Hildegard Pilgrimage with Deacon Shanon Sterringer, ARCWP - Day 1

Deacon Shanon Sterringer, ARCWP, is leading thirteen family and friends on a Hildegard Pilgrimage in Germany. On Day 1 the group visited Eibingen and Rudesheim. Here is Shanon's commentary on today's journey.

This is the Parish Church of St. Hildegard in Eibingen, Germany on the grounds where she founded her second monastery sometime around 1165-1170 AD.  The original monastery was destroyed by fire in 1932 but was rebuilt as a parish church in 1935 AD.  The altar in front of the church is used for outdoor masses.

This is a statue of St. Hildegard in front of the cemetery outside of the Eibingen Parish Church.

Baptismal Font in the Parish Church of St. Hildegard 

St. Hildegard's Reliquary in the sanctuary beneath a replica of her vision "Man in Sapphire Blue" or sometimes referred to as the "Trinity" from her book of Scivias.  The blue man in the center represents the incarnation (Cosmic Christ), the inner circle represents the Holy Spirit, and the outer circle represents God the Creator.  This beautiful replica is made from mosaic stones. 

Pictured in front of St. Hildegard's reliquary: 

Jim Marsh, Mary Therese Streck, Mary Eileen Collingwood, Dagmar Celeste, Lillian Lewis, Mary Blanchard, Shanon Sterringer, Susan Guzik

The following three windows are located to the left of the sanctuary. They contain several of the herbs St. Hildegard wrote about in her work on natural healing, Physica.  St. Hildegard used herbs, stones, and other natural elements for healing.  

These next set of windows contain a number of different images relating to St. Hildegard's life.

This is a shrine of St. Hildegard with candle votives near to the tabernacle. She is always depicted with a book (usually a copy of her first work, Scivias) and a feather reminding us of one of her most well-known lines, "I am simply a feather on the breath of God..."

This is a banner of St. Hildegard used in the religious procession each year on September 17th as her reliquary is carried from the parish church up the hill to the Abbey Monastery in honor of her feast day. 

This extraordinary statue of St. Hildegard serves as the building's cornerstone.

Photos by Mary Theresa Streck, ARCWP