Julian of Norwich (c. 1343 to after 1416) lived through times troubled by plague and violence. And yet, in her writings she offered a spiritual vision full of reassurance and benevolence.
Little is known of Julian’s early life apart from what she reveals in her own work. She seems to have received a basic education. Her command of Latin was rudimentary at best. Many hypotheses have been suggested. Did she join a religious order early in life? Or was she a mother who lost her family to the plague? None of these can be confirmed.
What is certain, however, is that in 1373, when she was thirty, Julian fell gravely ill. Despite her mother’s care, it soon appeared that she was dying and she received the last rites. Yet Julian survived.
As she lay between life and death, she experienced a series of sixteen divine revelations in which Christ and the Virgin Mary appeared to her. In one of these visions, Julian saw the devil and laughed at him, an image that reflects her optimistic and resilient nature.
At the age of forty three, Julian took a radical step and became an anchoress. These recluses lived lives of prayer and devotion in austere conditions. Julian’s cell was probably located on the north side of the Church of Saint Julian on King’s Street in Norwich.
Anchoresses lived in enclosed cells attached to religious edifices. They were officially considered dead to the world. The last rites were read for them, and the door of their cell was then sealed up.
These recluses had limited contact with the outside world, but they were not completely cut off. They had a servant to attend to their needs and could speak to visitors through their windows. To keep rodents away, they also kept a cat, which is why Julian is often associated with one in modern imagery.
Anchoresses were valued members of their communities, as they prayed for the spiritual welfare of others. Julian seems to have been especially known as a spiritual advisor. In keeping with her optimistic nature, she probably offered words of comfort and reassurance.
The mystic Margery Kempe mentions in her book that she visited Julian to seek advice about her own visions. This shows that Julian’s reputation extended beyond her own town.
As a recluse, Julian was free to focus entirely on her relationship with God. She could write, pray and meditate without the distractions of worldly life.
Revelations of divine love
Julian expressed her deeply personal and original spiritual vision in Revelations of Divine Love. Two versions survive, a short text and a longer one written later.
Julian lived through plagues, revolts and the Hundred Years’ War. Yet none of these events appear in her writing. Instead, her work conveys a sense of inner calm and serenity.
She reflects on the nature of God, the necessity of sin and the meaning of life in a world filled with suffering. Her vision of divine love presents God as both father and mother. Divine love is deeply maternal, unconditional and filled with mercy, like that of a mother who forgives everything.
“I understand three ways of contemplating motherhood in God. The first is the foundation of our nature's creation; the second is his taking of our nature, where the motherhood of grace begins; the third is the motherhood of work. And in that, by the same grace, everything is penetrated in length and breadth, in height and in depth without end; and it is all one love.”
Another central theme in Julian’s work is resilience and inner strength. As she writes, “You shall not be overcome.”
As for the origin of sin, she sees it as part of God’s long term plan. Sin brings suffering, but it is only temporary, and it ultimately reveals God’s patience and compassion. Her optimism is perhaps best captured in her most famous words:
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
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Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love
Kempe Margery, The book of Margery Kempe
Mark Joshua J. , “Julian of Norwich”
Ramirez Janina, Julian of Norwich: A Very Brief History
