Let There Be Light Hildegard von Bingen
Great Spiritual Teachers
John J. Kirvan (Editor)
Tommy Tighe (Foreword)
ISBN 9781594719776
eISBN 9781594719783
ASIN B082FTV61B
This is the tenth volume in the Great Spiritual Teachers series I have read. It is a an older title in the series, it was originally released in 1997, and rebranded in 2000’s, and again in 2025. Last year the first I read in the series was Born to Do This: 30 Days with Joan of Arc by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, and loved it and the concept of the series. I have read one almost every month since that first one, and if I can track down all the out of print, will do so until I finish all 24 released to date in the series.
The description of this volume states:
“Let There Be Light is an easy-to-use devotional that encourages you to experience the light of God in your daily life. This book offers you a personal, thirty-day retreat based on the spiritual insight and wisdom of St. Hildegard of Bingen, the Benedictine who was canonized in 2012 and who became only the fourth woman to be elevated as a Doctor of the Church. Part of the bestselling 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series, Let There Be Light will help you find your way through the darkness and into the light of divine love.
First published in 1997 and now back in print, Let There Be Light is an excellent prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of St. Hildegard of Bingen's timeless and timely teachings on living in the light of God. Hildegard (1098-1179) was a renowned Benedictine abbess and a popular preacher, teacher, and healer who has been venerated by Christians for centuries. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in May of 2012 and in October of that same year was elevated as a Doctor of the Church.
Rather than a mystic who wrote out of an intense personal experience of God, St. Hildegard is more properly seen as a visionary and a prophet who provides complex images in her writing that are ripe for interpretation. As you reflect on the images offered to her by God, Hildegard offers you a path to live in the light of God each moment of the day.”
About the series we are informed:
“Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.”
I believe there are 16 volumes in this series currently in print. There are also a number that are currently out of print, The oldest I have seen are from the mid 90’s and it looks like they went through a rebranding and format change in the mid 00’s, and they have undergone yet another rebranding in the 2020’s including some new titles available in the series. I must admit I do not recall running across this series prior to that first volume on Joan. I have however added all of them to my ‘to be read list’. I love the most recent rebranding, and hope Ave Maria completes the rebranding across all volumes, and brings back into print some of the volumes currently not available; specifically the volumes on John of the Cross, Evelyn Underhill, Mother Theresa and others. But back to this work.
While reading this I several a few passages, some of them are:
“Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) has penetrated today’s consciousness, gaining not only media celebrity, but almost cult status. Among many who laud her are some who would otherwise never dream of associating with an aristocratic, visionary abbess of the twelfth century, or for that matter with anything even vaguely resembling religion. In many cases her biggest fans are either unaware of her religious status or prefer to ignore it in favor of the extraordinary talents and accomplishments that have made her a source of inspiration and admiration.”
“The fascination is understandable. She was a mystic (perhaps Germany’s first) and a visionary, but she was also a prophet, a reformer, a scientist, an encyclopedist, a composer, and a dramatist—a Renaissance personality well before the Renaissance.”
“Hildegard’s visions are wide-ranging. She views heaven and earth, their history and their future, in the coded language of images. She reports what she has seen and then decodes the imagery in commentaries that are often long and whose theology is extraordinarily complex. She ranges with equal authority, self-confidence, and painstaking detail from the fall of the angels to rules for the marriage bed.”
“More specifically, we have chosen the theme of contrast between night and day, light and darkness. You will find the theme explicitly in the short visionary passages which begin each day of meditative prayer and in the reading that spells out the vision. In a special way, you will find it in the exercises suggested for the end of the day. Each of these invites you to enter a dark place, and there to reach out in your imagination to touch the face of God.”
“But imagination carries us beyond the captivity of what is easily seen to what could be, to what can be, to what most surely is beyond where our senses end and faith begins. And it is precisely on this journey that Hildegard is such a helpful guide.”
“Here are some suggestions on one way to use this book as a cornerstone of your prayers, based on the three forms of prayer central to Western spiritual tradition: the lesson, the meditation, and the petition. The author of the classic Cloud of Unknowing has written that “they might better be called reading, reflecting, and praying.”
“For wherever the fear of the Lord takes root, human wisdom will also appear and faith will emerge. For when God is feared, he is understood by faith aided by human wisdom. In them, together, God takes his place, supreme above all else. Neither the power of our minds nor the force of our wills can comprehend him but only single minded and open faith in One who is above everything, everyone else.”
“We will never comprehend the full extent of his glory, for no creature can or should have a standard of goodness or power with which to measure the power of God or his deeds.”
“He is with us to console and save our souls, to prepare us for eternal life, not eternal death. His grace goes before us so that the good may not fall, and sinners may rise again. His grace precedes and follows us, touches and warms us, so that we can with passion, receive and fulfill his words of life.”
“Your task then is to make your gift valuable to others through works of justice, so that your life and deeds will mirror their Giver. Choose what is good, do even greater deeds, and glorify your Father who has lavished you with his gifts.”
“How precious to me is your steadfast love, O God! I take refuge in the shadow of your wings and feast on the abundance of your table. I depend on the river of your gifts. For with you is the fountain of life; only in your light do I see light. Amen.”
“What do you expect at the end of your journey? God? He is here. As much in the journey’s first cautious step as in its last.”
“You have been made in the image and likeness of God. So don’t be foolish. How could this great honor that has been given to you escape being tested as though it were valueless? Gold must be tested in fire. Precious stones, in order to be smooth, are first polished. Everything of value must be put to the test. Of all creatures, we are to be tested the most thoroughly. Our spirit will be tested by spirit. Our flesh by flesh, good by evil, sweetness by bitterness, light by darkness, life by death. Before we are received in heaven, we must expect to be tested by every creature in heaven, on earth, and in hell. So do not think your testing is unjust. The reason for much is hidden from our eyes. We are not wiser than God.”
“Open your eyes to what you are, to what you have become. Open them to what you could be. With all you have been given, why do you settle for so little?”
“In her best-known work, Scivias, Hildegard ends each of its three major series of visions with a version of the same invitation: “Let those who live with eyes wide open and hear with open ears welcome with love these mystical words, which have come from him who is Life.” This book has brought together just a few of those “words,” arranged in the form of daily meditations in order to provide you an easily accessible gateway into the spiritual wisdom of this important spiritual guide . . . and a gateway opening on your own spiritual path..”
A sample day is:
“DAY 13
My Day Begins
I saw
into secret places
at heaven’s pinnacle
two armies of spirits,
both shining with great brightness.
Our almighty Father,
who has created all that is,
has in gracious wisdom willed
that each have its own proper place.
Some creatures he has destined to stay on earth.
Others are to inhabit the celestial regions.
He has also set in place the blessed angels,
both for human salvation
and the honor of his name.
This is why we see
in the secret places
of heaven two armies of spirits
shining with great brightness.
What our bodily eye cannot penetrate
we can see with our inner eye.
These two armies
represent the human body and soul
which together are destined
to enjoy eternal blessedness
with the citizens of heaven.
We are destined
to sing a glad and joyous song,
to live forever
with all those who have rejected injustice
and have done the works of justice.
We might have, at the suggestion of the devil,
done evil,
but we chose goodness instead.
All Through The Day
Choose justice.
My Day Is Ending
Spend a moment welcoming the dark.
Make friends with the silence of the night.
Now let the silence be broken
by the voices,
that may have gone unheard
in the noisy corridors of your day—
the voices of those who seek justice.
Let them cut through the silence.
Give them a hearing.
Choose justice.
Night Prayer
How precious to me is your steadfast love, O God!
I take refuge in the shadow of your wings
and feast on the abundance of your table.
I depend on the river of your gifts.
For with you is the fountain of life;
only in your light do I see light.
Amen.”
Another day that really impacted me was:
“Day Eighteen
My Day Begins
I saw
all the elements of the world
which until now
had existed in great calm
become suddenly agitated
and shaken with fear.
You have been made
in the image and likeness of God.
So don’t be foolish.
How could this great honor
that has been given to you
escape being tested
as though it were valueless?
Gold must be tested in fire.
Precious stones,
in order to be smooth,
are first polished.
Everything of value
must be put to the test.
Of all creatures,
we are to be tested the most thoroughly.
Our spirit will be tested by spirit.
Our flesh by flesh,
good by evil,
sweetness by bitterness,
light by darkness,
life by death.
Before we are received in heaven,
we must expect
to be tested
by every creature
in heaven, on earth, and in hell.
So do not think your testing is unjust.
The reason for much is hidden from our eyes.
We are not wiser than God.
All Through The Day
We are not wiser than God.
My Day Is Ending
Spend a moment welcoming the dark.
Make friends with the silence of the night.
If not today, then yesterday or the day before.
Perhaps just an hour ago:
your soul has been tested.
Here in the dark recreate that moment.
Don’t judge it.
Just seek to understand and accept it.
What about you was tested?
What happened that changed
just another moment into a test?
Were you caught by surprise?
Are you different now?
Night Prayer
How precious to me is your steadfast love, O God!
I take refuge in the shadow of your wings
and feast on the abundance of your table.
I depend on the river of your gifts.
For with you is the fountain of life;
only in your light do I see light.
Amen.”
I hope those quotes and the sample days give you a feel for this excellent volume. I have now read 10 volumes in this series, and currently working on n eleventh, and I can state this is an excellent offering in the series. I find that some speak to me more than others. With one almost every day was like an aha moment, others are more work and fewer moments. This one every day was a moving experience. I shared day 18 above because I went back and reread it several times. I can state I benefited from the month with each person being profiled. And if I went back and did a volume again at a different point or season in life I might interact with it differently. I already plan to circle back to both this volume and the volume on Joan and reread them once I have completed the series, or at least those I can track down.
This was one another of the volumes I really connected with. This is a great read, it is one I really enjoyed reading. I can easily recommend this volume and the series as a whole, and I look forward to reading others in the series. If you have not given any in this series a try this would be an excellent starting point or which ever one seems to call to you.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
Books in the Great Spiritual Teachers Series:
Abide in love: the Gospel spirituality of John the Evangelist – John Kirvan
Fear Not the Night - John of the Cross and John Kirvan
God Awaits You Based on the Classic Spirituality of Meister - Richard Chilson
Grace Through Simplicity - Evelyn Underhill and John Kirvan
Living in the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence and John Kirvan
Love Without Measure - Mother Teresa and John Kirvan
Rejoice in the Lord - Augustine of Hippo and Trenton Mattingly
Set Aside Every Fear - Catherine of Siena and John Kirvan
That you may have life: let the mystics be your guide for Lent - John Kirvan
True Serenity - Thomas a Kempis and John Kirvan
We Are Beloved - Thea Bowman and Karianna Frey MS
Where Only Love Can Go - The Cloud of Unknowing and John Kirvan
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