17th September 2026 – Elija Mission

“I have nothing to give but what you yourself have given me!” (St Catherine of Siena).

How true and liberating these simple words are! They lift the veil under which we humans often find ourselves, striving to be or appear to be something. Society certainly places such demands on us, and we feel we must live up to them. And yet: Is it not an illusion to rely solely on ourselves in doing so? When we forget where everything comes from? Is it not a form of blindness to fail to recognise the source — our divine Father, from whom everything comes?

In Biblical Meditations

Memories of Paradise

Elija17th September 202611th September 2026

Wis 8:1-6

Reading from the memorial of St. Hildegard of Bingen

“Strongly she reaches from one end of the world to the other and she governs the whole world for its good. Wisdom I loved and searched for from my youth; I resolved to have her as my bride, I fell in love with her beauty. She enhances her noble birth by sharing God’s life, for the Master of All has always loved her. Indeed, she shares the secrets of God’s knowledge, and she chooses what he will do. If in this life wealth is a desirable possession, what is more wealthy than Wisdom whose work is everywhere? Or if it be the intellect that is at work, who, more than she, designs whatever exists?”

Today we have the pleasure of talking about a saint whom we, as Harpa Dei, have come to know above all through her music. She is St. Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church and a very significant figure in the late Middle Ages.