Difference between revisions of "Saint Julian of Norwich" - New World Encyclopedia

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'''Julian of Norwich''' (c. November 8, 1342 – c. 1416) is considered to be one of the greatest [[England|English]] [[mysticism|mystic]]s.  Little is known of her life aside from her writings.  Even her name is uncertain, the name "Julian" coming from the [[Church of St Julian]] in [[Norwich]], where she occupied a cell adjoining the church as an [[anchorite|anchoress]].  At the age of thirty, suffering from a severe illness and believing she was on her deathbed, Julian had a series of intense visions.  (They ended by the time she overcame her illness on May 13, 1373.)<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/women/article-9044118 "Julian of Norwich"], ''Encyclopedia Britannica Profiles'' in  Encyclopedia Britannica, June 16, 2006.</ref> These visions would twenty years later be the source of her major work, called ''Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love'' (circa 1393).  This is believed to be the first book written by a woman in the [[English language]]<ref>Edmund Colledge, O.S.A. and James Walsh, (1978); and Flinders, Carol Lee, (1993).</ref> Julian became well known throughout England as a spiritual authority: [[Margery Kempe]] mentions going to Norwich to speak with Julian<ref>Staley, Lynn ed. ''The Book of Margery Kempe, Book I, Part I'', TEAMS Middle English Texts, (1996),  [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/kemp1frm.htm]</ref>.
+
'''Julian of Norwich''' (c. November 8, 1342 – c. 1416) is considered to be one of the greatest [[England|English]] [[mysticism|mystic]]s.  Little is known of her life aside from her writings.  Even her name is uncertain, the name "Julian" coming from the [[Church of St Julian]] in [[Norwich]], where she occupied a cell adjoining the church as an [[anchorite|anchoress]].  At the age of thirty, suffering from a severe illness and believing she was on her deathbed, Julian had a series of intense visions.  (They ended by the time she overcame her illness on May 13, 1373.) <ref>[http://www.britannica.com/women/article-9044118 "Julian of Norwich"], ''Encyclopedia Britannica Profiles'' in  Encyclopedia Britannica, June 16, 2006.</ref> These visions would twenty years later be the source of her major work, called ''Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love'' (circa 1393).  This is believed to be the first book written by a woman in the [[English language]]<ref>Edmund Colledge, O.S.A. and James Walsh, (1978); and Flinders, Carol Lee, (1993).</ref> Julian became well known throughout England as a spiritual authority: [[Margery Kempe]] mentions going to Norwich to speak with Julian.<ref>Staley, Lynn ed. ''The Book of Margery Kempe, Book I, Part I'', TEAMS Middle English Texts, (1996),  [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/kemp1frm.htm]</ref>
  
 
==Biography==
 
==Biography==
Nothing is known of Julian before she entered the anchorage, not even her name. She probably took the name Julian from the church she entered.  
+
Nothing is known of Julian before she entered the anchorage, not even her name. She probably took the name Julian from the church she entered. She could have been a Benedictine nun before she became an anchoress or she could have known the local [[Beguines]] who lived nearby, unfortunately there are no records.
  
She lived in a tumultuous time, the Black Death was raging in Europe, the Peasants Revolt occurred, Piers Plowman and Wat Tyler, when the old social patterns were breaking down
+
She lived in a tumultuous time, the Black Death was raging in Europe, the first plague occurred when she was only six years old. The road beside Saint Julian's Church was used to remove the bodies of the dead from subsequent plagues, she probably heard the carts rumble by. The Hundred Years' War between England and France had begun in 1337 and the Great Schism in 1377 with two popes or "two churches" with each pope suspecting the other of being the Antichrist; famine and cattle disease contributed to the forces that caused the Peasants' Revolt, and John Wycliff and his followers, the Lollards, were declared heretics, put to death, and some were burned and buried near Julian's church cell. She was well aware of the suffering of the time.
 +
 
 +
Mystics were well respected as a source of wisdom and truth in the Middle Ages. Their visions were considered a source of reality unlike current thinking. They believed that God would express himself through the mystical messages of people like Julian of Norwich.<ref>Erikson, Carolly (1976) pg. 214.</ref>
 +
 
 +
At age thirty and a half Julian experienced a serious illness which she was not expected to survive. It was in this illness that she had her visions about which she wrote a short outline of her "showings" in twenty five chapter. Twenty years later she wrote a much longer version with many more details and explanations in eighty six chapters. In this second version she removed the original disclaimer that she was just "a woman, weak and frail." In the second version, she is now a confident counselor with time for reflection, contemplation and discourse with God as to their meaning. She has realized that her visions were not just for her own edification but for all people to learn how to seek God.
 +
 
 +
In her desire to find union in God's love, she had asked God for three graces, the first was "recollection of the passion", to experience the crucifixion of Jesus as if she had been a witness, the second, to experience an illness so severe that everyone would think she was dying and to have it occur at age thirty, the age of Christ when he was crucified. By experiencing the pains and terrors of such a serious illness she could live more fully with God. The third grace was for three wounds. "The wound of contrition, the wound of compassion and the wound of longing with my will for God."<ref>Flinders, Carol Lee (1992) pg. 86.</ref>
 +
 
 +
Thus, she believed that her request for three graces of God led to her illness and the visions which transformed her life.
  
 
==Julian's theology==
 
==Julian's theology==
 +
Julian's theology is unique in three aspects: her definition of sin, forgiveness and the motherhood of God. Sin is... Added to these points, Julian and God talked, she had a personal and reciprocal relationship with God which stands as an example for others in their striving to reach him.
 +
 
Although she lived in a time of turmoil, Julian's theology was optimistic, speaking of God's love in terms of joy and compassion as opposed to law and duty. For Julian, suffering was not a punishment that [[God]] inflicted, but was a means he used to draw us closer to himself. This was different from the prevailing views of her time, which typically saw afflictions like the [[Black Death|Plague]] as divine punishment. Because of her intimations that beyond the reality of [[hell|hell-fire]] is yet a greater mystery of God's love.  
 
Although she lived in a time of turmoil, Julian's theology was optimistic, speaking of God's love in terms of joy and compassion as opposed to law and duty. For Julian, suffering was not a punishment that [[God]] inflicted, but was a means he used to draw us closer to himself. This was different from the prevailing views of her time, which typically saw afflictions like the [[Black Death|Plague]] as divine punishment. Because of her intimations that beyond the reality of [[hell|hell-fire]] is yet a greater mystery of God's love.  
  
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[[Image:Julian-of-Norwich-statue.jpg|thumb|]]
 
[[Image:Julian-of-Norwich-statue.jpg|thumb|]]
In her first vision concerning the hazelnut, she realized her relationship to God:
 
 
{{cquote|In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that he loves it. And the third, that God keeps it. But what is this to me? Truly, the Creator, the Keeper, the Lover. For until I am substantially owned to him, I may never have full rest nor true bliss. That is to say, until I be so fastened to Him that there is nothing that is made between my God and me.|20px|}}
 
  
 
Her great saying, "Sin is behovely, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well," reflects this theology. It is also one of the most individually famous lines in all of Catholic theological writing, and certainly one of the most well-known phrases of the literature of her era. It was quoted in [[T.S. Eliot]]'s "[[Little Gidding]]," the fourth of his ''[[Four Quartets]]''.
 
Her great saying, "Sin is behovely, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well," reflects this theology. It is also one of the most individually famous lines in all of Catholic theological writing, and certainly one of the most well-known phrases of the literature of her era. It was quoted in [[T.S. Eliot]]'s "[[Little Gidding]]," the fourth of his ''[[Four Quartets]]''.
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* 15. Our coming up above: resurrection
 
* 15. Our coming up above: resurrection
 
* 16. Christ dwells in the souls of those who love him
 
* 16. Christ dwells in the souls of those who love him
 +
 +
In her first vision concerning the hazelnut, she realized her calling to God:
 +
 +
{{cquote|In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that he loves it. And the third, that God keeps it. But what is this to me? Truly, the Creator, the Keeper, the Lover. For until I am substantially owned to him, I may never have full rest nor true bliss. That is to say, until I be so fastened to Him that there is nothing that is made between my God and me.|20px|}}
  
 
==Legacy==
 
==Legacy==

Revision as of 05:55, 22 December 2007

Julian of Norwich
Born November 8, 1342
Died c. 1416
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church,
Anglican Communion,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Major shrine Church of St Julian in Norwich
Feast Roman Catholic Church, May 13
Anglican Communion and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, May 8

Julian of Norwich (c. November 8, 1342 – c. 1416) is considered to be one of the greatest English mystics. Little is known of her life aside from her writings. Even her name is uncertain, the name "Julian" coming from the Church of St Julian in Norwich, where she occupied a cell adjoining the church as an anchoress. At the age of thirty, suffering from a severe illness and believing she was on her deathbed, Julian had a series of intense visions. (They ended by the time she overcame her illness on May 13, 1373.) [1] These visions would twenty years later be the source of her major work, called Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love (circa 1393). This is believed to be the first book written by a woman in the English language[2] Julian became well known throughout England as a spiritual authority: Margery Kempe mentions going to Norwich to speak with Julian.[3]

Biography

Nothing is known of Julian before she entered the anchorage, not even her name. She probably took the name Julian from the church she entered. She could have been a Benedictine nun before she became an anchoress or she could have known the local Beguines who lived nearby, unfortunately there are no records.

She lived in a tumultuous time, the Black Death was raging in Europe, the first plague occurred when she was only six years old. The road beside Saint Julian's Church was used to remove the bodies of the dead from subsequent plagues, she probably heard the carts rumble by. The Hundred Years' War between England and France had begun in 1337 and the Great Schism in 1377 with two popes or "two churches" with each pope suspecting the other of being the Antichrist; famine and cattle disease contributed to the forces that caused the Peasants' Revolt, and John Wycliff and his followers, the Lollards, were declared heretics, put to death, and some were burned and buried near Julian's church cell. She was well aware of the suffering of the time.

Mystics were well respected as a source of wisdom and truth in the Middle Ages. Their visions were considered a source of reality unlike current thinking. They believed that God would express himself through the mystical messages of people like Julian of Norwich.[4]

At age thirty and a half Julian experienced a serious illness which she was not expected to survive. It was in this illness that she had her visions about which she wrote a short outline of her "showings" in twenty five chapter. Twenty years later she wrote a much longer version with many more details and explanations in eighty six chapters. In this second version she removed the original disclaimer that she was just "a woman, weak and frail." In the second version, she is now a confident counselor with time for reflection, contemplation and discourse with God as to their meaning. She has realized that her visions were not just for her own edification but for all people to learn how to seek God.

In her desire to find union in God's love, she had asked God for three graces, the first was "recollection of the passion", to experience the crucifixion of Jesus as if she had been a witness, the second, to experience an illness so severe that everyone would think she was dying and to have it occur at age thirty, the age of Christ when he was crucified. By experiencing the pains and terrors of such a serious illness she could live more fully with God. The third grace was for three wounds. "The wound of contrition, the wound of compassion and the wound of longing with my will for God."[5]

Thus, she believed that her request for three graces of God led to her illness and the visions which transformed her life.

Julian's theology

Julian's theology is unique in three aspects: her definition of sin, forgiveness and the motherhood of God. Sin is... Added to these points, Julian and God talked, she had a personal and reciprocal relationship with God which stands as an example for others in their striving to reach him.

Although she lived in a time of turmoil, Julian's theology was optimistic, speaking of God's love in terms of joy and compassion as opposed to law and duty. For Julian, suffering was not a punishment that God inflicted, but was a means he used to draw us closer to himself. This was different from the prevailing views of her time, which typically saw afflictions like the Plague as divine punishment. Because of her intimations that beyond the reality of hell-fire is yet a greater mystery of God's love.

She said that God is true rest for human beings when he is known and that human beings are drawn to seek him, she wrote:

It is God's will that we have three things in our seeking of his gift. The first is, that we seek willingly and busily without sloth, as it may be with his grace gladly and merrily, without unskilful heaviness and vain sorrow. The second, that we abide with him steadfastly for his love, without complaining and striving against him to our lives' end, for it shall last only a while. The third is that we trust in him mightily with a fully sure faith, for it is his will that we shall know that he will appear suddenly and blessed fully to all his lovers, for his working is secret, and it will be perceived, and his appearing shall be swift and sudden, and he will be believed, for he is very able, humble and courteous, blessed must he be.
Julian-of-Norwich-statue.jpg

Her great saying, "Sin is behovely, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well," reflects this theology. It is also one of the most individually famous lines in all of Catholic theological writing, and certainly one of the most well-known phrases of the literature of her era. It was quoted in T.S. Eliot's "Little Gidding," the fourth of his Four Quartets.

The sixteen showings

The sixteen revelations are:

  • 1. The Crown of Thorns and God's love for all that is made — the hazelnut
  • 2. The face of Jesus on the Cross
  • 3. All creation is in God's wise care
  • 4. The scourging of Jesus, and the spilling of his blood
  • 5. The evil one defeated by the cross
  • 6. God's gifts of thanks to those who serve him
  • 7. God comforts those whether in good times or bad
  • 8. The death of Christ
  • 9. The love for humanity that brought Christ to his Passion fills the heavens
  • 10. The broken heart of Jesus for love of the world
  • 11. Mary, mother of Jesus
  • 12. The glory of Christ
  • 13. The great deed of God's making amends for our sin, which prevents us, and that he will make all things well
  • 14. God is the ground of our beseeching: he inspires us to pray and gives us what is needful
  • 15. Our coming up above: resurrection
  • 16. Christ dwells in the souls of those who love him

In her first vision concerning the hazelnut, she realized her calling to God:

In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that he loves it. And the third, that God keeps it. But what is this to me? Truly, the Creator, the Keeper, the Lover. For until I am substantially owned to him, I may never have full rest nor true bliss. That is to say, until I be so fastened to Him that there is nothing that is made between my God and me.

Legacy

Julian's positive message is beloved by many and held in high esteem by Catholics and other Christians. Although she was never beatified she is called "Saint" Julian of Norwich.

She is commemorated by the Roman Catholic Church on May 13, and by both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as a renewer of the Church and the Anglican Church on May 8.

St. Julian's Church at Norwich

A modern statue of her has been added to the facade of the Anglican Norwich Cathedral.

The song "Julian of Norwich" by Sydney Carter commemorates her optimistic philosophy.

Works

  • Revelations of Divine Love

Notes

  1. "Julian of Norwich", Encyclopedia Britannica Profiles in Encyclopedia Britannica, June 16, 2006.
  2. Edmund Colledge, O.S.A. and James Walsh, (1978); and Flinders, Carol Lee, (1993).
  3. Staley, Lynn ed. The Book of Margery Kempe, Book I, Part I, TEAMS Middle English Texts, (1996), [1]
  4. Erikson, Carolly (1976) pg. 214.
  5. Flinders, Carol Lee (1992) pg. 86.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Abbott, Christopher. Julian of Norwich autobiography and theology. Woodbridge, Suffolk : D.S. Brewer, 1999. ISBN 9780585177564
  • Baker, Denise Nowakowski. Julian of Norwich's Showings : from vision to book. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1994. ISBN 9780691036311
  • Colledge, Edmund and James Walsh, ed. Julian of Norwich : Showings, New York : Paulist Press, 1978. ISBN 9780809120918
  • Flinders, Carol Lee. Enduring Grace : Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics, HarperCollins, 1993. ISBN 0062502840
  • Jantzen, Grace. Julian of Norwich : mystic and theologian. New York : Paulist Press, 1988. ISBN 780809129928
  • McEntire, Sandra J. Julian of Norwich : a book of essays. New York : Garland Pub., 1998. ISBN 9780815325291
  • Magill, Kevin J. Julian of Norwich mystic or visionary? London ; New York : Routledge, 2006. ISBN 9780203008270
  • Wilson, Katharina M. Medieval women writers. Athens, Ga. : Univ of Georgia Pr, 1984. ISBN 9780820306407

External links

Retrieved December 21, 2007.

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