Volmar (monk)

Volmar (died 1173) was a Saint Disibod monk who acted as prior and father confessor for the nuns at Disibodenberg. He was one of two teachers of Hildegard of Bingen during her early years, the other being Jutta.

As a teenager, Hildegard began to realize her visions were unique experiences, and she broke her painful silence by discussing them with Jutta, who told Volmar. Volmar, in turn, became the first person to validate Hildegard’s visions. He mentored her and her brother Bruno for a time, and when her self-doubts plagued her, he was the one who urged her to follow the command of God to write down her visions. Volmar recognized Hildegard’s rare spiritual talents and later became her secretary and good friend. They knew each other for over sixty years, and when he died in 1173, Hildegard grieved. She had become especially close to this monk.

In Hildegard's ground-breaking allegorical musical, Ordo Virtutum, in which the Devil pursues, seduces, and eventually loses the Soul, Volmar may have voiced this diabolical part. Or, better put, Volmar may have "shouted" this role because the Devil is the only character in this play that does not sing—he has divorced himself from all heavenly harmony.