A letter from Elisabeth of Schoenau ()

Translated letter:

A certain small spark sent from the seat of great majesty, and a voice thundering in the heart of a small worm-person speaks.(1) To Hillin, archbishop of Trier. The one who was and is and is to come warns you. Rise up in the spirit of humility and fear of the Lord your God. Extend your pastoral staff over the flocks which you have received from the Lord to govern and guard. Strike strongly and gently by imploring and rebuking, not like a hireling whose sheep are not his own (Jn. 10:12), but like a faithful and prudent servant whom a master established over his household so that he might give them a measure of wheat at the proper time (Lk. 12:42). Again the same Lord admonishes you, saying, “Give the reason that you have defrauded me of my chosen pearls and precious gems, which had been sent to you from the power of great majesty. You have thrown them behind you and have not wished to obey me. Don’t you know that I have said, 'You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to the little ones’ (Lk. 10:21)? Take up and open the book and you will discover what I have said and what has been done: 'The apostolic see is filled with pride and avarice is cultivated,’ et cetera.(2) If you will not tell them what has been revealed to you and they die in their sins, you will bear the judgment of God. And you should know that the one who has been chosen by Caesar is more acceptable to me.(3) If he fears me and executes my judgment, I will give him a new heart and place my spirit within his heart (Ez. 36:26). So now, pay attention and do what is pleasing to me and do not fear, because I am with you all the days of your life (Is. 43:5), and I will not abandon you but will give you a named place in my kingdom where the harmonies of my saints ring forth without cease, which no one knows but those who hear.” May He offer this place to you, He who is the font and source of all goodness.(4)

Original letter:

Quedam parva scintilla emissa de sede magne maiestatis, et vox tonans in cor cuiusdam vermiculi hominis dicit. H. archiepiscopo Treverensi. Admonet te, qui erat et qui est et qui venturus est. Excitare in spiritu humilitatis et timoris domini dei tui. Extende virgam pastoralem super greges, quos suscepisti domino regere et custodire. Percute foriter et suaviter obsecrando, increpando, non quasi mercennarius, cuius non sunt oves proprie, sed quasi fidelis servus et prudens, quem constituit dominus super familiam suam, et det illi in tempore suo tritici mensuram. Iterum admonet te idem dominus dicens: Redde rationem, quia defraudasti michi margaritas electas, et gemmas preciosas, que tibi misse fuerant de magne maiestatis potentia, proiecisti post tergum tuum, et noluisti obedire mihi. Nonne tu scis, quia dixi: Abscondisti hec a sapientibus et prudentibus et revelasti ea parvulis? Recipe et revolve volumen et invenies, que dixi, et que facta sunt. Sedes apostolica obsessa est superbia, et colitur avaricia, et cetera. Quod non si indicabis eis, que tibi revelata sunt, et ipsi in peccatis suis moriuntur, iudicium dei portabis. Et notum sit tibi, quod, qui electus est Cesare, ipse acceptabilior est ante me. Quod si me timuerit et iudicium meum fecerit, dabo ei cor novum, et spiritum meum ponam in medio cordis sui. Nunc ergo attende et fac, que mihi placita sunt, et noli timere, quia ego tecum sum omnibus diebus vite tue, et non deseram te, sed dabo tibi locum nominatum in regno meo, ubi sonant iugiter organa sanctorum meorum, quod nemo scit, nisi qui accipit. Quem tibi prestare dignetus, qui est fons et origo totius bonitatis.

Historical context:

Elisabeth admonishes the archbishop on episcopal responsibility and criticizes his failure to relay her divine message of condemnation to Rome. Throughout the letter, there are references to Elisabeth’s earlier letter addressed to the bishops of Trier, Mainz, and Cologne, in which she charged those prelates to preach the message of The Book of the Ways of God. This letter states a divine preference for the “antipope” Victor IV supported by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and was probably written shortly after the election.

Scholarly notes:

(1)Elisabeth’s use of the image “worm-person” (vermiculus homo; vermicula) seems to have influenced Ekbert, who used it in his prayer to Mary, John the Baptist, and John the Evangelist: “Give, I beseech, the hand of your support to your supplicant, a worm-person. . . .” (Visionen, 324).
(2)This is a quotation from The Book of the Ways of God, ch. 15.
(3)For the contested papal election in September 1159, see Peter Munz, Frederick Barbarossa: A Study in Medieval Politics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1969), 205-19.
(4)  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.6, ch.4, p.140-41; trans. Anne L. Clark, The Complete Works of Elisabeth of Schönau (New York: Paulist Press, 2000), 4.