However, in 2012, she received “equivalent canonization” and she was the 4th woman named a Doctor of the Church. The Church of England lists her as a saint with the feast day of September 17.

Hildegard was a multi-talented woman. Her leadership of the nuns, and her correspondence with the rich and powerful had wide ranging effects. She did not see herself as important, though.

What can we learn from Hildegard’s life?

Look up some of Hildegard’s mandalas and make one of your own.

Next week there will be no post. The following week we’ll conclude this series with a look at Mary of Nazareth, mother of Jesus. 

October 21, 2018

Pentecost: Ordinary Women: Teresa of Avila



Our Pentecost series about ‘ordinary women’ has looked at modern women and Biblical women. We’ve learned about a couple of nurses and a labor activist, along with a queen, and a mother with her daughter-in-law. Now we turn from Mary Magdalene and Judith, two Bible women who have stories of radical response to God’s call in their lives, to a woman of the Renaissance.

Earlier this week was the feast day of Teresa of Avila, at 16th century nun who reformed the Carmelite order. An insightful meditation on her life was written by Dana Kramer-Rolls for Episcopal Café. Kramer-Rolls notes that we don’t always “like words like “obedient,” “humility,” and we distrust “passion.”  We are much more comfortable with “justice,” “protest,” “resist,” which certainly have their place. But subjection to God also has Gospel approbation, and obedience and discernment ought to precede action or a contemplative life.” She goes on to say, “We face Teresa’s tension. For us the power of the Church now resides in the State, and we still struggle with discernment…the path of humility and obedience, however unpopular and painful, offers a path to peace beyond words, and a friendship with and passion for our Lord and our God beyond anything which the world offers.”

Teresa was a woman who lived the Sermon on the Mount. She knew that “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:3-4)

She was born in 1515 in Avila, Spain to a wealthy wool merchant, Alonso Sancez de Cepeda and Beatriz de Ahumada y Cuevas. After her mother died when she was 11, Teresa was sent to the Augustine monastery at Avila where she was often ill. During her sicknesses, she experienced religious ecstasy. She insisted that she rose to the ‘devotions of ecstasy’-perfect union with God. As promised, she found comfort in God’s presence in the visions.

Matthew 5:5 says, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Even though she did not seek it, Teresa found herself acting as a reformer. At 20, she entered the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila. She almost immediately began to feel that reform was needed. As Kramer-Rolls says, it had become more like a social club. It wasn’t until she was 45 (in 1560) when the Franciscan Saint Peter of Alcantara became her spiritual advisor. With his support, and funding by Guimara de Ulloa, a woman of wealth, she established the monastery of San Jose in 1562 on the model of absolute poverty. She received papal sanction to the prime principle of absolute poverty and renunciation of property. She revived strict rules; and added ceremonial flagellation each week. In 1567 she began to establish new houses around Spain.
Teresa is well known for her visions. Throughout her life she was felt “hunger and thirst for righteousness”…and felt “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:6, 8). Starting in 1559, she had two years of visions of Christ present in bodily form, though invisible. Her most famous vision is immortalized in The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Bernini, found in the Basilica of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. She explained, “I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it...”

Teresa was not just a person given to visions. She was a hard worker. Her life and witness convinced John of the Cross and Anthony of Jesus to found Discalced Carmelite Brethren houses for men in 1568 and others over the next 8 years. As the Sermon on the Mount notes, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” and “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5: 7, 9)

Teresa offers a path toward union with God as outlined in her work The Interior Castle. She died in 1582. Forty years later she was canonized by Pope Gregory XV and in 1970 she and Saint Catherine of Siena were both named as Doctors of the Church by Pope Paul VI. They were the first women awarded this honor.

Her life was not without struggle, though. Jesus promises, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12)

Teresa perhaps found comfort in those words. Her paternal grandfather had been Jewish but was forced to convert to Christianity, and in fact was condemned by the Spanish Inquisition for reverting to Judaism. He was able to refute the charges and reassume a Christian identity when her father was a child. The stigma lingered in the family, though, prompting her mother to be especially fervent in securing Christian teaching for her daughter.  

Not everyone approved of her work and even other Carmelite orders persecuted her. In 1576 she was forbidden from founding convents. The Spanish Inquisition even considered whether she was a heretic. The trials continued until King Phillip II of Spain intervened and the Inquisition charges were dropped in 1579.

Even though the poem Christ has no body now but yours is attributed to Teresa, there is no record of it in her writings. Another prayer that was found in her books, in her own handwriting, could be a summary of the Sermon on the Mount and a hymn of praise to trusting in God.

Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing make you afraid.
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
If you have God you will want for nothing.
God alone suffices.

— St Teresa, The bookmark of Teresa of Ávila

Are there parts of the Sermon on the Mount that apply to your life?

Does the prayer above comfort you with the idea that ‘God alone suffices’? Is there another phrase in the prayer that seems important to you?

October 14, 2018

Pentecost: Ordinary Women: Mary of Magdala


Over the past few weeks, we’ve looked at some women who are, on the surface ‘ordinary’. They are simply women who were going about their daily lives when God stepped in and transformed them. They responded to the needs of the world around them and made a difference in social justice, in nursing, and in standing against oppression. Last week we saw that even a woman who might not have actually lived can inspire us to make changes and stand up for what is right.

This week, we come to a rather misunderstood woman. Mary of Magdala. I’ve written about Mary several times on this blog over the years. She is a fascinating woman, even though there is not a lot concrete known about her.

Although blackened by Pope Gregory as a prostitute, there is no evidence of that in the Biblical record. A more likely scenario is that she was a woman of some wealth from the town of Magdala on the Sea of Galilee. We know that Jesus cast out 7 ‘demons’ from her. Whether this was some sort of massive possession or a way of explaining a dramatic healing of insecurities and fears that kept Mary enslaved, is not clear. 

In any event, Mary became one of the women who followed and ministered to Jesus ‘from their wealth’. The women were the fearless ones who stood at the foot of the cross and went to the grave after the Sabbath to complete the anointing of the body. Consequently, Mary was the one who first met the Risen Lord and to whom was given the directive ‘go and tell my brothers’.

It is said that after the Resurrection she continued her evangelism, even to the Imperial Court.  Far from being a behind the scenes operator, Mary was called to be part of the action. She was not afraid to tell her story. Mary invites us to be activeparticipants in our world, to look and see God everywhere. 

Mary reminds us that Jesus can cast out our demons of insecurity, fear, the past, and whatever else can trouble us. God is for us at all times.  

As you enter into the world of Mary, you might do this exercise from 2015 using images to see which way you see her. This one of Mary turning to see who has called her name is one of my favorites.

Then take a minute to consider what pictures you might use to represent yourself. Maybe a butterfly or an eagle. Perhaps, like me, a turtle is your 'totem' animal, reflecting the need for security. Lately, however, a hawk has taken up residence in a nearby tree and I see her as symbolic of strength and resilience.  

What images of yourself do you have? Do these images truly reflect how God sees you?
Can you start to see yourself like God does-as God’s own beloved?

October 7, 2018

Pentecost: Ordinary Women: Judith


In this series, we’ve been looking at women, who made a difference in the world because they said ‘yes’ to God. Another woman from the Biblical record who, though ordinary, reacted in an extra ordinary way is Judith. Her story is found in the Apocrypha in the book that bears her name.  She was one of the women we studied at the August women’s retreat.

The Apocrypha is books that didn’t make it into the “canon”-the list of books chosen to go into the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Fourteen of these books are found in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament. This was the translation done by 70 Jewish scholars in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries BCE. The Roman Catholic church calls these books deuterocanonical (or second canon) and includes them in translations of the Bible like the Jerusalem Bible. Most Protestant churches do not include these books at all, except in a separate section or separate book. The books in the Apocrypha, in general, cover stories in the time between the end of the Old Testament and the start of the New Testament. There are stories of the Maccabees who reestablished the independence of Israel and formed the Hasmonean dynasty, from which the Herods of the New Testament were descended. Additions to the Book of Esther and Daniel are also in the apocryphal books, as are some other assorted stories, including the Book of Judith.

The basic story is that Judith, whose husband has been killed by the Assyrians, goes to the Assyrian camp with her maid. She pretends to be an informant, gaining the trust of General Holofernes. Then one night, as he lies drunk, she beheads him. Her action demoralizes the army who retreats from Israel. Meanwhile, Judith returns home with the head of Holofernes to prove that God has saved them by her hand. The Book of Judith records that she was courted by many men, but chose to remain single.

It is unlikely that Judith was a real person, although some writers try to identify Judith with some historic female leader like Queen Salome Alexandra who was the only female queen of Judea, and last ruler of the independent nation. (76-67 BCE)

Throughout history, Judith has been depicted in art, like this image of Judith with the Head of Holophernes by Christofano Allori from 1613. I saw a special exhibit at the Museum of Biblical Art in Dallas a couple years ago,  featuring the story of her life, which was quite impressive although I don't recall the artist's name. (The museum also has a wonderful Via Dolorosa sculpture garden, works by Ron DiCianni, and art pieces created from weapons of war.)

Even if she was never a real live woman, Judith can teach us about courage and acting to rectify injustice. We may not want to cut off someone’s head, but we can speak out against evil. We may not have to pretend to be a traitor, but we can confront wrong.

Some might say that Judith was ‘over the top’ in her actions. As women, we are often urged to not be outspoken or take a stand. AnnVoskamp advises, “Don’t take it down a few notches. Take risks — and take all of you to the table. It can feel terrifying — but it is far more terrifying to live anything less than being fully seen…

Because the world’s much too apathetic, the world needs how you ferociously feel much. Because the world’s much too distant and indifferent, the world needs how you passionately and compassionately give much of your attentive soul. Because the world has lost much of its heart, the world needs more of us to come with so much of our heart instead of so little. And it’s better to feel much than to feel much of nothing at all. It’s better to love with your whole broken heart than to love anything half-heartedly. Those who are told they are too much — are those who awaken the world in much needed ways.”

Is there something that you think needs to change? Maybe God is calling you to take a stand.
Are you willing to take risks and give more of your heart to ‘awaken the world’?

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