The teachings of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church, continue to inspire pastoral initiatives in the Church today. In Rome, a small community of consecrated women has developed an apostolate of hospitality, retreats, and spiritual accompaniment based on the Christian vision of health that the Benedictine saint taught in the 12th century.
According to the National Catholic Register, at the Casa Santa Maria degli Angeli, near Rome’s central station, three consecrated women have been receiving pilgrims, retreat participants, and family members of patients from the nearby Umberto I hospital for over a decade.
Saint Hildegard: a Christian vision of health
Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), German Benedictine abbess, was a mystic, theologian, composer, and one of the great spiritual figures of the Middle Ages. In 2012, she was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Benedict XVI.
In her writings, she developed a profound reflection on the relationship between physical health and spiritual life, affirming that physical well-being is closely linked to the inner harmony of the soul.
Father Joachim Welz, of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross, explained to the National Catholic Register that for the saint, the body can only be truly healthy when the soul is as well.
Nutrition and Spiritual Life
Part of Saint Hildegard’s medicine is based on the use of natural foods as a means to care for health. Among the products she recommended are spelt, fennel, chestnuts, or quince, in addition to some roots and herbs traditionally used to strengthen the body.
Inspired by these teachings, the consecrated women who run the Casa Santa Maria degli Angeli prepare the food offered in the retreats following the nutritional principles described by the saint.
For them, however, care for the body is always united with spiritual life.
“The foundation is not only nutrition, but also the inner peace that we must learn to achieve,” explained Fabiana Ferrara, responsible for the retreat center, to the NCR.
Healing of Body and Soul
Saint Hildegard also wrote about melancholy, an affliction that today could be compared to stress or certain forms of depression.
According to the retreat house managers, the saint’s teachings can help many people seeking to recover inner balance.
The retreats they organize take place in small groups and include Mass, Eucharistic adoration, spiritual talks, and shared meals, creating an environment conducive to encountering God and others.