Saint Hildegard von Bingen

Saint Hildegard von Bingen: Feast Day Sept. 17th

Not only is Saint Hildegard a Doctor of the Church, but during her life she was a writer, scientist, and conveyor of the "spiritual importance of femininity" (Catholic News Agency). During her life, she was not only a confident leader, but she also served as a beautiful witness of humility, allowing others to observe that confidence, leadership, and humility can all exist and work together. This article, from the Catholic News Agency, contains not only biographical information on Saint Hildegard, but also a wonderful discussion of how modern women can relate and connect with this smart and accomplished female saint who supported the truths of the Church.

Since Saint Hildegard is from Germany, and the majority of my family's ancestry derives from Germany, we decided to make "Nussecken"—dessert mini-nut bars—to celebrate today. The modifications that we changed to this recipe, were using raspberry jam instead of apricot, and a mixture of walnuts and almonds instead of hazelnuts.

For our craft today, since Saint Hildegard was a writer, we made homemade blueberry-ink using this recipe from Martha Stewart, and quills. Not only did it serve as a fun way to celebrate Saint Hildegard's feast day, but in the United States, September 17th is known as "Constitution Day;" so it also provided a way to connect and discuss this fact at the toddler level while we colored with our quills and ink. Happy feast day Saint Hildegard!

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