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Novena to St. Hildegard of Bingen

Day 1

10 min
Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

Novena to St. Hildegard of Bingen

Opening prayer:

O God, living Light who shone within Your servant Hildegard, kindle in me the wisdom and wonder she received. Through her intercession, open my eyes to behold Your glory in all creation and grant me the grace I now humbly seek. Amen.

Read the meditation and offer the intention of the day.

Day 1: The living Light

Hildegard described her visions as a 'reflection of the living Light' that she perceived not with bodily eyes nor in dreams but in her soul, fully awake and aware. This radiance was for her the very presence of God shining within. She teaches us that God speaks in the depths of the heart that is still enough to listen, and that contemplation is less a striving to reach Him than a quieting of the soul to receive the Light already there.

O God of the living Light, who illumined the soul of St. Hildegard from within, quiet the noise of our hearts that we may perceive Your radiance. Teach us to listen in stillness for Your voice, and grant that the light of Your presence may shine in the depths of our souls. Amen.

Today's intention:

For the grace to perceive God's light within the soul.

Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Pater noster, qui es in cælis,

sanctificétur nomen tuum.

Advéniat regnum tuum.

Fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie,

et dimítte nobis débita nostra,

sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris.

Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem,

sed líbera nos a malo.

Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum.

Benedícta tu in muliéribus,

et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta María, Mater Dei,

ora pro nobis peccatóribus,

nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.

Amen.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper,

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Closing prayer:

St. Hildegard, Sibyl of the Rhine and Doctor of the Church, who heard the music of heaven and saw the greening power of the Spirit, intercede for me. Make my soul green again with the freshness of grace, that I may bloom and bear fruit for God. Amen.

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

About this prayer

A nine-day novena to St. Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church, Benedictine abbess and mystic, for wisdom, creativity, and a soul made green again by the life-giving Spirit of God.

History

St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) was a German Benedictine abbess, mystic, composer, healer, and polymath called the 'Sibyl of the Rhine.' Entrusted to the cloister as a girl, she received visions from childhood and at God's command recorded them in her work Scivias ('Know the Ways'). She founded monasteries, wrote on medicine and creation, composed luminous sacred music, and even rebuked popes and emperors. Pope Benedict XVI canonized her and named her a Doctor of the Church in 2012.

How to pray it

Pray once each day for nine consecutive days. Begin with the Sign of the Cross and the opening prayer, prayerfully read the meditation and offer the day's intention, then conclude with an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, and the closing prayer.

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