Ildegarda e Francesco: due semplici e illetterati in sintonia con il creato.

This paper explores the deep harmony between Hildegard of Bingen and Francis of Assisi in their vision of nature and creation, beginning with their self-identification as "simple and unlearned". Far from being a mark of ignorance, this condition reveals a form of wisdom and visionary knowledge rooted in interior experience and divine inspiration, beyond scholastic learning. Both saints perceive creation as a living language of God—something to be contemplated and praised, not exploited or dominated. For them, nature is not inert matter but a dynamic, speaking reality that reveals divine glory. Drawing on textual sources and the spiritual and cosmological tradition of the Middle Ages, the author shows how praise—rather than silence—is the natural response to contemplating creation. Hildegard and Francis act as voices for creation, singing its harmony and the interdependence of all living beings. Hildegard’s cosmology, rich in symbolism and influenced by Platonic and Augustinian thought, presents a musical and Trinitarian vision of the universe. Francis, through his Canticle of the Creatures, poetically expresses a universal brotherhood that embraces both humanity and the natural world. In conclusion, the author highlights how the spiritual outlooks of Hildegard and Francis anticipate key elements of today's integral ecology as proposed by the Church: a unified vision of humanity and creation, the sacredness of nature, contemplation as a path to knowledge, and the care of the world as an act of love toward God.