Description
Book SynopsisThis volume brings together texts of the twelfth-century Hildegard of Bingen and the early-thirteenth-century Francis of Assisi to represent religious spirituality after the Gregorian Reform and just prior to or simultaneous with the formation of universities in Western Europe. In an extraordinary way, Hildegard embodies monastic theology and spirituality and provides a contrast to the new thing that would be created with the study of theology in the new Aristotelian idiom of the universities. But equally in contrast to the Benedictine Hildegard, the thirteenth century witnessed a renewed enthusiasm for a more literal following of Christ in a life of penitence and poverty. This is a life of dependence, not on a superior and enclosed community but on the compassion of society at large. Francis would join this movement on his own terms, attract a following, and gradually formulate a spirituality that sent signals of the need to reform individual lives and the institutions of the Church. These two authors, then, are not joined here because of any shared similarity but to help illustrate two quite different spiritualities that animated the lively European twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Table of ContentsHILDEGARD OF BINGEN
I – Introduction to Hildegard and the Texts | 3
II – The Texts | 15
Hildegard on the Prologue
Selection from Part I, Vision 4
of The Divine Works | 17
Hildegard on Creation
Selection from Part II, Vision 1
of The Divine Works | 39
III – Retrieving Hildegard for Christian Life Today | 59
FRANCIS OF ASSISI
I – Introduction to Francis and the Texts | 73
II – Foundational Texts of Francis | 85
The Earlier Rule | 87
Later Admonition and Exhortation
to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance | 118
The Canticle of Creatures | 129
A Letter to the Entire Order | 133
The Testament | 141
III – Retrieving Francis for Christian Life Today | 147
Further Reading | 161
About the Series | 163
About the Editors | 169
