O quam mirabilis est is an antiphon by Hildegard von Bingen, abbess, healer and visionary of the Rhine, and one of the first composers whose name we know.
The song marvels at the foreknowing heart of God: before anything was made, every creature was already present, whole, in the human face he was about to form. When God looked at that face, he saw all of his works at once.
How wondrous is that breath that roused humanity to life!
Hildegard painted this vision too: a human figure standing at the centre of the cosmos, held in the circle of divine Love. Singing it feels like standing inside that circle for a few minutes.