Contemplating Julian of Norwich

'Julian of Norwich' (not her real name) is commemorated today in the Church of England.

In 1373, an unnamed 30-year old Englishwoman, had a visionary experience during severe illness. After recovering, she meditated on what she had seen, writing first a brief account and later a series of deeper theological reflection, “Revelations of Divine Love”, believed to be the first book written by a woman in English.

We call that unnamed woman Julian of Norwich because by 1394 until at least 1416, she lived as an “anchoress”, in a cell attached to the church of St Julian, in Norwich. One of her cell windows opened into the church so she could share in worship. The other opened onto a street so people could come to her to seek her prayer and spiritual wisdom. In that cell she received more visions and contemplated God’s grace and love.

She lived in really hard times, which makes her emphasis on God’s love all the more remarkable. In Norwich in the late 14th century, the plague killed perhaps 1 person in 2. England was at war with France and Spain. In the same period there was famine and much civil unrest. The Church was in schism. Many monastic writers and parish priests taught that all this was a punishment from an angry God. Julian’s writings offered something different, but deeply rooted in the essentials of Christian faith.

Through modern translations of her Middle-English writings, her voice still speaks to many today, giving reason for optimism and hope in God in hard times.

At the beginning of the Revelations of Divine Love, Julian asks God for three wounds: "the wound of true contrition, the wound of kind compassion, and the wound of earnest longing for God". It seems odd to ask God for wounds. What did Julian mean by that?

The wound of contrition is about our human condition as sinners. As we recognise and accept our sinfulness, we can accept our need for Jesus as Saviour and "flee to him".

The wound of compassion is about our relationship with other people, whom we should treat with kindness.

The 3rd wound is about our relationship with God. Julian wrote that the desire for God, is in every human heart. That desire grows in love, the more we know and experience God's love. That’s what leads us to our home in God. She speaks of being clothed in the embrace of God’s mothering love, nurtured by Christ. That’s what enables us to love ourselves and others.

One of the best known of Julian’s visions is her sight of “a little thing, the size of a hazelnut and round, like a ball.” She saw that, “It stands for everything that has been made and everything that will made.” She understood 3 things from that little thing in the palm of her hand:

God made everything.
God loves everything.
God looks after everything.

This reassured her that in the midst of things going wrong, like illness, war and famine, because God loves us, in the end all will be well.

Malcolm Guite has written a lovely sonnet for Julian of Norwich. You can read it below, or listen to it here.

Mother Julian

Show me O anchoress, your anchor-hold

Deep in the love of God, and hold me fast.

Show me again in whose hands we are held,

Speak to me from your window in the past,

Tell me again the tale of Love’s compassion

For all of us who fall onto the mire,

How he is wounded with us, how his passion

Quickens the love that haunted our desire.

Show me again the wonder of at-one-ment

Of Christ-in-us distinct and yet the same,

Who makes, and loves, and keeps us in each moment,

And looks on us with pity not with blame.

Keep telling me, for all my faith may waver,

Love is his meaning, only love, forever.

You may also like to watch and listen to this video with music, images and quotes from the writings of Julian of Norwich.