So many beloved drinks carry traces of Catholic connections. The cappuccino takes its name from the Capuchin friars; Trappist monks have brewed beer in monasteries for centuries; and the Carthusian monks of France are famously associated with Chartreuse. It also seems that a female Doctor of the Church was making history with pumpkin-spice flavors centuries before they ever trended.
St. Hildegard of Bingen is a 12th-century Benedictine abbess, mystic, and later one of the 4 female Doctors of the Church. Born in 1098 in Germany, St. Hildegard entered religious life as a child and eventually led her own convent. She said she experienced vivid visions of God from an early age, and eventually began recording them in works such as Scivias. Her writings and preaching made her a remarkable public voice in a world where women rarely held that kind of influence.
But St. Hildegard was not only known for visions. She composed sacred music, wrote about the natural world and healing plants, advised popes and emperors by letter, and developed her own practical wellness wisdom, including praise for warming spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves.
Doesn’t that sound familiar? A warm blend of spices, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves… Mmmm…
While Starbucks takes
