Today is the feast day of Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), who has gone over recent decades from being a relatively obscure mystic in the church to a more widely-known and read spiritual guide. Although she lived in the late Middle Ages, a time of upheaval with the Black Plague and peasant revolts, her thoughts and experiences are incredibly relevant to our time as well.
In 1373, Julian received a series of visions of Christ when she was gravely ill. After recovering, she wrote down these visions, giving us Revelations of Divine Love, which is thought to be the very first book in English written by a woman.
Her visions of the crucified Christ are particularly striking in two ways. She is quite expansive in terms of the gender identities that she has for God and for Christ, especially emphasizing the motherhood of the Divine. She is also clear about the all-encompassing love of God for all of us (and thus “All shall be well, all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”).
Here is a poem by Dan Clendenin, drawn from the text of Revelations of Divine Love:
God’s Love for Us
The love of God most High for our soul
is so wonderful that it surpasses all
knowledge. No created being can fully know
the greatness, the sweetness, the
tenderness, of the love that our Maker has
for us. By his Grace and help therefore let
us in spirit stand in awe and gaze, eternally
marvelling at the supreme, surpassing,
single-minded, incalculable love that God,
Who is all goodness, has for us.
Amen!
