"Each volume has been critically chosen, lucidly translated and excellently introduced by internationally acknowledged scholars. (The publisher) must be praised for its selectivity, overall book format, original cover designs by contemporary artists, and indexes for each volume." Theological Studies Hadewijch: The Complete Works translation and introduction by Mother Columbia Hart, O.S.B., preface by Paul Mummers, S.J. "May God give us a renewed mind For noble and free love, To make us so new in our life That Love may bless us And renew, with new taste, Those to whom she can give new fullness; Love is the new and powerful recompense Of those whose life renews itself for Love alone." Hadewijch (A Beguine of the 13th Century) Belonging to the early thirteenth century, Hadewijch brings us a spiritual message of extraordinary power. She was endowed in no less degree than St. Teresa of Avila with the gifts of visionary mysticism and literary genius. She felt herself strongly a woman, as can be seen from her choosing to join the women's movement of her day, that of the Beguines, who dedicated themselves to a life of true spirituality without taking the veil. Hadewijch understood that she was called to communicate to others the profound knowledge of the things of God granted to her in her mystical life. She directed her apostolate to some younger Beguines, and nearly all her writings, both prose and poetry, were intended for them. She mentions other spiritual friends, some in distant countries. Her experiences and her message, however , however, remained hidden; she attained to no celebrity among her contemporaries. The way of immediate fame was for other women mystics. St. Hildegard (1098-1179), the visionary and writer, enjoyed high reputation Clairvaux, and crowned heads. Hadewijch's contemporary, St. Lutgard (1183-1246), was widely known for her visions of the Sacred Heart, which won her the friendship of persons like the Master General of the Dominican Order and Duchess Marie of Brabant (daughter of King Louis VIII of France), and after her death made her tomb a place of pilgrimage. Where Hadewijch was buried, however, no one knows and her writings, after passing through the hands of John of Ruusbroec and his circle, were lost to sight until the nineteenth century. Since the rediscovery of Hadewijch, her importance has been progressively appreciated, and the hidden dimension of her life is now open so that we may share it according to the particular needs of our own day.

"...these translations thus supersede former ones...if the introductions, translations, and other apparatus of the rest of the series are of the same high quality, the series will be indispensable for most libraries." Library Journal Hildegard of Bingen: Scivias translated by Mother Columbia Hart and Jane Bishop introduced by Barbara J. Newman prefaced by Caroline Walker Bynum I saw a great mountain the color of iron, and enthroned on it. One of such great glory that it blinded my sight. On each side of him there extended a soft shadow, like a wing of wondrous breadth and length. Before him, at the foot of the mountain, stood an image full of eyes on all sides, in which, because of those eyes, I could discern no human form. Hildegard of Bingen(1098-1179) Hildegard of Bingen, twelfth-century German nun, mystic, prophet and political moralist, was widely consulted as an oracle and wrote prolifically on doctrinal matters, as well as on secular matters like medicine, She publicly preached monastic reform, founded two nunneries, and was embroiled in the politics surrounding popes and anti-popes. Scivias, her major religious work, consists of twenty-six visions, which are first se down literally as she saw them, and are the explained exegetically. A few of the topic covered in the visions are the charity of Christ, the nature of the universe, the kingdom of God, the fall of man, sanctification, and the end of the world. Special emphasis is given to the sacraments of marriage and the Eucharist, in response to the Cathar heresy. As a group the visions form a theological summa of Christian doctrine. At the end of the Scivias are hymns of praise and a short play, probably an early draft of Ordo virtutum, the first known morality play. Hildegard is remarkable for being able to unite " vision with doctrine, religion with science, charismatic jubilation with prophetic indignation, and longing for social order with quest for social justice." This volume elucidates the life of medieval women, and is a striking example of a special form of Christian spirituality.

Perhaps no book was more central to medieval spirituality and mysticism," writes Bernard McGinn, "or more problematic to contemporary readers, than the Song of Songs. . . Lingering Victorian attitudes towards the opposition between sex and religion find the Song's frank erotic language embarrassing and even distasteful." But in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, the Song of Songs was a favorite book of Cistercian monks. Bernard of Clairvaux, Gilbert of Hoyland, and John of Ford, as well as William of Saint Thierry, read it as a dialogue between Christ the Bridegroom and the human soul, the Bride.

William of Saint Thierry began composing his commentary soon after entering the Cistercian abbey of Signy in 1135. Having left behind a busy life as a Benedictine abbot and author of theological treatises, he turned to writing meditations on Scripture as the means of listening to the voice of the Beloved. It is therefore ironic that he broke off his commentary on the Song, never to return to it, to alert the Church in France to the teaching of Peter Abelard and then to compose two treatises correcting what he deeply believed were Abelard's theological errors."