Vatican City, Sep 8, 2010 / 08:57 am
Continuing his focus on the contribution of women to the Church, Pope Benedict XVI turned a second time to the medieval nun St. Hildegard of Bingen, whose life demonstrates that “women make a special contribution to theology.”
The Pope gave his general audience catechesis this morning in the Paul VI Hall, dedicating his teaching to a subject he began last week with a reflection on St. Hildegard of Bingen, a twelfth-century German Benedictine religious.
Speaking on the mystical visions that the saint had throughout her life, the Holy Father commented that “they were rich in theological content.” “They referred to the main events of the history of salvation and use a mainly poetic and symbolic language,” he noted. “For example, in her best known work entitled 'Scivias' (Know the Ways) she summarized the events of the history of salvation in thirty-five visions, from the creation of the world to the end of time.”
“In the central part of her work she develops the theme of the mystical marriage between God and humankind which came about in the Incarnation,” the Holy Father added.