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Ordo Virtutum by Hildegard von Bingen Saint Hildegard (1098-1179) was the founder and first abbess of the Benedictine community in Bingen, Germany. The tenth child born into an aristocratic family, she was given to the Church at a young age, and lived a famously spiritual life. She was most famous during her lifetime as a visionary and a prophet, regularly receiving visions from the Holy Spirit (the “living Light”). Hildegard was aware that she was part of a social and religious elite, and was highly outspoken about her mission and her gifts, but she championed humility and charity above all virtues. She was exceedingly brave and unusual in her choice to become a female leader at this time—to her knowledge, she was the first female to begin writing in the name of God, and to travel to preach publicly. She also founded two nunneries despite the opposition of male superiors in the Church. Later medieval generations remembered Hildegard as prophet, and her unique spiritual contributions continue to inspir
