Hadewijch the Unknown Beguine (Via Zoom)

November 3, 6:30pm-8:00pm (Central Time)

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Registration Deadline: November 1 (A Zoom link will be emailed to you on November 2.)

Sister Helen Rolfson shares, “It has amused me that personal titles in the Middle Ages would describe people by their unique characteristics, such as Ethelred the Unready, Charles the Bald, Richard the Lion-hearted, etc. So, I made up one for the 13th century beguine Hadewijch (supposedly of Antwerp), whom I will call Hadewijch the Unknown. This Flemish woman was a writing mystic, known indeed for her poetry, letters, and visionary accounts in the Middle Dutch vernacular. She is mostly unknown to us today, but is at the forefront of the development of the phenomenon of semi-religious women called beguines.”

In one of her earlier lectures, Sister Helen presented the beguine phenomenon. Now she will begin introducing the spiritual riches of these women, starting with Hadewijch.

Our beguine-admirer, Sister Helen Rolfson, a Rochester Franciscan Sister for more than 60 years, had the task and opportunity to teach in elementary school, high school, college, graduate school, and Christian doctrine courses. Franciscan obedience led her, a Minnesotan by birth, to translate Flemish mystical texts, studying and working in Belgium, where her office was just a couple of blocks away from a 13th century residence of beguines (now a tourist attraction.) Retired from The School of Theology/Seminary at St. John’s University, she gladly continues to share some of the riches of that tradition.

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