Every Wednesday we invite you to Pause and Pray with us. Today’s Pause and Pray is written/curated by Beth Quick.

*In honor of the feast day of Hildegard of Bingen (and Brigid Dwyer’s sermon yesterday, today’s Pause & Pray focuses on the work of Hildegard.

Image: “Cycle of the Seasons” – Hildegard of Bingen

PRAY

O leafy branch
standing in your nobility
as the dawn breaks forth:
now rejoice and be glad
and deign to set us frail ones
free from evil habits
and stretch forth your hand
and lift us up.
Amen. (Hildegard of Bingen, trans. unknown.)

MEDITATE

Humanity, take a good look at yourself.
Inside, you’ve got heaven and earth, and all of creation.
You’re a world—everything is hidden in you.
—Hildegard, Causes and Cures

When a person does something wrong and the soul realizes this, the
deed is like poison in the soul. Conversely, a good deed is as sweet
to the soul as delicious food is to the body. The soul circulates
through the body like sap through a tree, maturing a person the
way sap helps a tree turn green and grow flowers and fruit.
—Hildegard, Scivias

LISTEN

Hildegard of Bingen – Hortus Deliciarum (Garden of Delights)