Song: The Living Light https://halosarehistory.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/the-living-light.mp3 Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of “early” music. Many songs in this genre were first performed in the convents and monasteries of the medieval Catholic Church. My favorites are by a German composer and nun, Saint Hildegard von Bingen. Who Was Hildegard? In 1098, Hildegard was born into a noble family who lived in Bermersheim, in what is now southwestern Germany. According to her autobiography, Hildegard was just eight years old when her parents offered their daughter to the Church as a “tithe,” dedicating her life to a monastic vocation. At that time, it wasn’t uncommon for families to give up their children as religious oblates, but when Hildegard became an adult, she discouraged the practice. Young…