From: LETTER 23
TO THE PRELATES of MAINZ
(tr. Baird, pp. 76-79)  date: 1178-1179.

Van Acker, Lieven, ed. Hildegardis Bingensis Epistolarium: Prima Pars. CCCM  91. 61-66

[...] FURTHER, I saw in my vision also that by obeying you we have been celebrating the divine office incorrectly, for from the time of your restriction up to the present, we have ceased to sing the divine office, merely reading it instead. And I heard a voice coming from the Living Light concerning the various kinds of praises, about which David speaks in the psalm: ‘‘Praise Him with sound of trumpet: praise Him with psaltery and harp,’’ and so forth up to this point: ‘‘Let every spirit praise the Lord’’ [Ps 150.3–5].

Aspexi etiam aliquid super hoc quod, uobis obediendo, hactenus a cantu diuini officii cessantes, illud tantum legentes remisse celebramus, et audiui uocem a uiuente luce procedentem de diuersis generibus laudum de quibus Dauid in psalmo dicit: Laudate eum in sono tube, laudate eum in psalterio et cithara, et cetera usque ad id: Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum.

These words use outward, visible things to teach us about inward things. Thus the material composition and the quality of these instruments instruct us how we ought to give form to the praise of the Creator and turn all the convictions of our inner being to the same.

In quibus uerbis per exteriora de interioribus instruimur, scilicet quomodo, secundum materialem compositionem uel qualitatem instrumentorum, interioris hominis nostri officia ad Creatoris maxime laudes conuertere et informare debeamus.

When we consider these things carefully, we recall that man needed the voice of the living Spirit, but Adam lost this divine voice through disobedience. For while he was still innocent, before his transgression, his voice blended fully with the voices of the angels in their praise of God. Angels are called spirits from that Spirit which is God, and thus they have such voices by virtue of their spiritual nature.

Quibus cum diligenter intendimus, recolimus qualiter homo uocem uiuentis Spiritus requisiuit, quam Adam per inobedientiam perdidit, qui ante transgressionem, adhuc innocens, non minimam societatem cum angelicarum laudum uocibus habebat, quas ipsi ex spiritali natura sua possident, qui a Spiritu qui Deus est spiritus uocantur.

But Adam lost that angelic voice which he had in paradise, for he fell asleep to that knowledge which he possessed before his sin, just as a person on waking up only dimly remembers what he had seen in his dreams. And so when he was deceived by the trick of the devil and rejected the will of his Creator, he became wrapped up in the darkness of inward ignorance as the just result of his iniquity.

Similitudinem ergo uocis angelice, quam in paradiso habebat, Adam perdidit, et in scientia qua ante peccatum preditus erat, ita obdormiuit, sicut homo a somno euigilans de his, que in somnis uiderat, inscius et incertus redditur, quando suggestione diaboli deceptus et uoluntati Creatoris sui repugnans, tenebris interioris ignorantie ex merito iniquitatis sue inuolutus est.

God, however, restores the souls of the elect to that pristine blessedness by infusing them with the light of truth. And in accordance with His eternal plan, He so devised it that whenever He renews the hearts of many with the pouring out of the prophetic spirit, they might, by means of His interior illumination, regain some of the knowledge which Adam had before he was punished for his sin.

Deus uero, qui animas electorum luce ueritatis perfundens ad pristinam beatitudinem reseruat, ex suo hoc adinuenit consilio, ut quandoque corda quamplurium infusione prophetici Spiritus innouaret, cuius interiore illuminatione aliqua de scientia illa recuperarent, quam Adam ante preuaricationis sue uindictam habuerat.

Thereby, both through the form and quality of the instruments, as well as through the meaning of the words which accompany them, those who hear might be taught, as we said above, about inward things, since they have been admonished and aroused by outward things.

ut tam ex formis uel qualitatibus eorundem instrumentorum quam ex sensu uerborum, que in eis recitantur, audientes, ut predictum est, per exteriora admoniti et exercitati, de interioribus erudirentur.

and they accompanied their singing with instruments played with the flexing of the fingers, recalling, in this way, Adam, who was formed by God’s finger, which is the Holy Spirit. For, before he sinned, his voice had the sweetness of all musical harmony.

et que cantabant, in iuncturis digitorum, que flexionibus inclinantur, adaptauerunt, ut et recolentes Adam digito Dei, qui Spiritus Sanctus est, formatum, in cuius uoce sonus omnis harmonie et totius musice artis, antequam delinqueret, suauitas erat.

Indeed, if he had remained in his original state, the weakness of mortal man would not have been able to endure the power and the resonance of his voice.

Et si in statu quo formatus fuit permansisset, infirmitas mortalis hominis uirtutem et sonoritatem uocis illius nullatenus ferre posset.

  he was so terrified at seeing his clever machinations go to ruin that he was greatly tormented. Therefore, he devotes himself continually to thinking up and working out all kinds of wicked contrivances. Thus he never ceases from confounding confession and the sweet beauty of both divine praise and spiritual hymns, eradicating them through wicked suggestions, impure thoughts, or various distractions from the heart of man and even from the mouth of the Church itself, wherever he can, through dissension, scandal, or unjust oppression.

 machinamenta calliditatis sue in irritum ire uidens, ita exterritus est, ut non minimum inde torqueretur, et multifariis nequitie sue commentis semper deinceps excogitare et exquirere satagit, ut non solum de corde hominis per malas suggestiones et immundas cogitationes seu diuersas occupationes, sed etiam de ore Ecclesie, ubicumque potest, per dissensiones et scandala uel iniustas depressiones, confessionem et pulchritudinem atque dulcedinem diuine laudis et spiritalium hymnorum perturbare uel auferre non desistit.

Therefore, you and all prelates must exercise the greatest vigilance to clear the air by full and thorough discussion of the justification for such actions before your verdict closes the mouth of any church singing praises to God or suspends it from handling or receiving the divine sacraments.

Quapropter summa uigilantia uobis et omnibus prelatis satagendum est ut, antequam os alicuius ecclesie laudes Deo canentium per sententiam claudatis, uel eam a tractandis uel percipiendis diuinis sacramentis suspendatis, causas pro quibus hoc faciendum sit, diligentissime prius discutiendo uentiletis.

And you must be especially certain that you are drawn to this action out of zeal for God’s justice, rather than out of indignation, unjust emotions, or a desire for revenge, and you must always be on your guard not to be circumvented in your decisions by Satan, who drove man from celestial harmony and the delights of paradise.

Et studendum uobis est, ut ad hoc idem zelo iustitie Dei, non indignatione uel iniusto motu animi, seu desiderio ultionis trahamini, et cauendum semper est, ne in iudiciis uestris circumueniamini a Satana, qui hominem a celesti harmonia et a deliciis paradisi extraxit.

Consider too that just as the body of Jesus Christ was born of the purity of the Virgin Mary through the operation of the Holy Spirit so too the canticle of praise, reflecting celestial harmony, is rooted in the Church through the Holy Spirit.

Pensate itaque quoniam, sicut corpus Iesu Christi de Spiritu Sancto ex integritate Virginis Marie natum est, sic etiam canticum laudum secundum celestem harmoniam per Spiritum Sanctum in Ecclesia radicatum est.

The body is the vestment of the spirit, which has a living voice, and so it is proper for the body [in harmony] with the soul, to use its voice to sing praises to God.

Corpus uero indumentum est anime, que uiuam uocem habet, ideo que decet ut corpus cum anima per uocem Deo laudes decantet.

Whence, in metaphor, the prophetic spirit commands us to praise God with clashing cymbals and cymbals of jubilation [cf. Ps 150.5], as well as other musical instruments which men of wisdom and zeal have invented, because all arts pertaining to things useful and necessary for mankind have been created by the breath that God sent into man’s body. For this reason it is proper that God be praised in all things.

Vnde et propheticus spiritus per significationem iubet ut in cymbalis bene sonantibus et cymbalis iubilationis, et ceteris instrumentis musicis Deus laudetur, que sapientes et studiosi adinuenerunt, quoniam omnes artes que ad utilitatem et necessitatem hominum pertinent, a spiraculo quod Deus misit in corpus hominis reperte sunt; et ideo iustum est ut in omnibus laudetur Deus.

the prophet, aware that the soul is symphonic and thoughtfully reflecting on the profound nature of the spirit, urges us in the psalm [cf. Ps 32.2] to confess to the Lord with the harp and to sing a psalm to Him with the ten-stringed psaltery. His meaning is that the harp, which is plucked from below, relates to the discipline of the body; the psaltery, which is plucked from above, pertains to the exertion of the spirit; the ten chords, to the fulfillment of the law.

 propheta, subtiliter profundam spiritus naturam considerans, et sciens quia symphonialis est anima, hortatur in psalmo ut confiteamur Domino in cithara, et in psalterio decem chordarum psallamus ei, citharam, que inferius sonat, ad disciplinam corporis, psalterium, quod de superius sonum reddit, ad intentionem spiritus, decem chordas ad completionem legis referri cupiens.

Therefore, those who, without just cause, impose silence on a church and prohibit the singing of God’s praises and those who have on earth unjustly despoiled God of His honor and glory will lose their place among the chorus of angels, unless they have amended their lives through true penitence and humble restitution.

Qui ergo ecclesie in canticis laudum Dei sine pondere certe rationis silentium imponunt, consortio angelicarum laudum in celo carebunt, qui Deum in terris decore glorie sue iniuste spoliauerint, nisi per ueram penitentiam et humilem satisfactionem emendauerint.

Moreover, let those who hold the keys of heaven beware not to open those things which are to be kept closed nor to close those things which are to be kept open, for harsh judgment will fall upon those who rule, unless, as the apostle says [cf. Rom 12.8], they rule with good judgment.

Propterea qui claues celi tenent, districte caueant, ne eis et claudenda aperiant et aperienda claudant, quia iudicium durissimum in his qui presunt fiet, nisi, ut ait Apostolus, presint in sollicitudine.