Do you have concerns about the happenings in the world today? Learn to apply this 12th Century Doctor of the Church's wisdom on spirituality, natural medicine, the arts and happy living.
For those unfamiliar with Saint Hildegard of Bingen, here are 12 definitions from various writers to get you well-acquainted with her mystique.
A Model for All Women
She’s clearly the confirmation of Christian feminism. She’s clearly the call to women to be everything they can be, to be the fullness of themselves, without an ounce of fear. She is the “open sesame” to a woman’s insight and a woman’s Gospel life.
… she is also a model for all women—laywomen, too—because if a cloistered woman religious from the 12th century can take upon herself the learning, the authority, and the wisdom position that she did, then we’re all called to key roles in our Church.
Hildegard tells us that compassion is at the very heart of all healing. For her, the voice of mercy is never strained. It is always there to comfort us. Hildegard’s understanding of health was holistic: soma and psyche, body and mind, action and thought, were aspects of a whole.
– Consecrated Spirits, compiled by Felicity Leng, p. 78
3. Wild and Strange
…Hildegard might be the most paradigmatic exemplar of what I have referred to as “wildness.” She is by turns uplifting, inspiring, provoking, and off-puttingly strange. Poet, abbess, composer, visionary, prophet, reformer, painter (maybe) and “holistic” physician, she claims to have had visions from the age of five, visions made up of strange, symbolic pictures, similar to the images that haunt the apocalyptic pages of John, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Daniel.
– An Introduction to Christian Mysticism, Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life by Jason M. Baxter, p. 20
4. AHoly and Royal Influencer
…corresponding with four popes (Eugenius III, Anastasius IV, Adrian IV, and Alexander III) and with two emperors (Conrad III and his son and successor Frederick Barbossa). Such correspondence brought her into the mainstream of general European history. Her letters also include correspondence with the English King Henry II and his queen Eleanor who was the divorced wife of Louis VII. She urged Henry to be aware of the flattery of his courtiers and she warned Queen Eleanor to be aware of unrest and inconstancy. In a letter to the Greek emperor and his empress Irene, or Berta as she was called, she wished them the blessings of a child.
– Hildegard of Bingen, The Book of the Rewards of Life, Translated by Bruce Hozeski, p. xvi
5. A Prophet Amongst Men
Never did she suggest that, as a woman and a Christian, she had any “right” to teach or prophesy in the Church. Nor did she claim or demand equality with men. Rather, she insisted that God had chosen a poor, frail, untutored woman like herself to reveal his mysteries only because those to whom he had first entrusted them – the wise, learned, and masculine clergy – had failed to obey. She lived in a “womanish age” in which men had become so lax, weak and sensual–in a word, effeminate–that God had to confound them by making women virile.
– Sister of Wisdom, St. Hildegard’s Theology of the Feminine, by Barbara Newman, p. 3
6. Extraordinary and Exceptional
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), mistress of St. Rupert’s Monastery and “Sybil of the Rhine,” would have been extraordinary in any age. But for a woman of the twelfth century, hedged by the constraints of a misogynist world, her achievements baffle thought, marking her as a figure so exceptional that posterity has found it hard to take her measure.
–Voice of the Living Light, Hildegard of Bingen and Her World, Edited by Barbara Newman, p. 1
7. HerFirsts and Onlies
• …Hildegard was the only woman of her age to be accepted as an authoritative voice on Christian doctrine; • the first woman who received express permission from a pope to write theological books; • the only medieval woman who preached openly, before mixed audiences of clergy and laity, with the full approval of church authorities; • the author of the first known morality play and the only twelfth-century playwright who is not anonymous; • the only composer of her era (not to mention the only medieval woman) known both by name and by a large corpus of surviving music; • the first scientific writer to discuss sexuality and gynecology from a female perspective; • and the first saint whose official biography includes a first-person memoir.
–Voice of the Living Light, Hildegard of Bingen and Her World, Edited by Barbara Newman, p. 1
8. Conservative
Contrary to some modern perceptions of Hildegard, her thought was in many ways more conservative than revolutionary, depending on the time-honored methodology and learning of the monastic milieu in which she spent her life.
–Secrets of God, Writings of Hildegard of Bingen, Selected and Translated by Sabina Flanagan, p. 2
9. A Visionary
This German abbess’s power and influence seeped into every crevice of twelfth-century life. That she also happened to be a woman who only found her voice in mid-life merely adds to the richness of her story… Her boldness, courage and tenacity made her at once enthralling and haughty, intrepid and irksome. By contrast, the ills and terrors caused by, or perhaps even causing, her spectacular and overwhelming visions often rendered her helpless and torpid.
–Hildegard of Bingen, The Woman of HerAge, by Fiona Maddocks, p. ix
10. Talented/Gifted
Would you expect anything less from an abbess/artist/cosmologist/composer/ counselor/dietitian/dramatist/epistoler/healer/linguist/mystic/naturalist/ philosopher/poet/politicalconsultant/preacher/prophet/visionary who wrote theological, naturalistic, botanical, medicinal, and dietary texts, as well as letters, liturgical songs, poems, and the play, while supervising miniature illuminations?
–St. Hildegard of Bingen Doctor of the Church, by Carmen Acevedo Butcher, p. xvi
11. No Priestly Aspirations
Though a woman cannot be a priest, Hildegard suggests that her chosen virginity puts her in a more intimate relationship with God than a male virgin; hers is marriage…his fellowship…Though woman cannot be priest and consecrate the body and blood of my son, God tells Hildegard, she can sing praise of the creator, as the earth can receive rain to water its fruits…she as virgin can receive the (highest) priest and all the ministry of God’s altar as spouse and with him possess all its wealth.
–To the Glory of Her Sex, Women’s Roles in the Composition of Medieval Texts, by Joan M. Ferrante, pp. 159-160
12. WithVisions of God
…Hildegard sees the source of life, God himself, the three-in-one Love, as super-bright light (image of the Father) in which there is a sapphire-blue image of a man in brilliant beauty (an allusion to the Word made flesh). The image of the man, however, burns through and through in the soft red of sparkling flame (sign of the Holy Spirit). The bright light and the sparkling flame, which surround the image of man, are a single abundance of light: the triune God (second vision).
Human beings earn participation in this divine life through Holy Mother, the Church…
–The Life of the Holy Hildegard, by The Monks Gottfried and Theoderic, p. 7
Even 12 definitions might be a lot to ponder regarding St. Hildegard. Imagine the power of her mind and visions and what she accomplished in her time! Always giving glory to God for what she had and did. There’s a never-ending wealth of spiritual riches that she left for us. Let’s appreciate the good works God created in, through, and with her.
And know that God can do great things for us and with us too.
How do you define St. Hildegard? Please let me know in the comments below.
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The text in the video I assembled is from The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen, Volume II (Translated by Joseph L. Baird and Radd K. Ehrman). It includes excerpts from the letter from Hildegard to the Abbess Hazzecha. And with scripture at the end. Hildegard had visions from God and so what she wrote was divinely inspired. Her words can be taken as prayer.
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I created this graphic as part of a class I took with Kate Farrell on The Heroine’s Journey.
In classic fairytales, the princess gets the prince and they live happily ever after. We’ve been watching movies and reading books for years on that premise. The boy gets the girl. The girl gets the boy. If relationships were automatic and everything fell into place perfectly, then that storyline would also always happen in real life. But it doesn’t.
There is a Hero’s Journey and a Heroine’s Journey. I don’t believe the Heroine’s Journey is necessarily a feminist take on the Hero’s Journey, just a different route. To learn more about the differences, please take Kate Farrell‘s class as she can explain it better than I can.
Oh, the many choices we can have in life!
Hildegard was a very gifted child who had visions early on. The best place for her in the 12th Century was to be sent to a monastery. She could be best educated there and use her talents for God. St. Hildegard’s path was not to marry a nobleman.
Why do women of the 21st Century still pursue religious vocations? In this time of so many modern advancements in the home, more equality in the workplace, and the still strong call to motherhood, why choose to be a nun or a sister?
“The charism of the SSS is firmly rooted in the dynamic presence of the Holy Spirit at work within each sister as she engages with the larger community in making decisions that take us into places and situations where we are being led…Many SSS have engaged in the field of social work in various manifestations – from legislative work, community organizing, and one on one social services.”
Redwoods Monastery, is a small Northern California community of Roman Catholic women monastics founded in 1962 from the Cistercian Monastery of Nazareth in Belgium. They say,
“Our life is a pattern of prayer, study, meditation, and manual labor that is woven into the fabric of community, centered on Christ as our Lord and brother. We meet Him daily in the Eucharist, in lectio divina, and the “everydayness” of our monastic vocation.”
There are so many religious orders to choose from that offer different vocations in different locations. There’s nothing antiquated nor boring in that, especially when the Holy Spirit inspires it.
But back to Vasilisa: As mentioned above, I created the featured graphic as part of a class I took on The Heroine’s Journey. Kate introduced the class to the story of Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Beautiful. As more of a memoirist than a fiction writer, class assignments led me to compare my personal story with Vasilisa’s.
My life’s path didn’t end in getting the “prince”, at least not the one in fairytales. Instead, my life has led me to come to know Jesus, the Prince of Peace. I’m a single woman, but I don’t have a religious vocation. I still have too much of a feminist spirit to choose one vocation. Or I’m just too much of a free spirit. (But neither of those makes me right necessarily.) As a writer, I explore different worlds and I want to walk down more paths. But I do so with Jesus and my Catholic faith.
Women are single for many reasons, and not always permanent ones. Life changes so whatever state in life a woman is in, she is okay. Single doesn’t mean wrong. Single is a moment in time or it’s a lifetime. It just depends on so many variables. In today’s upside down world, how does anyone find anyone anyway?
I really like this inspirational video about women who are alone with no husband.
A Woman Who Walks Alone With No Husband | Billy Graham
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From medieval historian to playwright/screenwriter to gemologist and always writer. And on finding Hildegard.
From an interview with, Maureen Pratt, MTS, MFA, GIA GG, Gem-A FGA (Merit), Founder and Executive Director of The Peace in the Storm Project
Education: Maureen Pratt began studying medieval history as an undergraduate at Georgetown University. After her advisor noticed her concentration on colonial history, he encouraged her to try something different. So she took a course by Professor Jo Ann Moran, a medieval history specialist. She was fascinated by learning about ordinary peasant life and the real workers of the society, rather than the nobility or the clergy.
Being a lifelong Catholic, she was also interested in the church and its history and had the opportunity to take a course at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. She studied the stories of the saints, how they were developed and the symbolism in them, as well as the very early church.
Finding Hildegard: The library at Dumbarton Oaks has a lot of original manuscripts, and that’s how she first discovered Hildegard. But she didn’t put much focus on her yet, that would continue in Los Angeles. Both her cousin and another friend there were very interested in Hildegard. Her interest in medieval history tied in very well with Hildegard.
Maureen had moved out to Los Angeles to earn her Master of Fine Arts at UCLA. She planned on a career in playwriting and screenwriting in Hollywood. Her master’s thesis was produced at UCLA and the LA Children’s Museum. She wrote a lot of fiction, and romance, as with her inspirational historical romance novella.
Sudden Illness: But suddenly in this midst of building her Hollywood career she was diagnosed with a catastrophic flareup of lupus.
What Now?: In Maureen’s words…
God was working in an amazing way through that first flare. Because I turned to him and I just said, “You’ve given me the gift of writing and these opportunities in writing, and getting my MFA. What do you want me to do with my skills and gifts now?”
Books:
I kept coming back to finding a way to help people with my writing and finding the gaps. Things that were not being addressed to help other people who were suffering. And so the first non-fiction book that I had published was, Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your Life. It was a first of its kind.
There were a couple of books written by psychologists about coping mechanisms and things, but nothing really about, for example, I can’t go out in the sun. How do you manage that?
That book was published by Penguin. Now, of course, Penguin is part of Random House. But, it opened doors for me to work a bit as a volunteer in patient advocacy for people with lupus. And I did a lot of public speaking.
And so gradually I started writing devotionals. As I got more into writing in the space of Catholic spirituality, I started reading more and began revisiting Hildegard.
Gemstones:
I discovered the Gemological Institute of America, the GIA. I’ve always been fascinated with rocks. But the gemstone jewelry world was also really different. And there’s a science to learning gemology. When you work in the field for decades with gemstones, you can do many things. I’m a certified appraiser of jewelry and gemstones. I enrolled in the GIA course and started with diamonds.
I got into gemstones and gemology from a contemporary perspective. I found the historical perspective really fascinating. Over the pandemic, I also enrolled in the British Gemological Institute of Great Britain program and graduated with honors from that. I’m a fellow of the Gemological Association of Great Britain.
I had always been interested in rocks, but I became very interested in gemology at the time I was diagnosed with the flare of lupus.
Gemstones themselves have been here for millennia, as objects of interest. Objects of a certain kind of value. Objects that convey power. Because there’s been periods of time in human history when only the elite, only nobility or only the queen, for example, in a particular country, could even wear gemstones. In Egypt, there were certain gemstones that were reserved only for the pharaoh. For a rock to be a gemstone, it needs to be durable. And to have beauty, it needs to be rare. Sacred.
Hildegard and crystals and gemstones:
When Hildegard was looking at rock crystal, which is basically colorless quartz, you would see the crystal structure. Seldom, if ever, did you see a multi-faceted kind of crystal. This is a more natural state.
But from the earliest days they have been thought to have certain, if not medicinal, then an otherworldly, in a way, property that, if used a certain way… For example, Hildegard, suggested using saliva to wet the gemstone, to kind of unleash whatever is inside the gemstone to use it for healing. A homeopathic remedy.
She did not know all and we now know more. Because she had a sense of how gemstones came to be, which was fairly rudimentary, as did everyone else in her time…reflecting the notions that gemstones were formed through water and fire. And because of this formation process, they carry those kinds of elements within them. We know today that there is a chemical structure within each gemstone.
She would have seen pearl, which were organic in nature, particularly pearls from a particular mollusk found in the rivers of Scotland. And there were other pearls that were found in Arabian waters.
But probably the most important of those pearls do have a distinct structure in their formation, but it’s not the kind of crystal structure that you would see in a faceted, uncut ruby or sapphire.
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.
Appreciating precious gemstones:
These things are here because of God. And so the admiration that she had for these minerals we definitely should see today.
I often detect tension in people’s faces when it comes time to tell couples about buying an engagement ring. The question of, “Why buy a diamond?” Because it is expensive. So, expensive is not a waste of money. What people forget is that a diamond is from a natural environment, natural from the earth. Part of God’s creation. It is precious. It is durable and it is useful. It is rare. And so we’re not just throwing money away on something plastic. But we are in a sense, showing a kind of connection between the preciousness of the relationship with their beloved and the promise that they’re making to each other. And the outward expression of that.
I personally don’t see gorgeous gemstones as a waste of time or attention. Because they do reflect the beauty that God brings to us.
In doing a gem identification, I was looking at a faceted gemstone under my microscope, and inside the gem there was what’s called a negative crystal, which is a crystal shape of the gemstone so the overall shape of the gemstone. And it looked like it was in suspended animation, inside the gem, inside the sapphire. But the crystal itself, the negative crystal was a perfectly shaped sapphire crystal within the faceted gemstone. And it was just eye popping. How detailed God made creation! How many surprises there are just around the corner if you take the time to look. All of these things resonate with Hildegard’s awe and appreciation of the natural world. So that is definitely something that could be brought forward from her.
The medicinal qualities of the gemstones, such as putting a topaz in your ear, for your hearing loss, those don’t really have a place today. We should be thankful for the progress that we’ve made.
By that same token, in her day, they didn’t have chemical testing for gemstones. They didn’t know that a sapphire has iron and titanium in it.
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!
There are a lot of collectors of rough crystals in the world, and not just for the purpose of New Age types of use (crystal shops), but for the beauty of them. In fact, in some cases, the mineral specimens are sold on the basis of their beauty.
If you’ve ever been to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, there are a lot of finished pieces. But there are also a lot of carvings and sculptures and all kinds of other items.
Gemstones as medicine?:
In the use of gemstones for medicinal purposes, I would first consult a medical professional.
We are told that not everyone, even during Jesus’s ministry, was cured. But God does want us to heal. Sometimes what God intends for us to go through is these tough times at home. So that we can learn to pray, trust and follow Jesus. But still seek the appropriate medical support.
I have been approached with advice, obviously, in the course of living with a serious chronic illness that is sometimes debilitating and can be life threatening. People will have all sorts of advice. And I’ve had people come up to me, almost cornering me in a room and say, “I have the cure for your liver.” I had always taken anything that I might be remotely interested in, to my doctor and Jesus.
Because any natural ‘treatment’ has a chemical base and it’s not necessarily benign. Natural doesn’t mean it’s appropriate.
It’s really tempting if you are faced with a catastrophic illness to desperately want that sudden cure. To be the way it is in scripture, when Jesus breathes on somebody, that it happens immediately. But I want to manage my health prudently with my doctor and Jesus.
Spirituality:
Hildegard was a visionary and in some ways a prophet. But she was also limited by the understanding of her time. I think of the complexity of her spirituality as remarkable. But it was also forged in a particular time. Scientifically speaking, it was something that she absorbed.
The Christian practice of health care is a fascinating long subject.
There was a spirituality that was being used in the practice of medicine that…That is beautiful. We certainly hope not to lose some of that today in healthcare. I think that’s the kind of thing that has helped us.
Note: Please use your best discernment regarding your health. None of this information is meant as medical advice.
St. Hildegard of Bingen – But Paradise is the place of delight, which blooms with the freshness of flowers and grass and the charms of spices, full of fine odors and dowered with the joy of blessed souls, giving invigorating moisture to the dry ground; it supplies strong force to the earth, as the soul gives strength to the body, for Paradise is not darkened by shadow or the perdition of sinners. (Scivias Pt. 1 Vision 2)
My photos from four different walks in three different locations.
Abbot Gedolph of Brauweiler had asked Hildegard to pray for a woman who had an evil spirit. He and the other priests failed at attempts to free her themselves. The evil spirit said that Hildegard could, by way of her visions and divine revelation.
Here is an excerpt from Hildegard’s letter to Abbot Gedolph of Brauweiler, with her response:
The following message that I will speak is not coming from me, but from Him who is.
…the Spirit of God, who in the beginning swept over the waters and who blew the breath of life into the countenance of human beings, might blow out the unclean spirit from the disturbed human being.
…At his command fly away! Listen to him who is.
St. Hildegard did eventually get the woman freed. She also did other miracles over her lifetime, through her visions directly from God. As “revealed through him who is and who lives!”
Evil spirits aren’t always the problem, but prayer always helps anyway.
Our troubles and setbacks might not always be because we have an evil spirit. But prayer is recommended either way.
St. Hildegard of Bingen, pray for us!
This is not to be taken as authoritative advice. Go here to learn more about Spiritual Warfare. But it’s best to seek out the assistance of a priest for help in these matters. I’m just a Catholic writer. I’ve learned that to be set free it takes more than prayer but also a consistent practice of the faith to stay free.
I’m no St. Hildegard but I put together this inspirational meditation on, “Setting My Past Free”. In this video, I release myself from past discomforts, and set myself free. Consider it a type of meditation/prayer to purge my past, with the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Feel free to follow along to release things from your past too, even if just as a prayer.
It’s a new day, every day, to begin again. Amen.
Resource: The Life of the Holy Hildegard by The monks Gottfried Theoderic, Pgs. 88-89.
I asked three Hildegard Health experts a few questions about Pharma medicine vs. natural remedies. The experts are Iwona Bednarz-Major, Dr. Sebastian Liew, and Petra Sramko. Their responses are below.
I’m still learning about St. Hildegard, and that’s why I like to interview experts. I don’t want to put the wrong information out there. I also do my research.
I understand there are different perspectives on Hildegard, including with her medical information. I’m not siding with one way or another. I’m just presenting information that might be helpful to people new to her as I am.
Here in the U.S. people are becoming more and more health conscious. And many are totally new to the concept of healing eating.
Note: No one can be guaranteed of total health ever because we live in such a toxic world.
Personally, I have found it very difficult to navigate the whole medical system and stay well. I don’t believe my problem is mental (originating in my mind from birth), but rather outside stressors that then affect my mind and body via trauma.
My heart rate and blood pressure have been very high because of that. Recently, the stressors took me away from starting a new nutrition plan, even though I have one. And so I turned to medical help because that’s what I knew to do, as a much needed quick fix.
Here are some of the topics I bought up to the experts:
Here in the U.S., there’s a new awareness to incorporate healthier eating and active lifestyles. However, we still need surgeries, technology for X-rays and MRIs, and such. And we need pharmaceutical medicine for quick fixes and other serious conditions.
More people are wanting to be healthier, but being realistic is still the best practice. And healing our inner and outer bodies takes time.
Many of us have had years of eating fast food, soft drinks, chips, fried foods, and desserts, or what I call, “party food”. Sometimes we want to treat ourselves with fun foods and drinks. I know I do.
So even though I am now trying to incorporate more of Hildegard’s recommendations, my body needs time to adjust. I can’t be purified overnight. And I doubt I will ever have the discipline to give up party foods and drinks completely. In moderation and special occasion indulging is the goal.
We need both pharma medicine and herbal and natural remedies, until we are easing into more natural lifestyles. And even then, we still might need prescription medications.
My body needs to heal with good foods and healthy living, but it takes time. Meanwhile, I still might need to rely on medications, although low doses (I’m very sensitive to medications). Maybe 10 years from now my body will be cleaned out enough to rely only on natural remedies: if I were to be so fortunate.
I asked the experts if they agree with me. Or if they have patients that adjust immediately and are healed.
Now I’ll let the experts answer, in brief:
Iwona Bednarz-Major, Founder, Director at Stone to Flesh Second Degree Specialist (continuing studies), St. Hildegard’s von Bingen Studium. Academic Theological Course
Medication and medical advice and protocols are important because they sustain us through acute states. Worry is the enemy. I always advise people to follow their doctor’s orders until they feel they can uptake new regiments, slowly, and with doctor’ approval.
You’re absolutely right—we often need both conventional medicine and natural remedies as we journey toward holistic health.
Our bodies are intricate creations, shaped by years of lifestyle choices, environmental exposures, and, at times, deep wounds that require time to heal.
Medications can provide crucial support during this transition, while we work to restore balance through nourishing foods, herbal remedies, seasonal person appropriate fasting, and intentional whole person care.
Healing is rarely immediate; it’s a process, much like peeling back layers to uncover the vibrant health we were designed for.
I don’t have patients because I do not diagnose, cure, or treat, but I share my knowledge and let the recipients of consultations be educated and given the best possible information before they decide on their pathways to healing. 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.
The level of toxicity, years of neglect, various hidden issues, lead to chronic metabolic chaos, and although our bodies have an immense power to heal, for most people it will take time, consistency and desire to turn toward God made life-giving principles.
The path to a natural lifestyle is not one-size-fits-all, and relying on medicine temporarily doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’re honoring where your body is right now while striving for something better.
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.
Dr. Sebastian Liew, ND, MNHAA, MHS (UNE), Herbalist and Naturopath Please see my 2024 interview with Dr. Liew for more.
I practice both scientific phytotherapy and traditional Western herbal medicine, including Hildegard.
Depending on what is the diagnosis, I have treated complex conditions such as autoimmune without medications or reversed it.
Of course, it needs to be a very holistic approach and a practitioner to follow up is necessary.
His book “My Healing Life” is like experiencing a consultation visit, and getting his recommendations. In it, you find out how to do his Spiritual Heart Exercise.
Hildegard writes about the connection of body – mind – soul.
You (in reply to me) write the following – “…. but rather outside stressors that then affect my mind and body.” Well, you are directly writing in this sentence that you already know that they are killing you.
What can you do about the outside stressors apart from taking medicine? Is there any other way how you can handle them? For example, start moving more /dopamine/ to build stronger mind and soul, pray more and relax your soul. As I do not know about the stressors, I am just guessing.
Can you change your inner attitude towards the stressors and be friends with them?
Can you physically remove yourself from the stressors?
There are always times in our lives when we are pushed to change our point of views and attitudes in a lot of areas……I trust in God, and God sends us challenges to “grow”.
Sure, Hildegard 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.
It’s a very tricky issue. It is very difficult to answer.
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.
I do not want the people to get the impression that HvB medicine can rashly solve everything …that is not true…
Here’s my promised part on Hildegard medicine.
Healing Wisdom of Hildegard Medicine Did you know that nature holds the power to heal our bodies in ways that go beyond modern medicine? The teachings of St. Hildegard von Bingen, a medieval healer and visionary, offer a holistic approach to health that combines food, lifestyle, and soul care.
Hildegard wrote that our health depends on harmony of body, mind, and spirit. Rooted in the Benedictine rule of ora et labora (pray and work), her methods emphasize natural remedies, wholesome living, and spiritual reflection.
Why Modern Medicine and Hildegard’s Approach Can Work Together? Modern medicine excels at managing symptoms and achieving “healthy numbers,” but when it comes to long-term healing, Hildegard’s practices can be transformative.
However, if you’re on medication, it’s crucial to consult your doctor before beginning any natural remedies. Some natural remedies might counteract your medications.
Three Pillars of Hildegard Medicine 1. Food as Medicine Your healing starts with what you eat. Hildegard emphasized consuming foods that positively or neutrally impact the body while avoiding those that harm it. This tailored approach creates the conditions your body needs to heal.
2. Lifestyle Adjustments Small changes can lead to big results. Begin with simple steps, like a 15-minute walk after dinner, and find ways to move more throughout your day. Remember, your body is the home of your soul—caring for it physically strengthens you spiritually.
3. Healing the Soul Hildegard believed soul care was essential for physical health. Spend time in prayer for yourself and loved ones. Reflect on your life to identify vices and virtues, then work to transform your weaknesses into strengths. This spiritual practice can lead to profound inner peace and renewal.
If you’re dealing with lingering health challenges and aren’t on medication, Hildegard medicine might be the natural path to wellness you’ve been searching for. Embrace her timeless wisdom and discover how food, lifestyle, and soul care can lead to total healing.
Small steps, like a healthier meal, a mindful walk, or a heartfelt prayer done regularly, can make a world of difference.
As St. Hildegard von Bingen wrote, if God wants you to heal, you will become healthy….
Many people, like me, are going to be new to Hildegard Medicine. Many will do as I am doing, still relying on medicine as their quick go-to. I also take supplements. New foods and herbs seem to take more time, over time.
It’s the same with prayer. As a Catholic abbess, St. Hildegard was also naturally gifted spiritually. She received visions from God.
Prayers can be answered in an instant. A healing can be immediate. But that’s not guaranteed. We put our trust in God and then we leave our prayer requests in His hands. We say, God willing.
We do not force nor manipulate to make our prayers get answered because what we would then receive wouldn’t be of God. It’ll just be something we concocted on our own or with forces that are counter to God. Catholics want only what we receive from God. Healing from Jesus. Spirituality from the Holy Spirit. All the Holiness of the Divine Trinity.
Of course, friends and family might like to buy us gifts that make us happy. Or a boss might reward our dedication. But our prayer requests are often only known to God, as special intentions or petitions. We say them in the silence of our hearts in prayer. And therefore, only God hears them. Or if we are praying to a saint, Mother Mary, St. Joseph, etc., our request is for their ears only. We may also ask others to pray for us, but even then we don’t need to say why. That’s not required. We can pray for ourselves or ask others to pray for us. And we can say prayers for others as well.
Patience is not easy. Even if our prayers take forever to be answered or never do, we still leave it up to God. We wait for it to be answered in His time.
Jesus is a healer; there are many instances in the Bible of his miraculous healings.
St. Hildegard of Bingen was Catholic and so aligned with the Catholic Church. Read her writings and you’ll find God everywhere. And therefore, good food, healthy living lead to healing but also prayer and trust in Jesus as our healer.
Not everyone has access to health consultants so I hope this post will be informational. It is not medical advice, nor specific to anyone in particular. And you are free to ignore the spiritual aspects of this blog post. Hildegard supporters are not required to be Catholic nor spiritual, although I encourage it.
I started this website to present the Catholic Spirituality side of St. Hildegard and her alignment with the Catholic Church. Although I do recognize that even in her day, way back in the medieval times, she was very avant guarde, very ahead of her time. In future posts, I would like to cite those ways she challenged the church to make it even better. With visions from God, her advice can be taken seriously, and as Godly.
I hope you find this post helpful. Feel free to kindly comment, make suggestions or requests.
In Spes Non Confundit BULL OF INDICTION OF THE ORDINARY JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2025, Pope Francis writes,
“Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). In the spirit of hope, the Apostle Paul addressed these words of encouragement to the Christian community of Rome…
Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring. Even so, uncertainty about the future may at times give rise to conflicting feelings, ranging from confident trust to apprehensiveness, from serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to hesitation and doubt. Often we come across people who are discouraged, pessimistic and cynical about the future, as if nothing could possibly bring them happiness. For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope. God’s word helps us find reasons for that hope. Taking it as our guide, let us return to the message that the Apostle Paul wished to communicate to the Christians of Rome.
And for words of wisdom from St. Hildegard’s writings in Scivias,
No unjust impulse takes the blessed angels from the love and praise of God.
This is shown by the great multitude of very bright living lamps;
They are the vast army of heavenly spirits,
Shining in the blessed life and living in great beauty and adornment,
Because when they were created by God
They did not grasp at proud exaltation
But strongly persisted in divine love.
For, receiving fiery brilliance,
They acquired an unclouded splendor…
So in this upcoming Jubilee year of 2025, let’s be very bright living lamps, who along with all the blessed angels, help share the love of God. Then, we can let everyone know what it is to hope, as we do everyday, with the strength given to us in God’s heavenly graces.
What are the Benedictines up to today – their sisters and nuns? Who is carrying on the spirit? Here I introduce you to one of them.
Sr. Nodelyn was my spiritual director a few years ago, and she has kept me in the loop with her community ever since. Back then, I didn’t even know she was Benedictine. I didn’t know to ask, as I was newly back to the church. So in this interview, I’m learning along with you.
Bio: “Nodelyn Abayan, a member of the Sisters of Social Service of Los Angeles, is a spiritual director and the vocation contact person for her community. Recently, she earned her doctorate in educational leadership and social justice from San Francisco State University. Her passion lies in early childhood education and supporting families. She is an adjunct professor at City College of San Francisco, where she teaches in the Child and Family Studies Department.”
Here’s my interview with Sr. Nodelyn Abayan about Contemporary Benedictine Spirituality.
From our audio interview (held on-site) on December 5, 2024.
Me: I’ll give you a rough idea of what I want to ask you about: the basics of Benedictine spirituality, about St. Hildegard, and about the interesting article I read that states that Hildegard was progressive, and Teresa of Avila was conservative. I had never thought of our faith as being conservative or progressive. I never heard those political terms…
Nodelyn: Used in the religious sense.
Me: Yes. But it also said that both were reformers of the church. So if you want to talk about that, because I think there’s a divide between people. I call myself traditional, but it doesn’t mean that I identify with… Obviously, I’m considered a cat lady, so I don’t identify with trad wives.
Nodelyn: With what? With who?
Me: Trad wives.
Nodelyn: I don’t know what that…
Me: It’s a very…
Nodelyn: The 50s kind of thing? The 1950s?
Me: Yes. I say traditional, but I’m not that kind of traditional. So there are many beliefs within our Catholic faith.
Nodelyn: One thing that I want to tell you is we follow the Benedictine spirituality. We’re not as immersed as the nuns. The Sisters of Social Service follow the spirituality of the Benedictine spirituality. That’s one thing that you have to be clear about.
Me: But you’re not Benedictine?
Nodelyn: We are Benedictine, but we follow the spirituality. But if you say, are you a Benedictine nun? No, I’m not a Benedictine nun. I’m a Sister of Social Service who follows the spirituality of St. Benedict, Benedictine spirituality. When you interview somebody, say, oh, she’s a Benedictine nun. That’s different from us. The nuns, some of them, they tend to follow the rules strictly. If they have to wake up, because there’s about eight times they have to pray.
Me: Is that the rule? The Rule of St. Benedict.
Nodelyn: That’s part of the rule. Which, for us, we don’t. We pray, but we don’t follow it as strictly. That’s why I say we follow the spirituality of it. We know the importance and significance of prayer in our lives, but we don’t wake up at 6 o’clock in the morning or 3 o’clock in the morning, and all of us pray together. I believe in the past they did that, but we kind of modified it. It depends on our ministry, whatever is the call of the ministry. So it would be interesting for you, to find a real Benedictine nun. Because we follow the contemporary Benedictine spirituality.
Me: Yes.
Nodelyn: 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.
Me: Yes, and joy.
Nodelyn: 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.
And we know the importance of prayer. We do the Liturgy of the Hours, which the nuns also do. We follow the breviary of the church so we pray.
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.
Me: Do you have a certain type of prayer? For instance, Teresa of Avila did mental prayer.
Nodelyn: For me it’s following my breath, or sometimes I use the mantra, Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus. Sister Celeste, she also does her own quiet prayer. Sometimes we meet there (pointing to another room), but it’s not intentional. It’s our personal prayer in silence.
Every morning when I wake up, that’s the first thing I do. I meet God in silence. That’s one thing as Benedictines, we really, really take silence seriously. In our prayer, during the day, and for me, I’ve been practicing at least to have two days of silence, or one day of silence a month. Because that’s when I grow roots. It’s like when I go deeper. Because the world is offering us so many narrow things, just a lot of false, false, false things. The truth is when, in silence, I encounter truth. It is in silence in front of God, that this is who I am. I mean, not physically, but this is who I am. Accept me for who I am. And that’s when I feel God’s presence the most in silence.
Silence, beauty, joy, and the role of hospitality, those are very Benedictine. If you study the Benedictines, the Rule of Saint Benedict, it started in Norcia, Italy.
Me: Do you do your chores, or daily duties during your day of silence?
Nodelyn: At the beginning of the month, or even a day before, I already have scheduled a protected day. It’s a protected day for my silence. When I do my silence, I need to get out of the house, to be out of my routine. Sometimes I go spend overnight in a retreat center. Or I go and spend a whole day by the ocean, but I bring my lunch. I can hear a different sound, and I can listen to God more, if I’m not in my usual…It helps, at least for me, if I’m in a different location. I don’t normally do the normal things when it’s my day of silence.
Me: It’s kind of like fasting.
Nodelyn: Fasting from the usual, if you want to look at it that way, from your usual work. It’s like a Sabbath. But I find it so nourishing to my soul. And it’s not just my own thing, but I feel like it’s also that God wants to have that time with me. It’s an invitation from the Holy Spirit, to say, “Hey, let’s go and have a picnic together.” And I take it seriously.
Me: Do you read there?
Nodelyn: Sometimes I read, but sometimes there are months that I just don’t do anything. I just walk and listen to the waves. Last month or two months ago, I went to the Berkeley Marina, by the water there. So beautiful! And I just listened to the waves, and I had my food. But I do write, though. Because I have to write down whatever is going on. Or sometimes I listen to God and what God is telling me.
Me: Journal?
Nodelyn: Yeah. I do journaling. And this I just started recently, about six months ago.
Because when I was studying to become a sister, once a month, on weekends, we’d have to have silence. After I finished my doctorate, I had so much noise in my head with all of that. And I feel like God is calling me now to be quiet again. And so when I graduated I went back to the silence again. Or having silence as part of my month. I try to do it daily, too. I have 20 minutes of silence in the morning.
Nodelyn’s cat, Julian
Julian will come to me. Either I sit on my cushion or sit on a chair and Julian will be on my lap. And I don’t do anything. I listen to my breath because I know my breath is God’s breath. And that was given to us in the Genesis story (Genesis 2:7). It’s the same breath that every time you breathe, you’re breathing God. And it’s your life. God has given us the life.
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.
You have experienced that when you come here for our dinners and celebrations.
Me: Yes.
Nodelyn: Hospitality is when you welcome. You’re really welcoming Christ through the people, or through strangers. And my community specifically, and it’s very Benedictine also, is the family-oriented-ness. We care for our families and our sisters, my community, is my family. But my blood family is very much connected to the community, which is part of the hospitality because they welcome my family.
Me: Do you have local family?
Nodelyn: My blood family? No, they’re all in the Philippines. But it’s not like other communities, where you forget about your family once you become a nun. Not for us. We value that family spirit. That’s how we connect with each other. Maybe it’s Benedictine because it’s part of the hospitality. You welcome those people the sister loves.
Me: It’s not a monastic life, then?
Nodelyn: It’s not like a monastic life where you’re going to cut yourself off from your biological family. There’s an element of monasticism in our lives; silence is very monastic. Finding beauty and joy, it’s very monastic. But you can also take that in your own everyday life if you want. It doesn’t have to be in a convent.
Another thing is our liturgical spirit, that we follow the calendar. You can see our chapel is decorated in Advent. That’s very Benedictine. We follow the church calendar in our prayer. You can see how we preserve the beauty even in our house. And even the way we speak. We value beauty just because our work is so hard.
Sister Frederica Horvath, she is the foundress of the Sisters of Social Service in Los Angeles. There’s one also who founded in Buffalo. She said it’s really important that we keep up our houses. If you visit different houses of the Sisters of Social Service, they’re well-maintained and beautiful. Because as social workers, she said, we work so hard and we encounter so much ugliness in life. Our community house is our sanctuary. It’s our refuge. We have that sense of beauty in order for us to be nourished once again. And so that we can go back to our ministry.
Me: It reminds me that I read a little bit about St. Benedict introducing spas and healing baths. So is there anything that you practice that is like self-care? Based on what he..
Nodelyn: Self-care? He was a sensible monk. He was very big on balance. Like the balance of work and prayer. The balance of also pleasure and leisure. Leisure and work. You don’t just work and work. Benedict understood how important it is to be human. To be fully human, you have to take care of your body, yourself.
Me: In recent years a mainstream term has been Work Life Balance. They got it from him it seems.
Nodelyn: And Hildegard is very big on that too.
Hildegard, she was progressive during her time. Because of the words that she used, she had had visions, and the role of women during that time. That’s why we consider her as progressive during that time. She was a doctor. She had so many gifts and talents. And she was a musician. She composed songs.
Me: Cosmology.
Nodelyn: Also, she was big on cosmology. She used herbs and put medicines together, and loving your body.
Me: Because Hildegard’s monastery was also the local clinic. They served the women and men. That’s self-care too; they kept the community healthy.
Nodelyn: I balance work, and also my prayer and also my wellbeing. I’m a walker. I walk more than 10,000 a day in nature. And I also dance Zumba. As a sister we study that this body is a gift from God to you. This material body is what you use to carry on the work of God. If you’re not taking care of it and you’re abusing it, you’re disregarding the gift. And then you’re not able to do the work that God wants you to do. If I take care of my body, I feel more joyful. Because I have more energy because I eat well, I sleep well, and I dance. But if you abuse your body, it’s hard to be joyful.
Me: Because it’s all connected. Our body is connected to our brain. And if we don’t feel good, then we’re not going to have joy. We’re going to be depressed. And then we can’t help people.
Nodelyn: And we can’t help people. Although some people who have experienced depression, understand, right? I’ve been there. But of course, you’re able to help more if you have a joyful spirit.
Me: If you have blockages of pain in your body, then not everything is circulating. That’s kind of Eastern medicine, where they have the chi. But, we have that too. It’s just different, we don’t follow the Eastern…
Nodelyn: No, you can get some beauty from the Eastern, you can use it on your own, but we don’t follow it. If you’re going to have an equivalent of the chi, which is in the Eastern tradition, it’s the energy. And in our Catholic tradition, it is the Holy Spirit. It’s the energy of God. And so you don’t want to block the Holy Spirit.
Me: Yes.
Nodelyn: And that’s why our community, the Sisters of Social Service has a dedication. We dedicate ourselves to the Holy Spirit. We have a devotion to the Holy Spirit. For one thing, you cannot contain the Holy Spirit. It’s very fluid. And it’s because the kind of work that we do, we are out there. And you cannot contain us. You cannot contain the energy and the joy of God.
Me: Is it graces also? That the graces you have when you’re helping, people around you get some of your graces. Or not yours, but they get graces?
Nodelyn: Each one of us has grace. But once you meet with someone, it kind of rekindles. You unleash it. By the virtue of creation, the spark of the divine is in each one of us. And now the work of the people who dedicate themselves to God fully is to help people rediscover it. It’s in you. It’s not like I give it to you because you have nothing. No, that’s not true.
God has a spark of divine in each one of us. And the task of the people who follow God, disciples of Christ, is to help people rediscover that in themselves. Or empower them. And discover it. Rekindle it. It’s in you. You just have to open up a little bit. And discovering what are the things that block it in order for the Holy Spirit to be alive again in your life. It’s always there. Sometimes it’s dormant. Now our task is to figure out in life, what is it that keeps it, dormant or not unleashing it, what is in me?
Me: And you teach. So how does your teaching affect when you teach kids? Because you deal with babies too, right?
Nodelyn: Oh, I deal mainly with the parents, but they bring their babies. And so how does that affect them?
Me: Yes.
Nodelyn: Well, it’s up to them to discover it, but I just know that when they leave my place, there’s always joy in their faces, their sense of happiness and satisfaction. It’s not my doing. I believe it’s the work of the Holy Spirit. For one thing, I value each person who comes into my classroom or into my space, that they are created in the image and likeness of whoever they are. Whatever faith, because I don’t work in a parish setting or a church setting. I work with the greater church, these are all people of God, regardless of their religion, and God loves all of them.
I value each one of them who come, and I build relationship with them, a positive relationship. And if they need help in terms of parenting or anything about child development, then I’m always willing to offer my advice or my knowledge and my experiences.
I don’t want to dismiss your question (I asked off audio) about how people need to be accepting of who you are, but I kind of answered it already. You don’t have a hold of what’s in the mind of people. And I think one thing that I feel, at least for me, is I’m very much secure that who I am in front of God, and so then I’m not as much affected by what people think. They will say whatever they want to say.
Me: For me, it’s different. You have an EDD. You have Sister Celeste and your community. You have people that vouch for you, that you’re very credible, you’re very legitimate, you’re titled. But somebody like me, who people can question, see?
Nodelyn: They still question me, Christine. Those titles, I think you’re looking at it differently. I still get questioned. No, don’t even put me up there. I have to tell you the truth, those titles are all just illusions, and the securities are illusions. I think what you’re saying is that I have the security, but I don’t. The way we live as sisters, do you think the church is accepting of whatever we say? We have experienced that too. It’s a community. But the thing is, it’s nothing like, me better than you. It’s just that sense that what I’m doing is I feel God wants me to do, and I have that faith and I have that trust. And you hold on to that faith and you hold on to that trust. And the trust that God loves me no matter what. And that’s what I’m holding onto. Titles, nothing, securities are less.
Me: Hildegard was accepted by politicians and the Pope and everybody, do you think sisters and nuns are different?
Nodelyn: In some ways.
Me: Do you think sisters or nuns are listened to, are valued enough in the church?
Nodelyn: It depends on the context. But I don’t know if you heard a lot about the Synodality that’s happening in the church lately. The last result of that, it seems the nuns and the sisters are not being heard as much as we want to. But my feeling with that is that it’s probably not the time yet. It might come. But we have struggled a lot as women in the church for the longest time.
Me: I think parishioners too. Women parishioners too.
Nodelyn: Yes.
Nuns are considered lay people. We’re not considered ordained. The priests are considered ordained. We’re considered among the lay because we’re not ordained. We’re not men.
Me: Am I lay?
Nodelyn: You’re lay.
Me: You’re considered a lay person? But you have a vocation, a religious vocation.
Nodelyn: We have a religious vocation, yes.
Me: I don’t, right? I don’t.
Nodelyn: Yes, but if you’re going to be technical about the terms in the church, the nuns and sisters are considered lay people.
Me: That’s crazy! You devote your lives to the church?!
Nodelyn: Because we’re not ordained. See, they are ordained. The men, the priests are ordained ministers. Ordination is different from our profession as sisters. It’s still looked at as, it seems to me, still higher compared to our profession, which I think in the eyes of God is the same.
And then there are some lay people who secretly have given their lives to God, and that’s between that person and God, not that it has to be, ordained or a religious sister.
Me: They have a private monastic life.
Nodelyn: And at the end of the day, it really is, between you and God. But it’s also, no matter what you want to do, God’s life, God’s love will never change. God will continuously love you. God loves. There’s this poem that I read yesterday morning. It’s just so beautiful. Because if God doesn’t love, then he won’t be God anymore. It’s just God’s nature. It’s God’s nature. God loves. God is love. So if God doesn’t love, who is God? I don’t know. It’s my belief.
Me: And I believe it too. I like the good news. That’s the good news.
Nodelyn: That’s the good news.
Me: And that’s why I don’t believe we should be miserable.
Nodelyn: That’s the Benedictine spirituality of joy and beauty. I think we are created to enjoy the life that’s given to us, but each person has different ways of concept, of enjoyment, because you can be joyful even if you don’t really have anything.
Me: There are a lot of people, poor and they’re very happy. In the Philippines (and those in the U.S.), they’re very joyful people, right? They’re always happy. And they don’t have to be high-powered executives. They’re just people working, hard-working people, and they’re very happy, right?
Nodelyn: But a lot of Filipinos have deep faith too.
Me: They’re Catholic.
Nodelyn: Yeah. That deep faith. And that we’re very gracious people. We know that everything that God has given to us are graces and we want to share it. And that when you share, you feel more joyful.
Me: It comes with God. Right? It comes with Him.
Sr. Nodelyn is also a writer and her latest article can be found here.
My Healing Life: My Most Important Work in Life, authors – Sebastian Liew and Bruno Saint Girons
Dr. Sebastian Liew wants to empower people to “stay vibrant in body, mind, and soul, finding their true selves and the grace to love themselves, nature, and others.”
I begin with an intro to Dr. Liew, and then, an interview where he shares tips about his Catholic faith and hormone health for women.
Dr. Liew is best known for pioneering German herbal medicine in Asia. He has been actively promoting European Hildegard medicine there. And he was awarded the Hildegard Prize by Dr. Wighard Strehlow, at the Hildegard Society in Germany. He has a doctorate degree in naturopathy and a master’s degree in herbal medicine (Australia).
He founded Leaf to Life ®, a Western herbal product brand, and is also the author of several books. MY HEALING LIFE is his movement to support you and activate your inner doctor and live a healthy life.
Here is my (email) interview with Dr. Sebastian Liew, ND, MNHAA, MHS (UNE):
I asked Dr. Liew about being Catholic. Because St. Hildegard was a Catholic nun/abbess and that influenced everything she did, and the many gifts she received.
Yes, officially I am Catholic; a convert from Buddhism many years, especially a miraculous cure from a year-long depression with one visit to Mother Mary’s Shrine in Singapore.
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.
Without this communion with God and his friends (angels, saints), we feel isolated and alone in our struggles despite having friends and family. Why? Because it allows us to be grounded in our true self – which is communion with God. Like a drop of water going back to the ocean.
I mentioned to Dr. Liew that Hildegard gained recognition for gifts in her 40s. And that she did a lot to help women. I wondered if Hildegard had any recommendations for women regarding managing PMS and menopause.
I think the main remedy in Hildegard medicine for menopause is a life of moderation. If we spent years of extreme stress and insufficient rest (which in turns weaken the liver and adrenals) prior to menopause, women may have either early menopause or very terrible menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, anxiety, digestive issues.
Hildegard taught us to live in harmony with nature. I know its not easy for modern women.
During PMS, women should take it easy and relax. All the fundamentals – sleep quality, regulated life, balanced emotions via herb rose and sage in Hildegard medicine. Hart tongue elixir in Hildegard medicine may be helpful. And although she didn’t mention these herbs for menopause but for other purposes are very helpful – sage, vervain, and yarrow.
Here’s what he has planned for the future:
I am currently doing research and in-depth analysis on the 35 virtues and vices of Hildegard medicine with my 7 terrains in my new book and hopefully it comes out a model to help us in mental and spiritual health.
Get more health tips from Dr. Liew in his books, listed below: (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.):
