Julian of Norwich: Life, Revelations, and Thoughts
Born in Norwich, England at the beginning of the 14th century, Julian of Norwich was a mystic and an anchoress. She had a series of visions when she was very ill and revealed the messages of Christ that she received during them. She also wrote two works in English, making her the first woman in History to write in this language. Julian of Norwich exercised, during her lifetime, a primordial role, comparable to that of Saint Catherine of Siena or Saint Bridget of Sweden. Norwich became a great place of pilgrimage.
Biography of Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich was born on November 8, 1342 in the city of Norwich (English county). She spent her entire life there, as an anchoress near the Church of St. Julian and a Benedictine religious. In 1373, she fell gravely ill and was declared terminally ill. But, after a series of sixteen visions which left her with sixteen messages about the infinite love of God, on May 8 of the same year, Julian was declared completely healed, miraculously. Julian also had visions of the Christ suffering His Passion and scenes similar to Gospel parables. She spent the rest of her life spreading the messages received and wrote two works. The first, the result of these reflections, is entitled Revelations of Divine Love. It is the very first book written in English by a woman. Julian of Norwich is thus considered the "first English woman of letters". Her first manuscript is imbued with a profound knowledge of biblical sources as well as medieval literature.
Julian of Norwich gave her soul to the Lord around 1417, in Norwich. The Catholic Church commemorates her memory on May 13 and the Anglican Church on May 8.
The texts she wrote are still very relevant today and widely used by the Church, notably by Pope Francis, who addressed a letter to the Bishop of East Anglia (the county of Norwich), Bishop Peter Collins, on the occasion of the 650th anniversary of Julian's mystical revelations. The Holy Father recalls the generosity of this woman towards the least and the greatness of her soul. He paused, in particular, on "her maternal influence, her humble anonymity and her profound theological insights" which "remind us that faith in the loving providence of God and the holiness of life, expressed in generous service to our brothers and sisters in need, are timeless truths that underpin not only the life of a Christian disciple, but also the very fabric of a just and fraternal society."
The Revelations of Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich had sixteen revelations from Christ. The heart of the message the Lord addressed to her and which she transmits to us is the unconditional love of God for us, to strengthen our love for His Son.
Here they are:
"By creation we had a beginning, but the love with which He created us was in Him from eternity: and in this love we have our origin."
"The Trinity fills my heart with intense joy. This was shown to me in this first vision and in the others, for where Jesus appears, the other two persons of the Trinity are also there."
"Absolutely everything is encompassed in His Goodness; there nothing can be lacking."
"The Goodness of God is far above all prayer and it stoops to the least of our needs."
"That He who is the Most High, the Almighty, should be so modest, so humble, so simple and so affable."
"The fullness of joy that awaits us in heaven will be caused, I believe, by this courtesy and wonderful simplicity of our Father, our Creator, in Jesus, our Brother and our Savior."
"The entire sacred body of Jesus appeared to me covered in blood, as if He had just been scourged."
"There is no created liquid substance that He loves so much to give us... to wash away our sins."
"This blood is of our nature and it belongs to us for our greatest happiness."
"It poured down even into hell ... covered the whole earth ... rose, with the body of Jesus, up to heaven where it intercedes for us unceasingly."
"It is good for some souls to pass through these different states: sometimes comforted, sometimes left to themselves."
"God wants us to know that He keeps us as well in times of spiritual dryness as in times of fervor."
"God is our Mother as truly as He is our Father."
"Jesus is our true Mother in nature, by virtue of our creation, and our true Mother by grace, as a consequence of His Incarnation."
"I understood that one can see three kinds of Motherhood in God: the first, when He created our nature; the second, when He took this nature; the third consists in increasingly extending the benefits of His Incarnation."
"I understood that whoever, in this life, chooses God of their own free will, must believe themselves to be the object of an eternal love. God wants me to feel as bound to Him by love as if He had done for me alone all that He has done; this is what every soul should say to itself inwardly."
Two Thoughts by Julian of Norwich
"Our prayer, the Lord Himself receives it; taking it with great thankfulness and great joy, He carries it up to heaven and places it in a treasury where it will not perish. It is there, before God and all His saints, continually received, always helping us in our needs. And when we enter into bliss, it will be returned to us, contributing to our joy, with infinite and glorious thanksgivings from God."
- Julian of Norwich, Daniel Vigne, Paths of Prayer Listening to the Fathers
"The Trinity is God, and God is the Trinity. The Triune God is our creator. The Triune God is our keeper. The Triune God is our eternal lover. The Triune God is our infinite joy and our bliss through our Lord Jesus Christ and in our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is our way. He leads us safely by His precepts. In His mystical body, He carries us to heaven with power. I saw that, having within Him all those whom He will save, He makes a glorious gift of them to His heavenly Father, a gift which the Father receives with very great thankfulness and which He courteously gives back to His Son Jesus Christ. This gift and this gesture are joy for the Father, bliss for the Son and rejoicing for the Holy Spirit. Among all that we can do to please God, there is nothing more agreeable to Him than to see us rejoice in this joy that the Trinity has for our salvation."
- Julian of Norwich, Mystical Writings
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