β
All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.
β
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Julian of Norwich
β
He said not 'Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be dis-eased'; but he said, 'Thou shalt not be overcome.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.
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Julian of Norwich
β
If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.
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Julian of Norwich
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God loved us before he made us; and his love has never diminished and never shall.
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Julian of Norwich
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And all shall be well. And all shall be well. And all manner of things shall be exceeding well.
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Julian of Norwich
β
Truth sees God, and wisdom contemplates God, and from these two comes a third, a holy and wonderful delight in God, who is love.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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...we need to fall, and we need to be aware of it; for if we did not fall, we should not know how weak and wretched we are of ourselves, nor should we know our Maker's marvellous love so fully...
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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Our Savior is our true Mother in whom we are endlessly born and out of whom we shall never come.
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Julian of Norwich
β
But for I am a woman should I therefore live that I should not tell you the goodness of God?
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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God, of thy goodness, give me Thyself;
for Thou art enough for me,
and I can ask for nothing less
that can be full honor to Thee.
And if I ask anything that is less,
ever Shall I be in want,
for only in Thee have I all.
β
β
Julian of Norwich
β
Prayer is a new, gracious, lasting will of the soul united and fast-bound to the will of God by the precious and mysterious working of the Holy Ghost.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honor. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything'.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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...the goodness of God is the highest object of prayer and it reaches down to our lowest need.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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See that I am God. See that I am in everything. See that I do everything. See that I have never stopped ordering my works, nor ever shall, eternally. See that I lead everything on to the conclusion I ordained for it before time began, by the same power, wisdom and love with which I made it. How can anything be amiss?
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Julian of Norwich
β
... so our customary practice of prayer was brought to mind: how through our ignorance and inexperience in the ways of love we spend so much time on petition. I saw that it is indeed more worthy of God and more truly pleasing to him that through his goodness we should pray with full confidence, and by his grace cling to him with real understanding and unshakeable love, than that we should go on making as many petitions as our souls are capable of.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazel nut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, βWhat may this be?β And it was answered generally thus, βIt is all that is made.β I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God.
In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it.
β
β
Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
It is easier for us to get to know God than to know our own soul...God is nearer to us than our soul, for He is the ground in which it stands...so if we want to know our own soul, and enjoy its fellowship, it is necessary to seek it in our Lord God.
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Julian of Norwich
β
Some of us believe that God is almighty, and can do everything; and that he is all wise, and may do everything; but that he is all love, and will do everythingβ there we draw back.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
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Mother Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
And I saw that truly nothing happens by accident or luck, but everything by God's wise providence. If it seems to be accident or luck from our point of view, our blindness and lack of foreknowledge is the cause; for matters that have been in God's foreseeing wisdom since before time began befall us suddenly, all unawares; and so in our blindness and ignorance we say that this is accident or luck, but to our Lord God it is not so.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
For as the body is clad in the cloth, and the flesh in the skin, and the bones in the flesh, and the heart in the whole, [34] so are we, soul and body, clad in the Goodness of God, and enclosed.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
Grace transforms our failings full of dread into abundant, endless comfort β¦ our failings full of shame into a noble, glorious rising β¦ our dying full of sorrow into holy, blissful life. β¦. Just as our contrariness here on earth brings us pain, shame and sorrow, so grace brings us surpassing comfort, glory, and bliss in heaven β¦ And that shall be a property of blessed love, that we shall know in God, which we might never have known without first experiencing woe.
β
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
...deeds are done which appear so evil to us and people suffer such terrible evils that it does not seem as though any good will ever come of them; and we consider this, sorrowing and grieving over it so that we cannot find peace in the blessed contemplation of God as we should do; and this is why: our reasoning powers are so blind now, so humble and so simple, that we cannot know the high, marvelous wisdom, the might and the goodness of the Holy Trinity. And this is what he means where he says, 'You shall see for yourself that all manner of things shall be well', as if he said, 'Pay attention to this now, faithfully and confidently, and at the end of time you will truly see it in the fullness of joy.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
Lord, let not our souls be busy inns that have no room for thee or thine,
But quiet homes of prayer and praise, where thou mayest find fit company,
Where the needful cares of life are wisely ordered and put away,
And wide, sweet spaces kept for thee; where holy thoughts pass up and down
And fervent longings watch and wait thy coming.
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β
Julian of Norwich
β
Anything less then God, ever me wanteth.
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Julian of Norwich
β
For in every soul that shall be saved is a Godly Will that never assented to sin, nor ever shall.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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For a kind soul hath no hell but sin.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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God is everything that is good, she writes. All lifeβs pleasures and comforts are sacramental; they are Godβs hands touching us.
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Julian of Norwich (All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich)
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Therefore this is His thirst and love-longing, to have us altogether whole in Him, to His bliss,βas
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
And He that made man for love, by the same love He would restore man to the same bliss, and overpassing; and like as we were like-made to the Trinity in our first making, our Maker would that we should be like Jesus Christ, Our Saviour, in heaven without end, by the virtue of our again-making.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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A simple creature unlettyrde. Julian of Norwich called herself.
The most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an authoress. Echoed Jane Austenβfour hundred years afterward.
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David Markson (The Last Novel)
β
Any time we look at our Maker with love, our importance in our own eyes diminishes, and we are filled with awe and humility and love for others.
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Julian of Norwich (All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich)
β
We are made exactly as God wants us to be. We only need to lift our minds above Earthβs empty sorrows so that we can rejoice in the Divine joy.
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Julian of Norwich (All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich)
β
Your God would never punish you for being a human being: this life itself is your penance...But it is also more than that: it is a crucible for transformation. Each trial, every loss, is an opportunity for you to meet suffering with love and make of it an offering, a prayer. The minute you lift your pain like a candle the darkness vanishes, and mercy comes rushing in to heal you.
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β
Mirabai Starr (The Showings of Julian of Norwich)
β
Whether we see God or only seek to see God, I believe we add to the Divine Essence when we simply fasten our minds and lives onto God.
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Julian of Norwich (All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich)
β
He willeth we know that not only He taketh heed to noble things and to great, but also to little and to small, to low and to simple, to one and to other. And so meaneth He in that He saith: ALL MANNER OF THINGS shall be well. For He willeth we know that the least thing shall not be forgotten.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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But all will be well, and all will be well, and every kind of thing will be well.
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Julian of Norwich
β
For this is the Great Deed that our Lord shall do, in which Deed He shall save His word and He shall make all well that is not well. How it shall be done there is no creature beneath Christ that knoweth it, nor shall know it till it is done;
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
For I saw no wrath except on man's side, and he forgives that in us, for wrath is nothing but a perversity and an opposition to peace and to love.
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Julian of Norwich
β
AND thus our good Lord answered to all the questions and doubts that I might make, saying full comfortably: I may make all thing well, I can make all thing well, I will make all thing well, and I shall make all thing well; and thou shalt see thyself that all manner of thing shall be well.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
And when we fall, God quickly lifts us up, leaping out into our lives like a mother playing peek-a-boo with her child, reassuring the baby with her touch. And when we have been strengthened by Godβs action in our lives, then we choose with all our consciousness to serve God and be Godβs lovers, endlessly. But
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β
Julian of Norwich (All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich)
β
He wills that we take ourselves with great strength to the faith of holy Church and find there our most precious mother in comfort and true understanding with the whole communion of blessed ones. For a person by himself can frequently be broken, as it seems to himself, but the whole body of holy Church was never broken and never shall be, without end. Therefore it is a sure thing, a good thing, and a gracious thing to will meekly and powerfully to be fastened and joined to our mother, holy Church - that is Christ Jesus.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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All shall be well.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love. βJulian of Norwich
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β
Sarah Bessey (Miracles and Other Reasonable Things: A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God)
β
Julian of Norwich's message is as relevant now as it was in the Middle Ages: God loves us completely, exactly as we are. βThen he
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β
Mirabai Starr (The Showings of Julian of Norwich)
β
For He that made man for the sake of love, would by the same love restore man to bliss, even greater than before.
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Julian of Norwich (A Revelation of Divine Love)
β
And then shall it verily be known to us His meaning in those sweet words where He saith: All shall be well: and thou shalt see, thyself, that all manner of things shall be well.
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Julian of Norwich (The Showings of Divine Love)
β
It lasts, and will last forever, because God loves it. Everything that is has its being through the love of God.
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Mirabai Starr (The Showings of Julian of Norwich)
β
For this is the cause why we be not all in ease of heart and soul: that we seek here rest in those things that are so little, wherein is no rest, and know not our God that is All-mighty, All-wise, All-good. For He is the Very Rest. God willeth to be known, and it pleaseth Him that we rest in Him; for all that is beneath Him sufficeth not us. And this is the cause why that no soul is rested till it is made nought [29] as to all things that are made. When it is willingly made nought, for love, to have Him that is all, then is it able to receive spiritual rest.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
For this is the cause why we be not all in ease of heart and soul: that we seek here rest in those things that are so little, wherein is no rest, and know not our God that is All-mighty, All-wise, All-good. For He is the Very Rest.
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Julian of Norwich
β
The place which God takes in our soul he will never vacate, for in us is his home of homes, and it is the greatest delight for him to dwell there⦠The soul who contemplates this is made like the one who is contemplated. Lady Julian of Norwich, Showings On that day, you will know that you are in me and I am in you. John 14:20
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Richard Rohr (Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self)
β
Wherefore we be not only His by His buying, but also by the courteous gift of His Father we be His bliss, we be His meed, we be His worship, we be His crown. (And this was a singular marvel and a full delectable beholding, that we be His crown!)
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
Jesus wants us to understand four things: First, that He Himself is our ground, the soil from which we grow, the foundation on which we are built. Second, that He guards us and keeps us safe when we are in the midst of sin, when our own choices allow our enemies to surround us, when we do not even realize our own need. Third, that He guards us with care and kindness, showing us where we have gone astray. And fourth, that His presence is always with us, and His loving gaze never wavers, for He wants us to turn back to Him and become united with Him in love, as He is with us. When
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Julian of Norwich (All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich)
β
everything that is good is God; whatever goodness we experience in this life is truly a taste of God, for it is God.
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Julian of Norwich (All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich)
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Who we thought we were dies when a beloved dies. And it takes a while for a new self to rise, often haltingly, from the ashes of our ravaged hearts.
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Matthew Fox (Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemicβand Beyond)
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the soul of a rightful man is the seat of God;
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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God's goodness transcends all thought, all comprehension
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Julian of Norwich (The Showings of Julian of Norwich)
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the goodness that each thing hath, it is He.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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All shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well. Julian of Norwich
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Kath O'Sullivan (A Tisket a Tasket-xled)
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Allegations that Medieval Studies is somehow hostile to women, or that it suppresses female voices, donβt hold water: today the field is dominated by female academics. Claims that Medieval Studies professors are just as backstabbing and careerist as those in the rest of the academy, however, would appear to be true. For every Julian of Norwich, there is a Countess Mahaut of Artois.
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Milo Yiannopoulos (Middle Rages: Why the Battle for Medieval Studies Matters to America)
β
Also in this He shewed me a little thing, the quantity of an hazel-nut, in the palm of my hand; and it was as round as a ball. I looked thereupon with eye of my understanding, and thought: What may this be?
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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All shall be well. And all shall be well. And all manner of thing shall be well. It was a quote from one of Gamacheβs favorite writers, the Christian mystic Julian of Norwich. Whoβd offered hope in a time of great suffering.
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Louise Penny (The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #17))
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I understand three ways of contemplating motherhood in God. The first is the foundation of our natureβs creation; the second is his taking of our nature, where the motherhood of grace begins; the third is the motherhood at work.
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Lisa E. Dahill (40-Day Journey with Julian of Norwich ((40 Day Journey)))
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For this is the cause why we be not all in ease of heart and soul: that we seek here rest in those things that are so little, wherein is no rest, and know not our God that is All-mighty, All-wise, All-good. For He is the Very Rest. God willeth to be known, and it pleaseth Him that we rest in Him; for all that is beneath Him sufficeth not us.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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Two duties belong to our souls. One is to reverently marvel. The other is humbly to endure, always taking pleasure in God. He wants us to remember that life is short and it won't be long until we clearly see, within him, all that we desire.
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Julian of Norwich (The Showings of Julian of Norwich)
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For we are now so blind and unwise that we never seek God till He of His goodness shew Himself to us. And when we aught see of Him graciously, then are we stirred by the same grace to seek with great desire to see Him more blissfully. And thus I saw Him, and sought Him; and I had Him, I wanted Him. And this is, and should be, our common working in this [life], as to my sight.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
Also in this He shewed me a little thing, the quantity of an hazel-nut, in the palm of my hand; and it was as round as a ball. I looked thereupon with eye of my understanding, and thought: What may this be? And it was answered generally thus: It is all that is made. I marvelled how it might last, for methought it might suddenly have fallen to naught for little[ness]. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasteth, and ever shall [last] for that God loveth it. And so All-thing hath the Being by the love of God.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
And at the moment that our soul is breathed into our body, when we are created as sensory beings, mercy and grace at once begin to work, taking care of us and protecting us with pity and love; and during this process the Holy Spirit forms in our faith the hope that we shall rise up above again to our substance, into the virtue of Christ, increased and accomplished through the Holy Spirit.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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Also in this He shewed me a little thing, the quantity of an hazel-nut, in the palm of my hand; and it was as round as a ball. I looked thereupon with eye of my understanding, and thought: What may this be? And it was answered generally thus: It is all that is made.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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Be a gardener.
Dig a ditch,
toil and sweat
and turn the earth upside down
and seek the deepness
and water the plants in time.
Continue this labor
and make sweet floods to run
and noble and abundant fruits
to spring.
Take this food and drink
and carry it to God
as your true worship.
β
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
He wanted her to be good, to perform acts of service, come to mass, believe on Jesus, and not make his burden for her salvation too heavy. Between them was an unspoken agreement. He would do his duty, and she would do hers. For many years, this silent understanding between Julian and her priest had been unsatisfying. She craved more: a better understanding of God and God's will. But she had long known not to ask her many questions to her priest. She knew that he certainly would wish to hear nothing of her visions.
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Amy Frykholm (Julian of Norwich: A Contemplative Biography)
β
As long as we are in this life, whenever we foolishly turn our attention to those we deem not to be on a spiritual path, our Lord God tenderly touches us and blessedly calls to us, speaking to our souls: Let me be the only object of your attention, my beloved child. Focus on me alone, for I am enough for you. Rejoice in your savior and your salvation.
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Julian of Norwich (The Showings of Julian of Norwich)
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IN THIS LITTLE THING [LIKE a hazelnut] I saw three properties. The first is that God made it, the second is that he loves it, and the third is that God preserves it.
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Lisa E. Dahill (40-Day Journey with Julian of Norwich ((40 Day Journey)))
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O God, in you I was conceived and born. Thank you for Jesusβ labor to make me your child by water and his maternal blood in the Spirit. Amen.
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Lisa E. Dahill (40-Day Journey with Julian of Norwich ((40 Day Journey)))
β
JESUS CHRIST, WHO OPPOSES GOOD to evil, is our true Mother. We have our being from him, where the foundation of motherhood begins.
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Lisa E. Dahill (40-Day Journey with Julian of Norwich ((40 Day Journey)))
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One of the highest services a person of faith can perform is prayer for family and friends, for oneβs community of faith, for the victims of injustice, and for oneβs enemies.
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Lisa E. Dahill (40-Day Journey with Julian of Norwich ((40 Day Journey)))
β
We will not take possession of our birthright of never-ending joy until we find ourselves fully gratified with God and all his actions and judgments, loving and nonviolent toward ourselves and toward all our fellow seekers, and able to love everything God loves. And when we do achieve this state of surrender and love, it is the goodness of God that awakens it in us.
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Julian of Norwich (The Showings of Julian of Norwich)
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For the Goodness of God is the highest prayer, and it cometh down to the lowest part of our need. It quickeneth our soul and bringeth it on life, and maketh it for to waxen in grace and virtue. It is nearest in nature; and readiest in grace: for it is the same grace that the soul seeketh, and ever shall seek till we know verily that He hath us all in Himself enclosed.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
For as the body is clad in the cloth, and the flesh in the skin, and the bones in the flesh, and the heart in the whole, so are we, soul and body, clad in the Goodness of God, and enclosed. Yea, and more homely: for all these may waste and wear away, but the Goodness of God is ever whole; and more near to us, without any likeness; for truly our Lover desireth that our soul cleave to Him with all its might, and that we be evermore cleaving to His Goodness. For of all things that heart may think, this pleaseth most God, and soonest speedeth [the soul].
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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Ever since that troublemaker Eve handed that gullible Adam the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they say, human beings have been continuously messing up and suffering the consequences. But in the depths of your darkest despair your Beloved calls to you: "Look," he says, and opens the fathomless beautiful wound of his heart so that you can peer inside. All creation is nestled there, bathed in beauty. "Do you see any sin here?" he asks. "Do you detect a shred of retribution?" You do not. All you perceive, from horizon to endless horizon, is love.
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Mirabai Starr (The Showings of Julian of Norwich)
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If what God says is the truest thing about us, then it makes sense to follow him and accept our As-Is condition as the starting point. Thomas Merton said, 'The reason we never enter into the deepest reality of our relationship with God is that we so seldom acknowledge our utter nothingness before him.' If we confess the truth about ourselves, there's every reason to fear God will say, 'Yeah, that's right; and anotherthing...' and we're fairly sure there will be another thing. We are like people afraid to tell the doctor where we really hurt because we fear we may be sicker than we think.
We are sicker than we think. We're dying and, crazily, running from the healer because we're ashamed, because we hate ourselves for all we are and all we're not.
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Brennan Manning
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Pray for all who have suffered shame, abuse, or neglect that leads them to despise themselves. May they experience this God in whom there is mercy, healing, and complete acceptance. Β PRAYER
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Lisa E. Dahill (40-Day Journey with Julian of Norwich ((40 Day Journey)))
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And in that time the custom of our praying was brought to mind: how we use for lack of understanding and knowing of Love, to take many means [whereby to beseech Him]. Then saw I truly that it is more worship to God, and more very delight, that we faithfully pray to Himself of His Goodness and cleave thereunto by His Grace, with true understanding, and steadfast by love, than if we took all the means that heart can think. For if we took all these means, it is too little, and not full worship to God: but in His Goodness is all the whole, and there faileth right nought.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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For as the body is clad in the cloth, and the flesh in the skin, and the bones in the flesh, and the heart in the whole,[64] so are we, soul and body, clad in the Goodness of God, and enclosed
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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Our falling is frightful
our falling is shameful
and our dying is sorrowful
but still in all this, the sweet eye of pity and of love never departs from us,
and the working of mercy ceases not.
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Julian of Norwich
β
Then none of us will be moved in any way to say, Lord, if only things had been different, all would have been well. Instead, we shall all proclaim in one voice, Beloved One, may you be blessed, because it is so: all is well.
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Julian of Norwich
β
And so the Cross effects a twofold disclosure: it discloses the Trinity and it discloses sin for what it is, namely, the elder brotherβs refusal of the Trinitarian love, that mutual love of the Father and Son that is the Holy Spirit. Unable to bear the rival storyβsin, after all, cannot afford to know its own nature, for that is already repentanceβa sinful world reacts with violence, and so in that very act confirms the truth of the story it violently resists. Denys TurnerβJulian of Norwich, Theologian, 134
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Denys Turner (Julian of Norwich, Theologian)
β
We have got to realise the littleness of creation and to see it for the nothing that it is before we can love and possess God who is uncreated. This is the reason why we have no ease of heart or soul, for we are seeking our rest in trivial things which cannot satisfy, and not seeking to know God, almighty, all-wise, all-good. He is true rest. It is His will that we should know Him, and His pleasure that we should rest in Him. Nothing less will satisfy us. [...] We shall never cease wanting and longing until we possess Him in fullness and joy. Then we shall have no further wants. Meanwhile His will is that we go on knowing and loving until we are perfected in heaven. [...] The more clearly the soul sees the blessed face by grace and love, the more it longs to see it in its fullness.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
β
suck of her milk, but our precious Mother Jesus can feed us with himself, and does, most courteously and most tenderly, with the blessed sacrament, which is the precious food of true life; and with all the sweet sacraments he sustains us most mercifully and graciously....
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Lisa E. Dahill (40-Day Journey with Julian of Norwich ((40 Day Journey)))
β
The Thirteenth is that our Lord God willeth we have great regard to all the deeds that He hath done: in the great nobleness of the making of all things; and the excellency of manβs making, which is above all his works; and the precious Amends that He hath made for manβs sin, turning all our blame into endless worship. In which Shewing also our Lord saith: Behold and see! For by the same Might, Wisdom, and Goodness that I have done all this, by the same Might, Wisdom, and Goodness I shall make well all that is not well; and thou shalt see it.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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Between God and creation there is no betweenβthat is the message of panentheism, as well as the message of the Cosmic Christ, the Buddha Nature, and tselem, the image of God that Judaism preaches. Such an understanding offers a re-affirmation of the sacredness inherent in all beings.
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Matthew Fox (Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemicβand Beyond)
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Neither on the one hand fall overly low, inclining to despair, nor on the other hand be over reckless as if we gave no heed, but humbly acknowledging our weakness, aware that we cannot stand even a twinkling of an eye except by the protection of grace, and reverently cleaving to God, trusting in Him alone.
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Fr. John Julian (The Complete Julian of Norwich (Paraclete Giants))
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I saw quite plainly that our Lord was never angry, nor ever shall be; for he is God, and a God who is good, life, truth, love and peace. His clarity and unity do not allow him wrath, for I saw truly that it is against the nature of his strength to be angry, and against the nature of his wisdom and goodness.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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This mingling of life and death, rising and falling is so strange that we cannot even know where we truly are, for our perceptions are so sundered from each other that we canβt tell what is real. On the one hand, we live in a holy agreement with God; when we feel the Divine Presence in our lives, we set our wills, our intellects, our souls, and our strength to following God. Then we hate the arrogant stirrings in our minds, all that causes us to fall away from God, physically and spiritually. But then again, we lose sight of the Divine sweetness, and we fall once more into such darkness that we stumble into all manner of sorrows and troubles. We can only comfort ourselves that we never give our deepest permission for the trouble and sorrow to enter our lives; the strength of Christ our Protector guards our inmost beings. We revolt against the darkness, our minds filled with groaning, enduring the pain and sadness, praying for the time when the Divine Presence will once again be revealed to us. This is the medley of human life: faith and sorrow, insight and darkness, joy and agony, singing in counterpart through our days. But God wants us to know that through it all the Divine Presence is the melody that never changes.
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Julian of Norwich (All Shall Be Well: A Modern-Language Version of the Revelation of Julian of Norwich)
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For as the body is clad in the cloth, and the flesh in the skin, and the bones in the flesh, and the heart in the whole, so are we, soul and body, clad in the Goodness of God, and enclosed. Yea, and more homely: for all these may waste and wear away, but the Goodness of God is ever whole; and more near to us, without any likeness; for truly our Lover desireth that our soul cleave to Him with all its might, and that we be evermore cleaving to His Goodness. For of all things that heart may think, this pleaseth most God, and soonest speedeth [the soul]. For our soul is so specially loved of Him that is highest, that it overpasseth the knowing of all creatures: that is to say, there is no creature that is made that may [fully] know how much and how sweetly and how tenderly our Maker loveth us. And therefore we may with grace and His help stand in spiritual beholding, with everlasting marvel of this high, overpassing, inestimable Love that Almighty God hath to us of His Goodness. And therefore we may ask of our Lover with reverence all that we will.
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Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love)
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The things about you I appreciate
May seem indelicate:
I'd like to find you in the shower
And chase the soap for half an hour.
I'd like to have you in my power
And see your eyes dilate.
I'd like to have your back to scour
And other parts to lubricate.
Sometimes I feel it is my fate
To chase you screaming up a tower
Or make you cower
By asking you to differentiate
Nietzsche from Schopenhauer.
I'd like successfully to guess your weight
And win you at a fΓͺte.
I'd like to offer you a flower.
I like the hair upon your shoulders,
Falling like water over boulders.
I like the shoulders too: they are essential.
Your collar-bones have great potential
(I'd like your particulars in folders
Marked Confidential).
I like your cheeks, I like your nose,
I like the way your lips disclose
The neat arrangement of your teeth
(Half above and half beneath)
In rows.
I like your eyes, I like their fringes.
The way they focus on me gives me twinges.
Your upper arms drive me berserk.
I like the way your elbows work.
On hinges β¦
I like your wrists, I like your glands,
I like the fingers on your hands.
I'd like to teach them how to count,
And certain things we might exchange,
Something familiar for something strange.
I'd like to give you just the right amount
And get some change.
I like it when you tilt your cheek up.
I like the way you not and hold a teacup.
I like your legs when you unwind them.
Even in trousers I don't mind them.
I like each softly-moulded kneecap.
I like the little crease behind them.
I'd always know, without a recap,
Where to find them.
I like the sculpture of your ears.
I like the way your profile disappears
Whenever you decide to turn and face me.
I'd like to cross two hemispheres
And have you chase me.
I'd like to smuggle you across frontiers
Or sail with you at night into Tangiers.
I'd like you to embrace me.
I'd like to see you ironing your skirt
And cancelling other dates.
I'd like to button up your shirt.
I like the way your chest inflates.
I'd like to soothe you when you're hurt
Or frightened senseless by invertebrates.
I'd like you even if you were malign
And had a yen for sudden homicide.
I'd let you put insecticide
Into my wine.
I'd even like you if you were Bride
Of Frankenstein
Or something ghoulish out of Mamoulian's
Jekyll and Hyde.
I'd even like you as my Julian
Or Norwich or Cathleen ni Houlihan.
How melodramatic
If you were something muttering in attics
Like Mrs Rochester or a student of Boolean
Mathematics.
You are the end of self-abuse.
You are the eternal feminine.
I'd like to find a good excuse
To call on you and find you in.
I'd like to put my hand beneath your chin,
And see you grin.
I'd like to taste your Charlotte Russe,
I'd like to feel my lips upon your skin
I'd like to make you reproduce.
I'd like you in my confidence.
I'd like to be your second look.
I'd like to let you try the French Defence
And mate you with my rook.
I'd like to be your preference
And hence
I'd like to be around when you unhook.
I'd like to be your only audience,
The final name in your appointment book,
Your future tense.
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John Fuller
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The human mother can suckle the child with her milk. But our beloved Mother Jesus can feed us with himself. This is what he does when he tenderly and graciously offers us the blessed sacrament, which is the precious food of true life. In mercy and grace he sustains us with all the sweet sacraments. This is what he meant when he said that he was the one that holy church preaches and teaches us. In other words, Christ the Mother is entwined with the wholeness of life which includes all the sacraments, all the virtues, all the virtues of the word-made-flesh, all the goodness that holy church ordains for our benefit. The human mother can tenderly lay the child on her breast, but our tender Mother Jesus can lead us directly into his own tender breast through his sweet broken-open side. Here, he reveals a glimpse of the godhead and some of the joys of paradise with the implicit promise of eternal bliss.
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Julian of Norwich
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Although she was a recluse, she was not entirely apart from the world. She lived sealed in a cottage joined to the church in the city of Norwich. The modern fiction is that an anchorite was walled into a tiny church alcove with barely room for a prie-dieu and hard bed. Julian would probably have had a suite of rooms as well as a walled garden. Solitaries were even allowed to have cattle and property. They also had guests. The life was simple with much time devoted to prayer and contemplation, but it was not the cruel torture we might imagine. A main road passed right outside her house and Julian gave spiritual direction and advice to the many people who sought her out. One of these was Margery Kempe, who while certainly not of Julianβs sanctity, has entered history for writing the first biography of women in English. Nor was Julian entirely alone within her cottage. She would have had a maid (we know the names of two of them). And she may have had pets.
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Julian of Norwich (All Will Be Well: 30 Days with Julian of Norwich (Great Spiritual Teachers))
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As we seek God it is his will that we do three things: first, that by his grace we apply ourselves seriously to the task of seeking him and not in a lethargic way, not weighed down by unnecessary heaviness and useless depression. Second, that to the end of our lives we resolutely wait for him, out of love for him, without grumbling or pulling against him, for this life is so short anyway. Third, that we trust him utterly out of complete faith in him. For he wants us to know that he will appear unexpectedly, bringing perfect happiness to all who love him.
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Mother Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love by Mother Julian of Norwich [Hodder & Stoughton, 2010] (Paperback) [Paperback])