A letter from Elisabeth of Schoenau ()

Translated letter:

Letter to the Archbishops of Trier, Cologne, and Mainz. This is the Book of the Ways of God which was announced by the angel of God most high to Elisabeth, handmaid of Christ and the living God, in the 1156th year of the Lord’s incarnation, in the in fifth year of her visitation when the Spirit of the Lord visited her for the salvation of all who receive the fatherly warnings of God with grateful praise. When the sermons of this book were almost finished, on the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, before the hour of the divine office I was praying in a hidden place and the angel of the Lord appeared in my sight. While I listened he spoke these words, “To the bishop of Trier and the bishops of Cologne and Mainz. It has been announced to you by the Lord God, great and dreadful, and by the angel of the testament (Mal. 3:1) of this book that these words which you find in the present book are to be announced by you to the Roman Church and to all the people and all the Church of God. Correct yourselves and turn from your errors. Do not receive the sacred and divine warnings unworthily because they were not invented by human beings. Moreover, I speak to you by name because in this region you are renowned for piety. Read and hear the divine admonitions and receive them with a peaceful mind. Do not judge that they are the figments of women, because they are not. Rather, they are from God the omnipotent Father who is the fount and source of all goodness. And what I say to you, I say to all others.” (1)

Original letter:

[...] Cum essent pene consummati sermones libri huius, in festivate apostolorum Petri et Pauli ante horam divini officii fui orans in secreto, et apparuit in conspectu meo angelus domini et locutus est audiente me verba hec: Treverensi episcopo, et Colonie et Magontie episcopis. Annuntiatum sit vobis a domineo deo magno et tremendo, et ab angelo testamenti libri huius, et hec verba, que inveneritis in presenti libro, annuntietis Romane ecclesie totique populo, et omni ecclesie dei. Emendate vosmet ipsos et convertimini ab erroribus vestris, et nolite indigne accipere ammonitionem sacram et divinam, buia non sunt hec ab hominibus inventa. Dico autem vobis ex nomine, quoniam in ista provincia nomen religionis habetis. Legite et audite arbitrari, hec esse figmenta mulierum, quia non sunt, sed sunt a deo patre omnipotente, qui est fons et origo omnis bonitatis. Quod autem vobis dico, ceteris omnibus dico.

Historical context:

This letter was added to the The Book of the Ways of God in a redaction of the visionary works that Ekbert created after Elisabeth’s death in 1164 or 1165. The letter was written during the final months in which the book itself was being composed. Two years after writing the letter, Elisabeth again wrote to Archbishop Hillin of Trier, accusing him of neglecting the mandate of this first letter to preach the message of this book to the universal church. See the letter to Hillin, archbishop of the city of Trier.

Scholarly notes:

(1)This translation is copyrighted by Anne Clark. For permission to reproduce, contact Paulist Press.

Printed source:

Die Visionen der hl. Elisabeth und die Schriften der Aebte Ekbert und Emecho von Schönau, ed. F.W.E. Roth (Brünn: Verlag der Studien aus dem Benedictiner- und Cistercienser-Orden, 1884), Bk.4, ch.20, p.122; trans. Anne L. Clark, The Complete Works of Elisabeth of Schönau (New York: Paulist Press, 2000), 20.