The feminine genius in the Middle Ages. Mystic

Today we celebrate Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). She was born and lived in Germany. At the age of eight she was entrusted to the care of her teacher Jutta of Sponheim. The two of them lived in a small house next to the Benedictine monastery of Saint Disibod. The fame of Judith and her pupil's holiness soon spread throughout the region, and other parents admitted their daughters to what was to become a small Benedictine convent for women. At the age of fifteen, Hildegard was professed as a nun here: she received the veil from Bishop Otto of Bamberg. In 1136 Hildegard was chosen to succeed Mother Judith. The community grew and eventually Hildegard founded another convent, dedicated to St. Rupert, where she spent the rest of her life. Hildegard, from a young age, received supernatural visions. She consulted St. Bernard, who reassured her. In 1147 she received the approval of Pope Eugene III: he authorized her to write down her visions and to speak in public. From then on Hildegard's spiritual prestige grew more and more and she became known as the “Teutonic prophetess”. -Her mystical visions refer to the main events of salvation history and use a mainly poetic and symbolic language. Her most famous work is entitled “Know the Ways”. In addition, she wrote other texts in which she dealt with medicine and natural sciences, as well as music.