Journal Entry at Shrine of Saint Hildegard

Shrine of Saint Hildegard von Bingen is where my own mystic experience occured. We visited the Catholic Pilgrimage Church of St. Hildegard in Rüdesheim-Eibingen, Germany yesterday. This shrine church holds the relics of Saint Hildegard. Relic means that some aspect of that person or saint is kept on display for worship. In this case, it is the most potent of symbols, her tongue and heart are encased in a gold jewel box, known as an reliquary.

Shrine of Saint Hildegard

Our introduction to the relic was done by an enthusiastic Sister whose words were translated by a colleague in a dramatic and moving manner. I felt very connected to what she said and it transcended the Catholic dogma that seems difficult at times to wrap my modern head around. She (the Sister) then invited us up to stand in a circle around the relic made in gold and to hear her prayer. It was then followed by us offering up a Hildegard song. I suddenly found myself at ease singing, not really knowing the actual piece, but following along.

After our group offering, the Sister invited us to ask Hildegard for support in our own lives such as sickness or illness, and voices called out each of those laments. I thought of my own immediate family. She then invited us to touch the relic box which is actually a case made of glass that covers the jeweled box.

I listen intently to the Sister, her excitement and vigor was contagious, even in a language that I don’t understand. The woman sitting in front of me was moved suddenly with the miracle of hearing after lacking that ability over several days prior. As we walked with reverence to surround the relic altar, I felt a quality of connectedness with Saint Hildegard. It was pure joy that I could be so close and my face got wet from tears. My body responded with a tingling sensation that went head to toe, and I felt pulsed if by an unseen force as I swayed back and forth with my eyes closed. My hand reached into my pocket to pull forth a green stone given by a friend for this specific trip. It was at that moment I realized that the stone was greening, a characteristic of Hildegard called Viriditas. I brought the stone up in front of my body as I prayed, and I noticed the other pilgrims doing the same with whatever they had brought there too. I noticed that I held this very journal in my pocket.

I was left with the felling that the scared space and sensations that I had felt had reconfigured my longing to have a divine connection and I was in love with Saint Hildegard.

I have spent most of my life in the pursuit of being creative or to create. Saint Hildegard is that patron saint of creativity for me. Her churches are filled with art and sculpture whose pure purpose is an expression of her ideas (and a devout Catholic would say her ideas are manifested to her by Jesus Christ, the son of God). These worldly art pieces are modern, expressive, and abstract, not purely figurative like what one would usually find hanging in a Catholic church.

I realized that my mystic encounter with her is a form of expression which should make the point of presenting the mystery so that others will come to this place on their own. So that they may rekindle their own connection with the Saint, and take confirmation back to themselves and their own communities to help make the world a better place through love and creativity. There is no question in my mind that I had truly experienced Hildegard’s power. Each of us is divinely blessed with, as found in our own heart and tongue. This calling to minister her message will become my filmmaking endevour of The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard.

Michael M. Conti’s Journal Entry from March 18, 2013