SOURCE: Hart, Mother Columba. Introduction to Hadewijch: The Complete Works, translated by Mother Columba Hart, O.S.B., pp. 1-42. New York: Paulist Press, 1980.

In the following excerpt, Hart surveys the life of Hadewijch, highlighting significant themes and concepts in her letters, stanzaic poetry, and mystical visions.

Hadewijch's Works

In the early thirteenth century the religious currents stirring in western Europe showed particular vitality throughout the Low Countries. In this new and strong movement of devotion, which sought a return to the pure spirit of the Gospel, both nuns and secular women took part. A number of women mystics gifted with ecstatic contemplation gained such respect that much information concerning them has been preserved in Latin “lives” written by contemporary authors and based in some cases—as in the lives of Saint Mary of Oignies (1177-1213) and Saint Lutgard of Aywières (1183-1246)—on close personal acquaintance between...