St. Hildegard of Bingen. / Credit: Lettera43.it, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Every gift from the Holy Spirit is meant for the edification of the community of believers, Pope Benedict XVI said in a general audience back in 2010 when he focused his catechesis on the life of St. Hildegard of Bingen, whose feast is celebrated Sept. 17 in the universal Church.

Benedict praised her as a model for modern women religious and noted that she benefited the faithful by her willingness to submit her supernatural visions to the interpretation of the Church.

Referring first to St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem on the role of women in the life of the Church, Benedict XVI noted that the letter “gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine ‘genius’ which have appeared in the course of history.” He then highlighted the figure of St. Hildegard of Bingen as one of the saintly women who stood out nearly a millennium ago.

Born into a noble German family in the year 1098, Hildegard began her studies in human and Christian formation at a Benedictine convent in the town of Bingen, took her vows to cloistered life and, 30 years after she began her formation, became a mother superior.

Carrying out this role competently, she was able to found an additional convent nearby where she spent a great part of her life. The way she exercised authority there continues to be an example for religious communities today, Benedict said, explaining that she was able to create an atmosphere of “holy emulation in the practice of the good, so much so that ... the mother and daughters competed in respecting and serving each other.”

Benedict XVI also recalled her mystical visions, which she first shared with people in confidence, including her spiritual director, a fellow sister, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. “As always happens in the lives of the true mystics,” the pope said, “Hildegard also wished to submit herself to the authority of wise people to discern the origin of her visions.”

St. Bernard, whom Benedict said held “maximum esteem” in the Church at the time, “calmed and encouraged” the sister about the visions, and eventually Pope Eugene III gave her the authorization to write and speak about the visions publicly.

“This,” the former pope taught, “is the seal of an authentic experience of the Holy Spirit, source of every charism: the person (who is the) repository of supernatural gifts never boasts, does not flaunt them and, especially, shows total obedience to the ecclesiastical authorities.”

He added: “Every gift distributed by the Holy Spirit, in fact, is destined for the edification of the Church, and the Church, through its pastors, recognizes their authenticity.”

In 2012, Hildegard was canonized and named a doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XVI. 

This story was first published on Sept. 1, 2010, and has been updated.