Posted December 9, 2012 Book: Woman Mystic: Selections from Saint Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias Author: Elizabeth Ruth Obbard New City Press. Hyde Park, NY. 2012. pp. 71 An Excerpt from the Jacket: Celebrating the 2012 canonization and declaration of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) as Doctor of the Church, Elizabeth Obbard, OCD interprets selections from Hildegard's first and major work, Scivias. Hildegard is concerned with the whole panorama of the story of salvation. Reason is paramount. Order is necessary. She writes on creation, the Trinity, baptism and confirmation, lay people, the Eucharist, the history of salvation, virtues, angels and "The Symphony of the Blessed." An Excerpt from the book: The four-sided building of salvation The goodness of the Father builds good works on faith. Gathering multitudes from the four corners of the earth, He draws them to heavenly things and makes them strong and constant in virtue. Then the Heavenly Father graciously places them in His bosom (which is His inner power and mystical counsel) in four categories of faith: First, the race of Adam. Second, the coming of Noah Third, the time of Abraham, Moses and the Law. And last, the time of the Holy Trinity when the Old Testament was openly fulfilled in the Son of God. The Symbolism of the corners The corner that faces East stands for the Son of God, born of the Virgin and who suffered in the flesh that justice might arise in humanity. The Western corner stands for the time from Abel to the coming of the Son. It symbolizes the observance of the physical laws of the Old Testament. The Northern corner stands for the faithful people arising from Abraham and Moses, who foreshadowed the promised grace through which humanity would be saves. The Southern corner stands for the human race nobly and beautifully restored by the work of God and man bearing full fruit. Table of Contents: Hildegard declares the truth of her visions Creation and fall Vision of the trinity The Church bride of Christ and mother of the faithful The mystical body of the Church Christ's sacrifice and the Church The history of salvation symbolized by a building The figures of heavenly love, discipline, modesty, mercy, and victory The zeal of God The stone wall of the old law The pillar of the Trinity The symphony of the blessed For further reading