St. Hildegard's Wisdom

On this day, September 17, 2025, St. Hildegard of Bingen’s feast day, please celebrate with me with these excerpts from past interviews about saints, health, music, Benedictines, and St. Hildegard.

Today, I also want to say a big thank you to the great interviewees who have contributed to St. Hildegard’s Wisdom thus far. My prayers for them are for a joyous day and good health. St. Hildegard of Bingen, pray for us!

Please find below selections from the past interviews, and links to the full interviews:

Excerpt from Answers About Catholic Saints – Fr. Cameron Faller, Pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish in San Francisco.

Why we pray to the saints:
I’m already praying to God, but there’s something in us, because we’re social, communal beings, and we’re members of the body of Christ. We were not individually saved as much as we’re saved as a community because the body of Christ is a community. It’s natural for me to reach out to another Christian, another Catholic, and say, “Hey, can you pray for me?”…that is something we all naturally do on some level. Well then, that’s what we’re doing with the saints. We’re doing the same exact thing, and the only difference being that they’re already in heaven…they’re the living body of Christ…they’re closer to God, just objectively speaking. And so…just as we’d ask, another human being to intercede for us. We’re asking our friends in heaven to intercede for us.

How we can be simple saints:
…you think there (has) to be tons of…simple saints, meaning simple people that lived an extremely holy life, but they didn’t produce enough flair for somebody to push their canonization process…they’re still a saint. It’s just they haven’t been officially declared by the church to be a saint…the message of the gospel is rather simple. Ultimately, you have to become like children to enter the kingdom of God. Every soul in heaven has become like a child. What’s a child? It’s someone who is humble, completely dependent on God, surrendering to God, consistently doing what God’s asking…
Listen here to the full audio recording.

Excerpt from Angelus Echeverry, Musician to Monk and Sacred Music – Father Angelus Echeverry is a Roman Catholic Benedictine Priest-Monk from St Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, California

My initial attraction to St. Hildegard was through her music. I came across her work during my undergraduate studies. Upon hearing it, I was instantaneously mesmerized. It did what it does for so many — it seemed to still time, lifting the soul, mind and heart toward the transcendental…

The more I listened, the more I realized its goal was not to make the listener ‘feel’ anything particularly. It was not ‘emotional’ or ‘sentimental’. It did not try to sound sad or happy, anxious or excited, but rather invited the listener to something deeper than feelings alone….

Eventually, it dawned on me why: it was and is music for prayer. This music, directed to God and seemingly inspired by Him, is beyond feelings and time — ‘eternal’ in its quality…. How auspicious that that should be the very monastic order to which God was calling me. This is why St. Hildegard is both a spiritual mother with whom I not only share a deep love of sacred music, but also a sister in the consecrated life; both of us children of St Benedict.
Read the full interview here.

Excerpt from Diamonds, Gemstones and Hildegard – Maureen Pratt, MTS, MFA, GIA GG, Gem-A FGA (Merit), Founder and Executive Director of The Peace in the Storm Project

As I got more into writing in the space of Catholic spirituality, I started reading more and began revisiting Hildegard…I got into gemstones and gemology from a contemporary perspective. I found the historical perspective really fascinating…I’m a fellow of the Gemological Association of Great Britain…

What Hildegard’s writings about gemstones say to me is that I wish she could live today because she would just be at the cutting edge of whatever discipline she chose to apply herself to. She knew that these materials were precious and part of God’s creation. So she wasn’t deviating from Catholic faith. But you know everything reflects creation, God’s creation.

These things are here because of God. And so the admiration that she had for these minerals, we definitely should see today.

If they would have had the instruments that we now have, the testing capabilities that we have, how much further Hildegard could have taken it!
Read the full interview here.

Excerpt from Improve Your Health With Your Doctor and Also Natural and Spiritual Medicine

Iwona Bednarz-Major, Founder, Director at Stone to Flesh

Healing is rarely immediate; it’s a process, much like peeling back layers to uncover the vibrant health we were designed for.

I always align the healing of a human heart with its surfacing issues, and with physical symptoms.

While some people experience rapid shifts—whether through miraculous prayer or a profound lifestyle change—and enough of them do—most of us require patience and persistence.

Prayer indeed is primary, infusing hope, grace, and supernatural healing into every step. Whether healing comes instantly or over years, what matters most is walking the journey with faith, wisdom, and a willingness to adjust as needed.
Read the full interview here.

Petra Sramko, Herbalist, Saint Hildegard Plants

There are always times in our lives when we are pushed to change our point of view and attitudes in a lot of areas…I trust in God, and God sends us challenges to “grow”.

Sure, Hildegard’s food will help you to improve your body condition, but if you will be constantly stressed, it will impact your life in the long run.

Today’s medicine is excellent at solving health issues, cancer, dangerous health situations, etc. However, when it comes to solving chronic conditions, Hildegard medicine can step in.
Read the full interview here.

Excerpt from Interview With Sr. Nodelyn Abayan About Contemporary Benedictine Spirituality – Nodelyn Abayan, a member of the Sisters of Social Service of Los Angeles, spiritual director / vocation contact person

The basics of Benedictine spirituality is always seeing the positive or the good in everything. That God is present in everything. And in the good, there’s always the beauty. There’s a big emphasis, like Hildegard is very, very big on beauty.

And joy. And so that’s part, as Benedictine, as sisters who follow the Benedictine spirituality, we’re very big on beauty and a positive outlook on life. That there is always a reason and God is always present. We try to experience God in every single thing we do and make it palpable in our lives.

At least for me personally, and I know in my community as well, we’re big on the role of silence in our lives, which is very Benedictine. Because it is in silence. It’s a silence prayer. I know there are different levels of prayer, but personally that’s where I find I can attune to God’s presence more, in silence. Because silence is the language of God.

And another thing about Benedictines is hospitality. These are the words of Saint Benedict, that you treat each stranger, or your visitor, or your guest as if they are Christ. That’s why we’re big on hospitality.
Read the full interview here.

Excerpt from Herbalist and Naturopath, Dr. Sebastian Liew Supports Your Healing Life –Dr. Sebastian Liew, ND, MNHAA, MHS (UNE), Herbalist and Naturopath

My faith plays a very significant role and shapes how I run my business, how I practice naturopathy, and my personal life. My faith via daily walks with God and his friends (saints and angels) helps me to feel complete.

• Rejuvenates the way I see things (spirituality).
• Creates positive relationships with nature and others and myself.
• Makes life more meaningful and purposeful.
• Ensures that I am loved despite my imperfections (unloved is the root cause of many diseases), which in turn promote my health in body and soul.
  Read the full interview here.

Excerpt from Saint Hildegard’s Plants and Foods Are Good For You – Herbalist Petra Sramko of Saint Hildegard Plants

She declares, that “I must honestly say that I love Hildegard. From an herbalist’s point of view, she is the one that specifies the plant as itself, as it is.” Hildegard specifies the energy of the plant, then she describes it and its impact on human health. And she follows that up with recipes. Petra says, “If someone is sick and you know their symptoms, you can then pair them with the right remedy from Hildegard. They take the remedy and gain their health back.” Petra admits, “I’ve tested it many times. There’s only one reason why they wouldn’t get healthy again. That’s only the case when God doesn’t want them to get healthy.” That’s something that St. Hildegard emphasized and is in her books.

Petra concludes, “Health is about what you eat, how you eat it, your environment, the people around you, and your way of life. So this is Hildegard!”
Read the full interview here.