"And it came to pass .. when I was 42 years and 7 months old,
that the heavens were opened and a blinding light of
exceptional brilliance flowed through my entire brain.
And so it kindled my whole heart and breast like a flame,
not burning but warming .. and suddenly I understood
the meaning of expositions of the books.
But although I heard and saw these things,
because of doubt and low opinion of myself and
because of diverse sayings of men,
I refused for a long time a call to write,
not out of stubbornness but out of humility,
until weighed down by a scourge of god,
I fell onto a bed of sickness."
- Hildegard von Bingen