Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Christian : Catholic 12th Century	About Hildegard of Bingen Timeline (1098 - 1179)
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English version by Barbara Newman Original Language Latin	O Euchari in leta via / Sequence for Saint Eucharius
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Birds   Bliss   Heart   Mountain   Rose   Recommended Books The Book of the Rewards of Life: Liber Vitae Meritorum, by Hildegard of Bingen / Translated by Bruce W. Hozeski Creation and Christ: The Wisdom of Hildegard of Bingen, Translated by Columbar Hart / Translated by Jane Bishop German Mystical Writings: Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Jacob Boehme, and others, Edited by Karen J. Campbell Hildegard of Bingen, by Regine Pernoud / Translated by Paul Duggan Hildegard of Bingen, by Nancy Fierro More >>	Eucharius! you walked blithely when you stayed with the Son of God, touching him, watching his miracle-working. You loved him with a perfect love when terror fell on your friends -- who being human had no strength to bear the brightness of the good. But you -- in the blaze of utmost love -- drew him to your heart when you gathered the sheaves of his precepts. Eucharius! when the Word of God possessed you in the blaze of the dove, when the sun rose in your spirit, you founded a church in your bliss. Daylight shimmers in your heart where three tabernacles stand on a marble pillar in the city of God. In your preaching Ecclesia savors old wine with new -- a chalice twice hallowed. And in your teaching Ecclesia argued with such force that her shout rang over the mountains, that the hills and the woods might bow to suck her breasts. Pray for this company now, pray with resounding voice that we forsake not Christ in his sacred rites, but become before his altar a living sacrifice.     -- from Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia armonie celstium revelationum, by Hildegard of Bingen / Translated by Barbara Newman Amazon.com
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

This song in praise of Saint Eucharius may feel overly... "Catholic" to some readers, but it has several truly beautiful lines.

First, who is this Eucharius praised by Hildegard? Saint Eucharius is venerated as the first bishop of Trier/Treves (in the same region where Hildegard later lived and taught). Historians think Eucharius probably lived in the second half of the third century, but Catholic legend portrays him as one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, who was later sent to Gaul by Saint Peter to establish Christianity in the region.

I love Hildegard's lines:

when the sun rose in your spirit,
you founded a church in your bliss.

What else should a church or a life be founded on, but bliss?

May daylight shimmer in your heart!

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.