Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader
For those who already know and admire her, this compilation of Hildegard's  various works is an ideal reference. For those who are unacquainted with  Hildegard of Bingen, this book is the best of introductions. Carmen Acevedo  Butcher, besides her selections from Hildegard's own works, provides the  reader with a biography of this remarkable medieval mystic. The English  translations from Hildegard's Latin are engaging. Hildegard, a nun who died  in the 12th century, speaks our own language today. She was instructed by  God to "write down what you see and hear!" Carmen Acevedo Butcher has made  it accessible to us in this fine book. --Br. Benet Tvedten, author of The View from a MonasteryI just finished Dr. Butcher's manuscript, and I am happy to report that I  thoroughly enjoyed reading it. In fact, it was one of those texts that,  imperceptibly but irresistibly, draws you in until you fall in step with  the author in her perambulations between the 12th and 21st centuries. Good  medievalist that she is, her mode of presentation, analogical logic, if the  favored form of medieval argumentation, but her transposition of this  usually theological, legal or scientific methodology to seemingly banal  events is nothing short of delightful. The introductory essay detailing Hildegard's life and accomplishments is  engaging, her obvious affinity with her subject spiritually inspiring, and  her presentation scholarly and lucid.Where her true contribution to Hildegard studies lies, is in her genuinely  masterful rendering of Hildegard's texts. With a keen eye for the  multifaceted Latin of the source texts as well as the specifically  Hildegardian cadence of her language, Butcher was able to create texts  that, like the original, are epitomes of vigor, striking metaphoric  expression, directness and immediacy. As I was reading them, I often felt I  was reading Hildegard, the real Hildegard, for the first time. --Dr. Katharina Wilson, Professor of Comparative Literature,  University of GeorgiaIf you think a 12th-century nun famous in her time for apocalptic visions  has nothing to say to us today, think again. In this finely written book,  Carmen Butcher shows us a Hildegard who was endearingly human, battling  self-doubt while tenaciously and creatively using her many talents to  express God's love and energize the church. Butcher's translations make  this fascinating medieval woman's words fresh and accessible to modern  readers. --Christian History and Biography, Jennifer Trafton, Managing  EditorThis book is a gift to the church. Carmen Acevedo Butcher brings Hildegard  of Bingen to life for us. Women trapped in a man's world, such as many  women were in the Middle Ages, found freedom in monasticism. None more so  than Hildegard of Bingen. Carmen Butcher wisely selects and elegantly  translates Hildegard's works, including her soaring music, spiritual  visions, and selected letters. What strikes any reader today about  Hildegard is her audacity ¬ born of faith and fostered in prayer,  Hildegard confronted the powers of her day with words about the Living  Word. --Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park  University