Hildegard von Bingen, Religious

Hildegard was born to a noble family in Böckelheim, Germany in 1098. As a young child, she was very sickly and, as a consequence, did not receive much education. At an early age, Hildegard began to have visions. At first, embarrassed by them, she refused to tell anyone other than her teacher and a local monk. The visions continued through her life and, later, she was told in a vision to write down what she was seeing. Having never learned to write, Hildegard began to dictate what she was seeing to her monk friend. As well as the many books attributed to her, Hildegard composed hundreds of musical compositions noted for their departure from the plain chant common at the time.

Even those of us who may be suffering physical ills and have little formal education have been given talents by God. We should not let these talents lay idle.