Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword to the English Edition 13

STAGE 1  From Idar-Oberstein to Herrstein 15
MEDITATION & INFORMATION
Tableau 1: The Seeress 18
Tableau 2: Stones 22
Tableau 3: God Enthroned 24
Tableau 4: The County of Sponheim 28
TEXT OF THE DAY
First Station in Hildegard’s Life: Childhood and Visionary Gift 30

STAGE 2  From Herrstein to Kirn 35
MEDITATION & INFORMATION
Tableau 5: Creation and the Fall 40
Tableau 6: Hildegard’s Origin 44
Tableau 7: Trees 46
Tableau 8: The Cosmos 50
Tableau 9: Birds 56
Tableau 10: Beer 58
TEXT OF THE DAY
Hildegard’s Visionary Images 61

STAGE 3  From Kirn to Monzingen 67
MEDITATION & INFORMATION
Tableau 11: Hildegard as an Early “Protestant” 70
Tableau 12: Soul and Body 72 
Tableau 13: Metals 77
Tableau 14: Reptiles 78
Tableau 15: Hildegard’s Music 79
Tableau 16: Hildegard’s Correspondence 81
Tableau 17: Wine 83
TEXT OF THE DAY
Viriditas—Green Power of Life 85

STAGE 4  From Monzingen to the Disibodenberg 91
MEDITATION & INFORMATION
Tableau 18: Plants 97
Tableau 19: Medical Herbs 99
Tableau 20: Animals 102
Tableau 21: The Synagogue 104
Tableau 22: Causae et Curae 108
Tableau 23: Physica 110
Tableau 24: The Choirs of the Angels 112
Tableau 25: The Redeemer 116
TEXT OF THE DAY
Second Station in Hildegard’s Life: Entrance to St. Disibod Monastery 120

STAGE 5  From Disibodenberg to Schloßböckelheim 125
MEDITATION & INFORMATION
Tableau 26: Hildegard’s Time at the Disibodenberg 134
Tableau 27: The Trinity 136
Tableau 28: Elements 140
Tableau 29: Baptism 142
Tableau 30: Confirmation 146
Tableau 31: Celtic Homeland 150
Tableau 32: Ecclesia and Virginitas 152 
Tableau 33: Christ and His Church 156
Tableau 34: Fish 160
Tableau 35: Böckelheim Castle 162
Tableau 36: The Devil 164
TEXT OF THE DAY
Third Station in Hildegard’s Life: Almost Forty Years at the Disibodenberg 168

STAGE 6  From Schloßböckelheim to Braunweiler 173
MEDITATION & INFORMATION
Tableau 37: God, Lucifer, and Humanity 178
Tableau 38: The Tithe 181
Tableau 39: The Edifice of Salvation 182
Tableau 40: Jutta of Sponheim 186
Tableau 41: The Tower of Anticipation 188
Tableau 42: The Pillar of the Word of God 192
Tableau 43: Sponheim Minster 195
TEXT OF THE DAY
Fourth Station in Hildegard’s Life: The “Revelation” of Liber Scivias 196

STAGE 7  From Braunweiler to Stromberg 203
MEDITATION & INFORMATION
Tableau 44: The Zeal of God 210
Tableau 45: Hildegard’s Marian Songs 214
Tableau 46: The Stone Wall of the Old Law 216
Tableau 47: The Pillar of the Trinity 220
Tableau 48: Pilgrimage 223
Tableau 49: The Pillar of the Savior’s Humanity 224
Tableau 50: The Tower of the Church 228
Tableau 51: The Son of Man 232
Tableau 52: Liber Vitae Meritorum 240
 
STAGE 8  From Stromberg to Bingerbrück 243
MEDITATION & INFORMATION
Tableau 53: The Last Days and the Fall of the Antichrist 248
Tableau 54: The Last Judgment 252
Tableau 55: Symphony of Praise 256
TEXT OF THE DAY
Fifth Station in Hildegard’s Life: The Foundation of the Rupertsberg Women’s Monastery 264

STAGE 9  The Bingen Hildegard Way 269
MEDITATION & INFORMATION
Tableau 56: Liber Divinorum Operum 276
Tableau 57: The Rupertsberg Women’s Monastery 278
Tableau 58: Bingen, the Hildegard-Town 282
Tableau 59: After Hildegard’s Death 284
TEXT OF THE DAY
Sixth Station in Hildegard’s Life: The Bingen Period 286

STAGE 10  The Rüdesheim Hildegard Way 295
TEXT OF THE DAY
Saint Hildegard’s Abbey in Changing Times 301

Poems & Songs
O splendissima gemma 21
O quam mirabilis 39
O virtus Sapientiae 49
Hildegard’s Visions 60
O nobilissima viriditas 84
Longing for St. Hildegard of Bingen and Christus Medicus 96
O vos Angeli 115
In Search of Hildegard of Bingen 130 
Laus Trinitati 139
O orzchis Ecclesia 145
De Spiritu Sancto—O Fire of the Spirit 149
O virgo Ecclesia 159
King Henry’s Christmas 167
O magne Pater 185
This Is What I Wish For 191
O quam pretiosa 209
Reflection 219
O viridissima virga 227
Sonne der Gerechtigkeit—Sun of Justice 231
Praying for Divine Virtues 236
The Great Woman Mystic 247
Towards the End of Times 251
De Angelis 259
Epilogue 260
Co-operation 262
O Jerusalem—Sequence for Saint Rupert 281
St. Hildegard of Bingen’s Theology 299
Talking with Hildegard 309

Notes  313
Bibliography  319
Photo Credits  323
About the Author and Contributors  325

About the Author

Annette Esser, PhD, is the initiator of the Hildegard of Bingen Pilgrimage Way in Germany, editor of the fifty-nine tableaux along the way, and author of this pilgrimage book. Born in Cologne, Germany, Annette Esser has studied Catholic and Protestant theology at Münster University, Germany, and at Union Theological Seminary, New York; she holds a doctorate in theology from Radboud University, The Netherlands. As a teacher, artist, and theologian, she is the foundress and president of the Scivias Institute for Art & Spirituality, a nonprofit organization for artists, theologians, and therapists. Her artwork includes the Hildegard sculpture made from clay as seen on the Hildegard of Bingen pilgrimage passport and book.

Reviews

"This guidebook somehow captures the places in all of their travel-guide detail without making you feel you’re missing anything by not walking on the same cobblestone streets and alleyways. All you need is your imagination to enter the experience."
Spirituality & Practice

"Beyond its use as a pilgrimage guidebook, the book easily lends itself as a resource for guided personal reflection and retreat use. It is accessible for those who are new to the richness of Hildegard of Bingen and enriching for those who have traveled with her for years. The wisdom of this twelfth-century mystic has much to share with those on spiritual journeys today."
Magistra

"Lace up your hiking boots for an inspiring walk through the land of Hildegard of Bingen. Medieval saint and doctor of the church, Hildegard's eco-spirituality is increasingly attractive to contemporary readers. This amazing volume outlines a pilgrimage of key places in her life and ministry. It is complete with maps and pictures, readings and reflection questions. Tuck this in your backpack as you go, or enjoy it from the comfort of your easy chair."
WATER

"If you are a real Hildegard enthusiast, this work should probably be in your library. If you plan to make the pilgrimage, this handbook would unquestionably enhance your experience."
Cistercian Studies Quarterly

"It is a quite attractive publication replete with full color reproductions of images from Hildegard's texts, maps, and four-color photos of the natural environment in which Hildegard and her monastic communities were founded and flourished."
Catholic Books Review

"The work is the fruit of decades of research. It is a quite attractive publication replete with full color reproductions of images from Hildegard's texts, maps, and four-color photos of the natural environment in which Hildegard and her monastic communities were founded and flourished."
Catholic Books Review