SONGS OF ST. HILDEGARD FOR THE VIRGIN

Stephen D'Evelyn
Brown University

Since a woman had built a house for death,
so a resplendant maiden tore it down;
and so it is the highest benediction
before all creation--
the form of woman--
since in her God became one of us.
O sweetest, O most blessed maiden!
(Symphonia 12)

O you most alluring stem
flourishing from the rod of Jesse,
O how great is the excellence
that divinity stared into his
daughter most beautiful
as an eagle sets his eye on the sun.
When the heavenly Father caught sight of
the radiance of the Virgin,
then he desired his Word
to be made flesh in her.
For in the mystical mystery of God,
illumined in the mind of the Virgin,
a marvelously bright flower
from the Virgin came forth.
When the heavenly Father caught sight of
the radiance of the Virgin,
then he desired his Word
to be made flesh in her.

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit
as it was
in the beginning.
When the heavenly Father caught sight of
the radiance of the Virgin,
then he desired his Word
to be made flesh in her.
(Symphonia 21)