I think that Julian of Norwich is with Newman, the greatest English theologian”. In the old days I used to be crazy about St John of the Cross, but I would not exchange him for Julian if you gave me the world, and the Indies, and all the Spanish mystics rolled up in one bundle. and she gets greater and greater in my eyes as I grow older. Says Merton: “Julian is without doubt one of the most wonderful of all Christian voices. So inspiring are Julian’s insights, that the Trappist monk Thomas Merton, made this astonishing statement about her: For I saw no anger in God, in short or in long term” She goes on to say that God’s love is compassionate and never wrathful. She states, “For I saw full well that whenever our Lord appears, peace reigns, and anger has no place. God, says Julian, is loving, gentle and kind, which is the opposite of angry. More importantly, Julian is one of the few medieval writers who says it is absolutely impossible that God could ever be angry at us, for as she says, “anger and friendship are two opposites”. Why does Julian appeal to us? One reason is that in her writings she brings refreshing optimism, and new insights into the nature of God, particularly the warmth, closeness, and tenderness of God. THE WARMTH, CLOSENESS, AND TENDERNESS OF GOD It is the first book in the English language known to have been written by a women. And many years later Julian wrote a longer text outlining these visions and spiritual revelations during her illness, entitled Revelations of Divine Love. After her illness she subsequently wrote a short text about her unexpected recovery. In this near death state she experienced a series of 16 visions gazing at a crucifix held up by the priest. A parish priest was called to give her the last rites, and it is recorded that her mother closed her eyelids in anticipation of her imminent death. In 1373 she contacted the virus at 31 years of age, and came close to death. She was born in Norwich in 1342, and was probably schooled in a Benedictine monastery. We only know a little about Julian’s early life in this dangerous environment. The plague was particularly disastrous in 1346-1353, but returned time and time again through the 1300’s. Individuals usually only lived 23 days between contact and death. The disease was carried by fleas and rats, and passed on from person to person.This devastating pandemic wiped out many towns, cities, hospitals and monasteries.
It destroyed a higher proportion of the population than any other single historical event. The Black Death, a viral pandemic in England and Europe in the 1300’s, killed 50 million people, 60 percent of the population, and it is regarded as the greatest catastrophe in recorded history.
Statue of Julian of Norwich, Norwich Cathedral, by David Holgate FSDC
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