Homilies on the Gospels

Beverly M. Kienzle is the John H. Morison Professor of the Practice in Latin and Romance Languages and lecturer on medieval Christianity at Harvard Divinity School. Her research and writing focus on the place of preaching and sermons in the history of medieval religion and on evidence for women's preaching in monastic, lay, and dissident communities. Her publications include Hildegard of Bingen: Homilies on the Gospels from Cistercian Publications and Hildegard of Bingen and Her Gospel Homilies: Speaking New Mysteries. Kienzle has also co-edited Hildegard of Bingen's Expositiones euangeliorum and A Handbook on Hildegard of Bingen.

Like much of what Hildegard wrote, these sermons are unique, both in their adherence to a word-by-word analysis of the Gospel readings, as well as in their ingenuity in revealing the salvation-historical and moral meaning of the text. Hildegard was an original interpreter, as Beverly Mayne Kienzle’s volume of accurate and readable translations shows.Bernard McGinn, Divinity School, University of Chicago

• ContentsAbbreviations   xiPreface   xvIntroduction   1Homilies 1 and 2 Luke 16:1-9The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost   29Homilies 3 and 4 John 6:1-4The Last Sunday before Advent   37Homilies 5 and 6 Matthew 1:18-21The Eve of the Lord’s Birth   46Homilies 7 and 8 Luke 2:1-14  The Lord’s Birth   50Homily 9 John 1:1-14  The Lord’s Birth   55Homilies 10 and 11 Matthew 2:13-18The Eve of the Epiphany   62Homilies 12 and 13 Matthew 2:1-2The Feast of the Epiphany   67Homilies 14 and 15 Luke 2:42-52The Sunday in the Octave of the Epiphany   75Homilies 16 and 17 John 2:1-11The Second Sunday after the Epiphany   81 Homilies 18 and 19 Matthew 8:1-13The Third Sunday after the Epiphany   87Homilies 20 and 21 Luke 2:22-32The Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary   94Homilies 22 and 23 Matthew 20:1-16Septuagesima Sunday   100Homilies 24 and 25 Matthew 4:1-11The First Sunday of Lent   108Homilies 26 and 27 Luke 15:11-32Sabbath before the Third Sunday of Lent   117Homilies 28 and 29 Mark 16:1-7The Sunday of the Resurrection   127Homilies 30 and 31 John 10:11-16The Second Sunday after Easter   132Homilies 32 and 33 Mark 16:14-20The Lord’s Ascension   135Homilies 34, 35, and 36 John 3:1-15The Finding of the Holy Cross   139Homilies 37 and 38 Luke 16:19-31The Octave of Pentecost   149Homilies 39 and 40 Luke 14:16-24The Third Sunday after Pentecost   158Homilies 41 and 42 Luke 1:57-68The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist   164Homilies 43, 44, and 45 Luke 5:1-11The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost   169Homilies 46, 47, and 48 Luke 19:41-47The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost   176Homilies 49 and 50 Mark 7:31-37The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost   181 Homilies 51 and 52 Luke 18:10-14The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost   185Homilies 53, 54, 55, and 56 Luke 21:25-33The First Sunday of Advent   190Homilies 57 and 58 Luke 19:1-10The Dedication of a Church   199Bibliography   205Liturgical Index   211Scripture Index   214Topical Index   218