Revelations of Divine Love

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 Revelations of Divine Love, by Julian of Norwich

In 1373, a 30-year-old nun was dying of an illness.  Instead of dying, she had a series of visions and got well.  Over the next 15 years or so, she composed two narratives of the visions she had seen -- a short version, and a long version containing everything she felt like she'd learned about her revelations since.  Julian of Norwich was an anchoress attached to -- surprise -- Norwich cathedral and she became quite well known.  Margery Kempe visited her, which means two of the earliest women writers we have in English knew each other. 

These visions were about the Crucifixion and about God's infinite love for His creations.  Here are a few of my favorite bits, some of which are very well-known:

 'It is true that sin is the cause of all suffering, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.'

'Since I have set right what was the greatest harm, it is my will that you should know by this that I shall set right all that is less harmful.'

'Pray with all your heart, even if it seems to give you no pleasure, because it is helpful, even though you may not feel it.  Pray with all your heart, even though you may feel nothing, thought you may see nothing -- yes, even though you may think you cannot.  For in dryness and in barrenness, in sickness and in weakness, then your prayers are most pleasing to me, even though it seems to you that they give you almost no pleasure.And so it is in my sight with all your faithful prayers.'

And these words, 'You shall not be overcome,' were said very distinctly and very powerfully for assurance and comfort against all the tribulations that may come.  He did not say, 'You shall not be perturbed, you shall not be troubled, you shall not be distressed,' but he said, 'You shall not be overcome.'  God wants us to pay attention to these words and always to be trusting strongly and surely in good times and bad, for he loves us and is pleased with us, and so he wishes us to love him, and be pleased with him, and strongly trust in him, and all shall be well.

Glad I finally got around to this one; I should have done it years ago.

Comments

  1. Jenny @ Reading the EndJanuary 22, 2024 at 5:52 PM

    Oh, I am always happy to see anyone reading this book. I love mystics in general because they're just so darn weird and I am HERE for it -- but on a personal note, reading this book helped to steady me in my faith at a time when I wasn't sure I could carry on being Catholic while being so acutely critical of the Church. Various of the ways that Julian writes about her experience of God were so resonant with mine, and she just helped me see a path for what it could look like for ME to be Catholic as an adult. I love her. I wear a necklace every day with her "all shall be well" quote on it, and it's my comforting little talisman.

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2024 at 11:25 AM

      Thanks so much for saying so, Jenny! I feel you on the 'carrying on in a very imperfect church' thing. I love the idea of your necklace; I've been thinking of doing an embroidery. That quotation has been a....mental talisman? for me for a long time.

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  2. Cleo @ Classical CarouselJanuary 29, 2024 at 11:00 PM

    Oh my! I had this one many spins ago but never got to it. In my defence, I lost the book but now I've found it again so no excuses. I'm glad SOMEONE read it, lol!

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