The Canon / Foundational / Christian Mysticism
Foundational · c.1395
Revelations of Divine Love
Christian Mysticism (English)Revelations of Divine Love records the sixteen visions, or "shewings," of the Passion of Christ and of divine love that Julian of Norwich received in 1373 while gravely ill. Its central claim is that reality is grounded in love: pressed by the problem of sin and suffering, Julian receives the assurance that "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."
The book is the fruit of some twenty years of contemplative reflection on those visions, written first in a short text and later in an expanded one. Its method is the sustained inward pondering of received experience, and from this emerges the striking image of the motherhood of God, finding maternal tenderness within the divine nature itself, alongside the sense of existence as held and "enfolded" in love.
The earliest surviving book in English known to have been written by a woman, it offers one of the Christian tradition's most tender visions of an underlying benevolence at the heart of things. Its trust in present assurance over future dread makes it a quietly influential voice for an inwardly grounded peace.
In its words
It behoved that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
He is our clothing that for love wrappeth us, claspeth us, and all encloseth us for tender love, that He may never leave us; being to us all-thing that is good, as to mine understanding.
God, of Thy Goodness, give me Thyself: for Thou art enough to me, and I may nothing ask that is less that may be full worship to Thee; and if I ask anything that is less, ever me wanteth,—but only in Thee I have all.
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.
For a soul that only fasteneth it[self] on to God with very trust, either by seeking or in beholding, it is the most worship that it may do to Him, as to my sight.
God willeth that we take heed to these words, and that we be ever strong in sure trust, in weal and woe. For He loveth and enjoyeth us, and so willeth He that we love and enjoy Him and mightily trust in Him; and all shall be well.
Wouldst thou learn thy Lord's meaning in this thing? Learn it well: Love was His meaning. Who shewed it thee? Love. What shewed He thee? Love. Wherefore shewed it He? For Love.
I saw that He is to us everything that is good and comfortable for us.
Practices it teaches
Beholding — letting beseeching fall still into the loving gaze on God
"Beholding" is Julian of Norwich's name for the receptive, wordless phase of prayer in which petition quiets and the soul simply rests its inner gaze on God's love.
The Hazelnut — seeing all that is made, held in being by love
The Hazelnut is Julian of Norwich's contemplation of contingency and sustaining love, drawn from her first shewing.
All Shall Be Well — meeting fear with a revealed assurance of God's goodness
This is the contemplative use of Julian of Norwich's best-known revealed words as a trust-anchor against fear and trouble.
Prayer that Ones the Soul — praying inwardly even when you feel nothing
This is Julian of Norwich's teaching on faithful prayer through dryness — continuing to pray inwardly even when it brings no feeling, sweetness, or sense of being heard, trusting that it works regardless.
Lineage
The author
Julian of NorwichDivine love — 'all shall be well' and the motherhood of God
Full voice →
Key terms
Kindred books