Liber Divinorum Operum: Prima Pars - Prima Visio, IV (2)

Since while in the same circle above that head another face like that of an old man appeared, this is that to the faithful all the excellent goodness of Divinity, which is without beginning and end, comes to their aide, thus also as the same face's chin and beard touch the top of this head, for Divinity preparing and protecting all obtains the greatest heights of charity, where the Son of God in his humanity leads lost human beings back to heaven.

Quod autem in eodem circulo supra idem caput alia facies velut senioris viri apparet, hoc est quod fidelibus omnia excellens benignitas Divinitatis, quae sine initio et fine est, succurrit, ita ut eiusdem faciei mentum et barba verticem capitis huius tangat, quoniam Divinitas disponendo et protegendo omnia celsitudinem summae charitatis obtinet, ubi Filius Dei in humanitate sua perditos homines ad coelestia reducet.

Commentary:

Man discovers the mystery of the Triune God in the mystery of his salvation.  The Divinity is a mystery of love and goodness wherein God Himself takes on flesh to become one of us, then through a self-sacrifice of love He makes us one with Him.  God's salvation does not come from without, it comes from within - it comes from the mysterious union of flesh with the Word of Life.  The Word of Life becomes the Word of Love on the Cross - and that Word bears the power to transform the believer's heart into one capable of participating in the one divine act of love between Father and Son.  This single act is outside of time - beyond time - it is eternal.  The believer begins eternal life already upon this earth because his heart is no longer bound by time.  The limits of human love are regularly tested and surpassed by faithful adhesion to this Word of Love.  This is the preparation for Heaven - hearts that grow beyond their natural limits, hearts that are divinized by the Word.  Loving through faith in the Word is the path of holiness and salvation.  Salvation does not come from the knowledge of facts, or a belief in ideas - it comes from an interior illumination that is a pure gift: this illumination draws the heart to act beyond its own measure of love.

Liber Divinorum Operum: Prima Pars - Prima Visio, IV (1)

And a circle, great and golden of color, surrounds the head of that same face, since the Catholic faith spread throughout the whole [planet] earth, at the first dawn of an excellent rising splendor, the excellence of abundance of true charity is embraced by every devotion, where God in the humanity of His Son was redeeming man, and was confirming him by the infusion of the Holy Spirit, in such a way that one God may be recognized in Trinity, who without temporal beginning, before time, was God in divinity.

Nathaniel's Translation:

"...because the catholic faith, spread throughout the whole world and rising in the first dawn of exceptional brightness, embraces the excellence of true Love's abundance with every devotion, as when God redeemed man in the humanity of His Son and strengthened man through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Thus is one God understood in Trinity, who who without temporal beginning, before the ages, was God in divinity."

Et circulus amplus aureique coloris caput eiusdem faciei circumdat, quia fides catholica per totum orbem terrarum diffusa, in prima aurora eximii fulgoris surgens, excellentiam largitatis verae charitatis omni devotione complectitur, ubi Deus in humanitate Filii sui hominem redemit, et per infusionem Spiritus sancti illum confirmavit, ita ut unus Deus in Trinitate cognoscatur, qui sine tempore initii ante aevum Deus in divinitate fuit.

Commentary:

The mystery of God, the mystery of Charity, is revealed to us through humanity - especially the Holy Humanity of the Word made flesh. St. Hildegard's vision, which is of human figures - a human face - speaks of the personal proximity of God to His creation, of Charity at the heart of the spread of the Catholic faith. This faith spread like a wildfire and shines like a golden crown upon the head of Charity, who continues to embrace fallen man. Man is embraced unto salvation in the arms of Christ the redeemer, man is embraced and elevated into the divine life from within by the Holy Spirit. In this way, man is engulfed in God, and the relationship he has with Him bears the mark of eternity. Man finds himself at the center of the inner-life of God, and encounters the eternal loving exchange between the divine persons.  

The mystery of Charity is not the mystery of God loving man, or of man loving God - or even of man loving his neighbor or enemy. The mystery of Charity is the mystery of God loving God - and of man being invited into the heart of that love. We love the Father, because the Holy Spirit loves the Father and speaks to Him within us, from places in our spirit deeply beyond our understanding. The Son has healed our hearts, that they may be the way to the Father, that the Spirit may pour through our hearts with divine love for the Father. The contemplation and mystical union with the one God leads us to recognize Him in Trinity.