Bridget Mary's Blog: Hildegard Pilgrimage with Deacon Shanon Sterringer, ARCWP

Hildegard Pilgrimage with Deacon Shanon Sterringer, ARCWP - Day 3 -Disibodenberg Monastery - July 30, 2019.

Shanon Sterringer, ARCWP, led us up the mountain to the ruins of Disibodenberg Monastery. Shanon's commentary follows:

The following are pictures from the ruins of Disibodenberg, the male Benedictine Monastery where St. Hildegard was tithed as a child. She was placed under the tutelage of Jutta von Sponheim at the age of eight years old. They most likely lived in the castle at Sponheim until Hildegard was a young teenager and ready to take her first vows. At that point they moved into Disibodenberg as anchorites, or recluses. It was expected that they would live lives in solitude (cloistered), however, God had something else in mind for St. Hildegard! As the reputation of Jutta and Hildegard as holy women spread, additional women desired to join them. Their anchorage began to develop into a small convent and by the time St. Hildegard became the leader (magistra), there was a need to build their own monastery which she eventually did at Rupertsberg.

Within the last couple of decades a small, modern chapel was built up in the ruins of Disibodenberg for use by pilgrims or anyone simply seeking to spend some time in prayer.