We have many modern-day Catholic leaders to learn from, such as Archbishop Cordileone here in San Francisco. We’re fortunate that the church is alive and the pews are full today. We learn from our rich Catholic history that keeps us rooted in biblical teachings. Looking back to the Doctors of the Church, such as St. Hildegard of Bingen, for the wisdom that is ageless, we pass the faith on to today’s world, seeking guidance and reassurance that God is still with us. This consistency in faith shows us that God truly is eternal.

St. Hildegard of Bingen left us with beautiful imagery and writings that we can enjoy on this Easter, centuries after her passing in 1179. Her writings are based on visions from God to guide the Church and enlighten the people.

St. Hildegard had mystical visions since childhood, but she kept them to herself until Pope Eugene III gave her permission to share them. In her acclaimed work, Scivias, she describes 26 of her mystical visions. She herself writes that she was fully awake and aware during these visions, not in a state of rapture or ecstasy. She completed the work around 1151, taking over 10 years to write it. The title Scivias is shortened from “Scito vias Domini” in Latin to “Know the Ways of the Lord” in English.

Scivias Book 2, Vision 1– Hildegard of Bingen

…And I heard the voice saying to me from the aforementioned living fire:…you are nonetheless touched by My light, which kindles in you an inner fire like a burning sun; cry out and relate and write these My mysteries that you see and hear in mystical visions. So do not be timid, but say these things you understand in the Spirit as I speak them through you…

15. “The risen Christ appeared frequently to His disciples

But just as the children of Israel, after being liberated from Egypt, wandered in the desert for forty years before coming into the land flowing with milk and honey, so too the Son of God, rising from the dead, showed Himself for forty days to His disciples and the blessed women who wept and had a great desire to see Him. This He did to encourage them, lest they should waver in faith and say, “We did not see Him, so we cannot believe that He is our salvation!” He showed Himself to them frequently, to strengthen them that they might not fall.”

The blessings of the past should not be forgotten, nor those who were blessed to share them, even if centuries ago.

Source for Scivias, Columbia.edu.