St Julian lived in an age of saints and devotion to Mary, something which evangelicals will recoil from. ‘We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose’ – Romans 8:28 Her greatest revelation could be summed up by St Paul’s letter to the Romans. Sin will produce grace and from grace, forgiveness. One of the most beautiful revelations is: “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.” Somehow the mystery of suffering will be unveiled and all manner of beauty shall be revealed in Christ, through all our pain, sin and sickness. In her revelations she struggles with questions of faith, pain, heaven and hell, finding answers from the voice of Jesus Himself. ‘It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it and so everything has its beginning by the love of God’ – Modern translation

and so hath all thyng his begynning by þe loue of god’ – Amherst Manuscript, Westminster Cathedral Treasury ‘It lastyth & euer shall for god louyth it. The Westminster Cathedral Manuscript and the Short Text Amherst Manuscript in the British Library provides a fascinating insight into the development of the English language. Her book, known today as Revelations of Divine Love is the first book by a woman in the English language.

And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in You alone I have everything.” “God, of your goodness, give Me Yourself,” she cried, “You are enough for me and anything less I could ask for would not do you full honour. Secluding herself in prayer, she fell ill in 1373 and began recovering, receiving many visions, or revelations from God. “Prayer is a new, gracious, lasting will of the soul united and fast-bound to the will of God by the precious and mysterious working of the Holy Ghost,” she declared.īorn in 1343, she committed her life to spiritual devotions, living in a room with one window facing into the church to view services, another facing outside to minister to those in need and just one other. Her message was one of the Divine and overflowing love of Christ for His people and our need to embrace all He is, and all we can be in Christ. “The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything” – Julian of Norwich In her estrangement from the world, she found God’s abiding presence. “God loved us before He made us and His love has never diminished and never shall.” These are the words of Julian of Norwich, a woman living in self-imposed house arrest – permanent social distancing – in a single cell attached to the Church of St Julian, in Norwich, England. Out of the abundance of God’s goodness, His love will flow into your soul. Everything you need is found in Christ and all your heart truly desires, is found in Christ.

Julian of norwich short text