Hildegard was born into a family of nobles in the service of the counts of Sponheim, close relatives of the Hohenstaufen emperors. Because she was a tenth child, and a sickly one from birth, and also perhaps as a political move, at the age of eight Hildegard's parents sent her as a tithe to the church. Hildegard was put in the care of Jutta, the sister of Count Meinhard of Sponheim, just outside the Disibodenberg monastery in Germany. Jutta was enormously popular and acquired so many followers a small nunnery sprang up around her. Upon Jutta's death in 1136 Hildegard was chosen magistra of the community, and eventually moved the group to a new monastery on the Rupertsberg at Bingen on the Rhine.
From the time she was very young, Hildegard claimed to have visions. She received a prophetic call from God five years after her election as magistra in 1141 demanding of her, "Write what you see". At first she was hesitant about writing her visions, holding them inside. She was finally convinced to write by members of her order after falling physically ill from carrying the unspoken burden.
Recent scholarly interest in women in the medieval church has led to a popularization of Hildegard - and particularly of her music. Approximately eighty compositions survive, which is a far larger repertoire than almost any other medieval composer. Among her better known works is the Ordo Virtutum ("Order of the Virtues" or "Play of the Virtues"), a type of early oratorio for women's voices, with one male part - that of the Devil. It was created, like all of Hildegard's music, to be performed by the nuns of her convent. The text of her compositions uses a form of modified medieval Latin unique to Hildegard, for which she created many invented, conflated and abridged words, while the music itself is monophonic, designed for limited instrumental accompaniment (usually just using hurdy gurdy drones), and characterised by soaring soprano vocalisations. In addition to music, Hildegard also wrote medical, botanical and geological treatises, and she even invented an alternative alphabet. Due to her inventions of words for her lyrics and a constructed script, many conlangers look upon her as a mediaeval precursor.
She collected her visions into three books: the first and most important Scivias ("Know the Way") completed in 1151, Liber vitae meritorum ("Book of Life's Merits") and De operatione Dei ("Of God's Activities") also known as Liber divinorum operum ("Book of Divine Works"). In these volumes, written over the course of her life until her death in 1179, she first describes each vision, then interprets them. The narrative of her visions was richly decorated under her direction, presumably drawn by other nuns in the convent, while transcription assistance was provided by the monk Volmar (see illustration) with pictures of the visions. Her interpretations are usually quite traditionally Catholic in nature. Her vivid description of the physical sensations which accompanied her visions have been diagnosed by neurologists (including popular author Oliver Sacks) as symptoms of migraine; however others have seen in them merely colourful illustrations of the prevailing church doctrine of her time, which she supported, rather than actual visions. The book was celebrated in the Middle Ages and printed for the first time in Paris in 1513.
Hildegard's visionary writings maintain that virginity is the highest level of the spiritual life. There are many instances both in her letters and visions which decry the misuse of carnal pleasures. In Scivias Book II Vision Six.78,
"God united man and woman, thus joining the strong to the weak, that each might sustain the other. But these perverted adulterers change their virile strength into perverse weakness, rejecting the proper male and female roles, and in their wickedness they shamefully follow Satan, who in his pride sought to split and divide Him Who is indivisible. They create in themselves by their wicked deeds a strange and perverse adultery, and so appear polluted and shameful in My sight..."
"...a woman who takes up devilish ways and plays a male role in coupling with another woman is most vile in My sight, and so is she who subjects herself to such a one in this evil deed..."
"...And men who touch their own genital organ and emit their semen seriously imperil their souls, for they excite themselves to distraction; they appear to Me as impure animals devouring their own whelps, for they wickedly produce their semen only for abusive pollution..."
"...When a person feels himself disturbed by bodily stimulation let him run to the refuge of continence, and seize the shield of chastity, and thus defend himself from uncleanness." (translation by Mother Columba Hart and Jane Bishop).
Hildegard was a powerful woman by the standards of the Middle Ages. She communicated with Popes such as Eugene III and Anastasius IV, statesmen such as Abbot Suger, German emperors such as Frederick I Barbarossa, and on one occasion with St. Bernard of Clairvaux who although he reportedly advanced her work at the Synod of Trier 1147/48, seemed to have little regard for her as evidenced from the one letter from him she received. Nevertheless many Abbots and Abbesses asked her for prayers and opinions on various matters. She traveled widely, giving public speeches, a rarity for a woman of the time.
Hildegard was one of the first saints for which the canonization process was officially applied, but the process took so long that all four attempts at canonization (the last was in 1244, under Pope Innocent IV) were not completed, and remained at her beatification. However, she was already called a saint by the people before the canonization attempts. As a result of the long-standing devotion of the people to Hildegard, her name was taken up in the Roman martyrology at the end of the 16th century without a formal canonization process, earning her the title of saint. Her feast day is September 17. The shrine with the relics of Hildegard is in her second monastery in Eibingen near Rüdesheim (on the Rhine).
Ave Maria O auctrix vite
Hildegard von Bingen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
O auctrix vitae,
Reedificando salutem,
Que mortem contrubasti
Y serpentem contrivisti
Ad quem se Eva erexit
Erecta cervice
Cum sufflatu superbie.
Dum de chelo Filium Dei genuisti
Quem inspiravit
Spiritus Dei
O dulcissima
Arque amantissima mater, salve
Que natum tuum de cello missum
Mundo edidisti
Quem inspiravit
Spiritus Dei
Gloria Patri et Filio
Et Spiritui sancto.
Quem inspiravit
Spiritus Dei.
The lyrics of Hildegard von Bingen's "Ave Maria O auctrix vitae" convey a message of praise and gratitude towards the Virgin Mary as the "author of life." The song acknowledges Mary's role in "rebuilding salvation," breaking death and overcoming the evil serpent that lured Eve into sin. The lyrics also depict Mary as the humble and obedient bearer of the Son of God, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and as the loving and affectionate mother who brought forth her son from heaven to earth. The song concludes with a trinitarian invocation, glorifying the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who inspired the creation of the universe and the birth of Jesus Christ.
Overall, the song is a hymn of devotion and admiration for Mary's role in salvation history, as well as a prayer for divine guidance and blessing. The imagery of rebuilding and breaking down, the contrast between pride and humility, and the reference to the Holy Trinity highlight the central themes of redemption, obedience, and unity in the Christian faith.
Line by Line Meaning
Ave Maria
Hail Mary
O auctrix vitae,
O source of life,
Reedificando salutem,
Rebuilding salvation,
Que mortem contrubasti
Which overthrew death
Y serpentem contrivisti
And crushed the serpent
Ad quem se Eva erexit
Whom Eve had lifted up
Erecta cervice
Proudly holding her head high,
Cum sufflatu superbie.
With the breath of pride.
Hunc conculcasti
You trampled him,
Dum de chelo Filium Dei genuisti
While you bore the Son of God from heaven
Quem inspiravit
Whom the Spirit of God inspired
Spiritus Dei
Spirit of God
O dulcissima
O most sweet
Arque amantissima mater, salve
And most loving mother, hail!
Que natum tuum de cello missum
You who sent your Son from heaven
Mundo edidisti
And brought him forth into the world.
Gloria Patri et Filio
Glory to the Father and to the Son,
Et Spiritui sancto.
And to the Holy Spirit.
Quem inspiravit
Whom the Spirit of God inspired
Spiritus Dei.
Spirit of God.
Writer(s): Hildegard Von Bingen
Contributed by Dominic C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@klausehrhardt4481
Latin:
Ave Maria
O auctrix vitae,
Reedificando salutem,
Que mortem contrubasti
Et serpentem contrivisti
Ad quem se Eva erexit
erecta cervice
cum sufflatu superbie.
Hunc conculcasti
Dum de cello Filium Dei genuisti
Quem inspiravit
Spiritus Dei
O dulcissima
Arque amantissima mater, salve
Que natum tuum de cello missum
mundo edidisti
Quem inspiravit
Spiritus Dei
Gloria Patri et Filio
Et Spiritui sancto.
Quem inspiravit
Spiritus Dei.
@claudiamansur5072
Rogai por nós Santa Hildegarda ❤🙏🌹
@spmoran4703
It calms my heart to hear Hildegards wonderful songs
@rebornrovnost
This video has delivered me from mortal sin. The gaze of Our Mother with the music remove completely the influence of evil.
@julialealdasilva169
Linda Maria, rogai por todos nós.
@phillipecortes8129
I've been heard this song since 1990 and still today I think this is one of the most beautiful songs ever made.
@cosmicsprings8690
Phillipe Côrtes well said man Hildegard never did anything bad just beautiful and sublime she to become a nun so evil men could not hurt her and she was left alone to complete her wonderful work.
@cherylmburton5577
Music like this is the only thing that humans can take to heaven with them ♥️🌝🎵📌
@tonycalderon2268
Here's Sara Brighton's modern take:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF0f9bW6KQ8&list=FLWVqGYBuoMlzrgUgCGXUKBA
@gemeinschaftsgeful
The words are as breathtaking as the song. Together they are overpowering and take us to higher heights and hidden vistas. The divine in pure beauty.
@itchavega8343
Ave Maria ora pronobis❤❤❤