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Sunday, March 30, 2014

"Flame of Anger, Why I Disobey ...My Bishop" by St. Hildegard of Bingen, Patroness of Excommunicated, Interdicted, Silenced, Catholics

http://cyber-christian-community-wa-inc.org.au/CR_page1.html
A Prayer for Catholics who have been  Excommunicated, Interdicted and Silenced because of their support of women priests, including prophetic male priests: Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois,  Jesuit Bill Brennan,  Franciscan Jerry Zawada,  and  the many more,  too numerous to mention,  members of the faithful who have been fired or are under threat of ecclesiastical penalties for following their consciences.

St. Hildegard of Bingen, pray for all those condemned by the hierarchy for their prophetic obedience  to the Spirit in support of justice and equality for women in the church.  Walk in solidarity with us as we work for the reform and renewal of our beloved church. 

This prayer was written by St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098 - 1179).

Flame of Anger

You ask why I disobey you, my bishop;

I answer in a spirit of prayer,

As I hope you did too in addressing me.

I, the Abbess, disobey, and all my sisters choose to disobey,

Because in such obedience is only darkness.

In our disobedience is light for our spirits,

So has God shown us.

I am not just disobedient,

I am outraged.

A thunderstorm of outrage shakes my soul.

In God’s truth I say to you:

‘You are wrong and we are right.’

We are obeying Christ,

We are following Christ,

We choose not to insult Christ,

As obeying you would force us to do.


Because of what you call our disobedience,

You have forbidden us to sing our psalms.

You have deprived us of the Food of Life.

You have cut off the streams of life, the sacramental graces.

God told me to tell you this also:

Beware of closing the mouths of those who sing God’s praises.

‘Who dares to de-string the harp of heaven?’ God asked me.

‘Only the devil,’ I whispered.


Ask yourself, O bishop, whose side are you on?


Excerpts from Letter to the Bishop written by Hildegard of Bingen aged 80
St. Hildegard's convent was interdicted by her local bishop because she refused to obey an order issued by him. 
www.arcwp.org

3 comments:

boomerfrontrunner said...

This was a great quote. I just read a chapter on Hildegard of Bingen in a book entitled, "Faithful Dissenters, Stories of Men and Women Who Loved and Changed the Church" by author, Robert Mc Clory. I recommend it highly to anyone who has not read it. It is published by Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY

Anonymous said...

Wow. It is a centuries long struggle, isn't it.

Grannied said...

Wow. It is a centuries long struggle, isn't it.