A letter from Elisabeth of Schoenau ()

Translated letter:

To lord Fulbert, venerable abbot of Laach, sister Elisabeth of Schonau sends veneration and love in Christ. The vision which I saw at Matins time as Christmas approached was like this. I saw another vision in the following year on the night of the birth of the Lord at the time of Matins. First, I saw two large and brightly shining stars standing a little distance from each other. They came together from their separate places in such a way that it was as if one body was made from them, like the sun shining in its strength (Rv. 1:16), and around it was a bright tri-colored circle of red and green and sapphire. In the middle of this shining body I saw a woman sitting, gloriously crowned like a queen of great majesty and she held a very beautiful and lovable young child in her lap. It was made known to me that this was our blessed Lady, the Virgin Theotokos. Throughout the whole time of the divine office being celebrated that night, I saw this vision and so many others, but what was revealed to me in them must now be passed over in silence. In the third Mass our blessed Lady deigned to present herself to me nearer and more clearly than before, but without her child. Then, as I had been advised by my brother, who was at that hour celebrating the divine office with us, I spoke to her saying, “I beg you my lady, may you deign to reveal something to me about Origen. He was a great doctor of the Church, who honorably and lovingly wrote your praises in many places. Is he saved or not, since the catholic Church condemns him for the many heretical things found in his writings?” To this she answered in this way, “It is not the will of God that much should be revealed to you about this. However, you should know that the error of Origen did not come from malice, but from the excessive fervor by which he immersed his thought in the profundities of holy scripture, which he loved, and in divine secrets, which he wished to scrutinize too much. On account of this, the punishment in which he is detained is not grave. Know indeed that for those honors which he offered me in his writings, a special light shines on him among the other souls on those special feasts in which my memory is celebrated in the Church. However, what will be done to him on the last day, is not to be revealed to you now, for the Lord wishes to keep this among His secrets.” To these things I would add that on the third day after this, when it happened that I had the chance to speak with the beloved of the Lord, blessed John the Evangelist, about that aforementioned doctor Origen, he said about our Lady, “The Lord has left the judgment of Origen to her decision so that whatever she might want to be done with him on the Last Day will be done.” But to the words of our Lady, which she directed to me on Christmas, I immediately subjected another question, saying, “Reveal to me, I ask, Lady about that brother who was so strangely buried at the Laach church. Should there be any hope for the liberation of his soul and should prayers be offered for him or not?” She said, “The Lord wishes absolutely nothing to be revealed to you about him since nothing from this would prove of any use for the people.” I have been anxious to announce these things to you since I did not want to appear forgetful of your request. May you as well as the brothers who are with you remember to be consoled according to the discretion of your prudence. (1)

Original letter:

Domino V. vernerando abbati de Lacu soror Elysabeth Sconaugensis venerationem et dilectionem in Christo. Visio, quam imminente dominica nativitatis in tempore matutinali vidi, huiusmodi erat. [...] Item alia visio, quam vidi sequienti anno in nocte dominice nativitatis in tempore matutinali, huiusmodi erat. Vidi primum duas stellas grandes et splendidas vehementer parvo intervallo ab invicem distantes, et convenerunt e diverso, ita ut fieret quasi corpus unum ex eis simile soli fulgenti in virtute sua, et erat in circuitu eius circulus clarus, habens colores tres, videlicet rubeum et viridem et saphirinum. In medio autem huius lucidi corporis vidi sedere femininam gloriose coronatam velut reginam magne maiestatis, et habentem in sinu parvulum speciosum et amabilem nimis, et intimatum est michi, quoniam ipsa esset beata domina nostra virgo Theodochos. Cunque per totum tempus divini officii, quod agebatur nocte illa, vidissem visionem hanc et quamplura, que nunc silentio pretereunda sunt, in ea mihi revelata fuissent, in tercia quoque missa eadem beata domina nostra se michi presentare dignata propinque magis et evidentius, quam ante, sed absque parvulo suo. Tunc ergo, sicut premonita fueram a fratre meo, qui eadem hora divinum apud nos celebrabat officium, allocuta sum eam dicens: Digneris obsecro domina mea aliquid revelare mihi de illo magno doctore ecclesie Origine, qui et tuas laudes honorifice et amabiliter multis in locis descripsit, utrum salvus factus sit an non, quoniam ecclesia catholica eum condempnat pro eo, quod in scriptis eius multa heretica inveniuntur. Ad hec michi in hunc modum respondit: Non est voluntas domini, ut multum tibi de hoc reveletur. Scire autem debes, quoniam error Origenis non ex malicia erat, sed magis ex nimio fercore, quo sensum suum immersit profunditatibus scripturarum sanctarum, quas amabat, et divinis secretis, que nimis perscrutari volebat. Propterea et pena eius, in qua detinetur, gravis non est. Scito etiam quod pro ea honorificentia, quam michi in scriptis suis exhibuit, singulare quoddam lumen inter ceteras animas ipsum illustrat per singulas festivitates, in quibus mea commemoratio in ecclesia celebratur. Quid autem de ipso in novissimo die fieri debeat, nunc tibi revelandum non est, sed hoc inter archana sua dominus vult habere. [...] Ad hec et illud annectam, quod in die tercia post hec dilectus domini beatus Johannes evangelista dicebat, cum etiam ad ipsum quadam occasione loqui contigisset de doctore memorato, inquit domine nostre: In arbitrio posuit dominus iudicium eius, et, quicquid ipsa in novissimo die de ipso voluerit fieri, fiat. Verbis autem domine nostre, que in die natalis domini dixerat ad me, continuo et aliam inquisitionem suibieci dicens: Reveles michi, queso, domina et de illo fratre, qui aput Lacensem ecclesiam tam mirabiliter interiit, utrum pro eo orationes fieri liceat annon. Et ait: Neque uno modo neque alio quicquam tibi de illo revelari vult dominus, quoniam nichil ex hoc utilitatis in populo esset proventurum, et nunc hec vobis annuntiare sollicita fui, quatenus petitiones vestre non viderer fuisse oblita. Vos autem tam vos ipsum quam fratres, qui sunt aput vos consolari mementote secundum discretionem prudentiae vestre.

Historical context:

Elisabeth relates her visions of the virgin Mary and John the Evangelist and the questions she put to them. It was written after 1155, when Fulbert became abbot at Laach. The first paragraph of this letter was incorporated into Third Book of Visions as ch. 5.

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.6, ch.22, p.152-53; trans. Anne L. Clark, The Complete Works of Elisabeth of Schönau (New York: Paulist Press, 2000), 22.