Revelations of Divine Love

by Julian of Norwich

  7

  How our Lady, seeing the greatness of her Maker, thought herself the lowliest; and of the great drops of blood running from beneath the crown of thorns; and how what is most joyful to man is that God, the highest and the mightiest, is also the holiest and the most generous.

  And to teach us this, as I understand it, our Lord God showed our Lady Saint Mary at the same time; that is to say he showed her deep wisdom and faith as she beheld her Maker so great, so high, so strong and so good. Seeing the greatness and the nobility of God filled her with reverent awe, and she saw herself so small and so low, so simple and so poor in comparison with her Lord God, that this reverent awe made her feel very humble. And so this formed the foundation, from this she was filled with grace and every kind of virtue, surpassing any other created being.

  And all the time that God was showing in spiritual sight what I have just described, the bodily sight of the plentiful bleeding from Christ’s head remained. The great drops fell down from under the crown of thorns like pills,7 as though they had come out of the veins; and as they came out they were dark red, for the blood was very thick; and as it spread it was bright red; and when it reached the brows it vanished, and yet the bleeding continued until many things were seen and understood. The beauty and vividness of the blood are like nothing but itself. It is as plentiful as the drops of water which fall from the eaves8 after a heavy shower of rain, drops which fall so thickly that no human mind can number them. As for the roundness of the drops, they were like herring scales as they spread on the forehead. These three things occurred to me at the time: pills for roundness as the blood came out; herring scales as it spread on the forehead, for roundness; drops from the eaves, for innumerable plenty. This showing was alive and vivid, horrifying and awe-inspiring, sweet and lovely. And what comforted me most in the vision was that our God and Lord, who is so holy and awe-inspiring, is also so familiar and courteous. And this was what gave me most happiness and the strongest sense of spiritual safety. And to make this easier to understand he gave me this clear example: a majestic king or a great lord can show most respect for a poor servant if he treats him in a familiar way, especially if he does so personally, with real sincerity and a cheerful expression, both in private and in public. Then this poor man thinks, ‘Ah! How could this noble lord give me more respect or more pleasure than by treating me, who am so humble, with this marvellous friendliness? In truth, it gives me more joy and pleasure than if he gave me great gifts and behaved in a cold and distant manner.’ This human example was so powerfully shown, that a man’s heart could be ravished and he could be beside himself with joy at this great friendliness. This is the way that our Lord Jesus treats us; for truly, it seems to me that it is the greatest possible joy that he who is highest and mightiest, noblest and worthiest, is also the lowest and humblest, the most kind and friendly. And truly and certainly this marvellous joy will be made known to all of us when we see him. And this is what our Lord wants us to long for and believe, to rejoice and take pleasure in, to receive comfort and support from, as much as we can, until the time when we can see it for ourselves; for it seems to me that the greatest fullness of joy that we shall have is the marvellous courtesy and intimacy of the Father who made us, through our Lord Jesus Christ who is our brother and saviour. But no man can know this marvellous intimacy during his life here on earth, unless he has a special showing from our Lord, or he is inwardly filled with plentiful grace by the Holy Ghost. But faith and trust with love deserve the reward, and so it is gained through grace; for our life is grounded in faith and hope with love.

  The showing, made to whomever God may choose, plainly teaches the same thing as our faith,9 revealed and explained with many secret details which belong to it and which it is glorious to know. And when the showing, which is given at a moment in time, is hidden and past, then the faith lasts by the grace of the Holy Ghost until our life’s end. And thus what the showing reveals is nothing other than the faith, neither more nor less, as may be seen from the meaning our Lord conveys in it by the time it is completed.

  8

  A recapitulation of what has been said, and how it was shown to her and meant for everybody.

  And as long as I could see this sight of the plentiful bleeding from Christ’s head I could never stop saying these words, ‘Benedicite domine!’ From this showing I understood six things: the first is the signs of Christ’s blessed Passion and the plentiful shedding of his precious blood; the second is the Maiden who is his beloved mother; the third is the blessed Godhead that ever was, is and ever shall be, almighty, all wisdom, all love. The fourth is all that he has made; for I know well that heaven and earth and all that is made is vast and wide, fair and good, but it looked so small to me because I saw it in the presence of him that is Maker of all things; to a soul that sees the Maker of all, all that is made seems very small. The fifth thing I understood is that he made everything for love; the same love sustains everything, and shall do so for ever; the sixth is that God is everything that is good, it seems to me, and the goodness that is in everything is God. And all these our Lord showed me in the first vision, with time and space to contemplate it. And when the bodily vision stopped, the spiritual vision remained in my understanding. And I waited with reverent fear, rejoicing in what I saw. And as far as I dared, I longed to see more if it was his will, or else to see the same vision for longer.

  In all this I was much moved with love for my fellow Christians, wishing that they might see and know what I was seeing; I wanted it to comfort them, for the vision was shown for everyone. Then I said to those who were around me, ‘For me, today is the Day of Judgement.’ And I said this because I thought I was dying; for on the day that a man dies, he receives his eternal judgement, as I understand it. I said this because I wanted them to love God better, to remind them that life is short, as they might see by my example; for all this time I thought I was dying, and this made me feel wonder – and some sorrow, for I thought this vision was shown for those who were going to live. And what I say of myself, I am saying on behalf of all my fellow Christians, for I was taught in the spiritual showing of our Lord God that this is his purpose; and therefore I beg you all for God’s sake and advise you for your own advantage that you stop paying attention to the poor being to whom this vision was shown, and eagerly, attentively and humbly contemplate God, who in his gracious love and eternal goodness wanted the vision to be generally known to comfort us all; for it is God’s will that you should receive it with joy and pleasure as great as if Jesus had shown it to you all.

  9

  Of the humility of this woman, which always keeps her in the faith of Holy Church; and how he who loves his fellow Christian for the sake of God, loves everything.

  I am not good because of the showing unless I love God better; and if you love God better, it is meant more for you than for me. I am not saying this to the wise, for they know it well; but I am saying it to those of you who are ignorant, to support and comfort you: we all need support. Indeed I was not shown that God loved me better than the lowest soul that is in a state of grace, for I am sure that there are many who never had a showing or vision, but only the normal teaching of Holy Church, and who love God better than I do. For if I look solely at myself, I am really nothing; but as one of mankind in general, I am, I hope, in oneness of love with all my fellow Christians; for upon this oneness depends the life of all who shall be saved; for God is all that is good, as I see it, and God has made all that is made, and God loves all that he has made, and he who loves all his fellow Christians for God’s sake, loves all that is; for in those who shall be saved, all is included: that is to say, all that is made and the Maker of all; for in man is God, and God is in everything. And I hope by the grace of God that he who looks at it in this way will be truly taught and greatly comforted if he needs comfort. I speak of those who will be saved, for at this time God showed me no others.

  But I believe everything that Holy Church believes, preaches and teaches; for the f
aith of Holy Church which I had understood beforehand, and, I hope, by the grace of God, gladly followed and kept in my daily life, was continually before me, and I never wished or intended to receive anything which might be at variance with it. And with this intention I considered the showing as carefully as possible; and I saw it to be as one with the Church’s teaching as God intended.

  All this was shown in three ways: that is to say, by bodily sight, and by words formed in my understanding, and by spiritual sight. But I neither can nor may show the spiritual vision as openly or as fully as I would like to. But I trust that our Lord God almighty will out of his own goodness and love for you make you receive it more spiritually and more sweetly than I can or may tell it.

  10

  The second revelation is of the discolouring of Christ’s face, of our redemption, and the discolouring of the vernicle;10 and how God wants us to seek him eagerly, resting in him steadfastly and trusting him greatly.

  And after this I saw with my bodily sight in the face of Christ on the crucifix which hung before me, which I was looking at continuously, a part of his Passion: contempt and spitting, dirt and blows, and many lingering pains, more than I can tell, and frequent changes of colour. And once I saw how half his face, beginning at the ear, was covered in dry blood until it reached the middle of his face, and after that the other half was covered in the same way, and meanwhile the first part was as before. I saw this bodily, in distress and darkness, and I wished for better bodily sight to see it more clearly. And I was answered in my reason, ‘If God wants to show you more, he will be your light. You need no light but him.’ For I saw him and sought him; for we are now so blind and so unwise that we never seek God until out of his goodness he shows himself to us, and if he graciously lets us see something of himself, then we are moved by the same grace to seek with a great longing to see him more fully; and thus I saw him and I sought him, I had him and I wanted him. And it seems to me that this is, or should be, our usual way of proceeding.

  At one moment my consciousness was taken down on to the sea bed, and there I saw green hills and valleys, looking as though they were covered in moss, with seaweed and sand.11 Then I understood this: that if a man or a woman were under the wide waters, if he could see God (and God is constantly with us) he would be safe, body and soul, and be unharmed, and furthermore, he would have more joy and comfort than words can say. For God wants us to believe that we can see him constantly, even though we think we see very little of him, and if we believe this he makes us grow in grace continually; for he wants to be seen and he wants to be sought; he wants to be waited for and he wants to be trusted.

  This second showing was so humble and so small and so simple that my spirits were greatly troubled as I saw it, grieving and fearing and longing; and I doubted for some time whether it was a showing. And then several times our good Lord let me see more clearly so that I truly understood that it was indeed a showing. It was the form and likeness of the foul, dead covering which our fair, bright, blessed Lord bore when he took on human flesh for our sins. It made me think of the holy vernicle at Rome, on which he printed his own sacred face during his cruel Passion, willingly going to his death, and often changing colour. Many marvel how it may be, the brownness and blackness, the pitifulness and the leanness of this image, considering that he printed it with his sacred face, which is the fairness of heaven, the flower of earth and fruit of the Virgin’s womb. Then how could this image be so discoloured and so far from fair? I would like to say how, by the grace of God, I understand this. We know through our faith, and believe by the preaching and teaching of Holy Church, that the Holy Trinity made mankind in his image and in his likeness. In the same way we know that when man fell so deeply and so wretchedly through sin, the only help through whom man could be restored was he who made man. And he who made man for love, by that same love would restore man to the same blessed state, or to one more blessed. And just as we were made like the Trinity when we were first made, our Maker wanted us to be like Jesus Christ our Saviour, in heaven without end, by the miracle of our remaking. Then between these two he wanted, loving and honouring man, to make himself as much like man in this mortal life, in our vileness and our wretchedness, as a man without guilt might be. So this means what was said before: it was the image and likeness of our vile, black, mortal covering which hid our fair, bright, blessed Lord.

  But I can boldly say with great confidence, and we ought to believe, that never was man so fair as he until the time his fair colour was changed by his trouble and sorrow and his suffering and final agony. This is spoken of in the eighth revelation, where more is said about the same image. And when I mentioned the vernicle in Rome, I mean that it moves with various changes of colour and expression, sometimes looking more cheerful and animated, sometimes more wretched and deathly, as may be seen in the eighth revelation.

  And this vision instructed my understanding that it pleases God a great deal if the soul never ceases to search; for the soul can do no more than seek, suffer and trust, and souls that do this are moved by the Holy Ghost; and the splendour of having found God comes by his special grace when it is his will. Seeking with faith, hope and love pleases our Lord, and finding pleases the soul and fills it with joy. And thus my understanding was taught that seeking is as good as finding for the time that our soul is allowed to labour. It is God’s wish that we seek to behold him, for then he will graciously show himself to us when he wills. And God himself will teach how a soul may behold him, and that most honours him and benefits you, leading you to receive the greatest humility and strength by means of the grace and guidance of the Holy Ghost; for if a soul attaches itself solely to God with true trust, either by seeking him or by beholding him, it is honouring him as much as possible, it seems to me.

  There are two actions that may be seen in this vision: one is seeking, the other is beholding. The seeking is within everyone’s reach; everyone may have it by God’s grace, and ought to have it by the Church’s wisdom and teaching. It is God’s wish that we should observe three things in our seeking: the first is that our search should be committed and diligent, with no laziness, as it may be through his grace, glad and cheerful without unreasonable depression and unprofitable misery. The second is that for his love we await him steadfastly, without grumbling and struggling against him, until our life’s end, for life lasts only a short while. The third is that we should trust him utterly with sure and certain faith, for that is what he wishes. We know that he will appear suddenly and joyfully to all those that love him; for he works secretly, and he wishes to be perceived, and his appearance will be very sudden; and he wants us to trust him, for he is most kind and approachable – blessed may he be!

  11

  The third revelation, how God does everything except sin, never changing his eternal purpose, for he has made everything in the perfection of excellence.

  And after this I saw God in an instant,12 that is to say, in my understanding, and in seeing this I saw that he is in everything. I looked attentively, seeing and recognizing what I observed with quiet awe, and I thought, ‘What is sin?’ For I saw truly that God does everything, no matter how small. And I saw that truly nothing happens by accident or luck, but everything by God’s wise providence. If it seems to be accident or luck from our point of view, our blindness and lack of foreknowledge is the cause; for matters that have been in God’s foreseeing wisdom since before time began (and which he righteously and gloriously and continually brings to the best conclusion as they happen) befall us suddenly, all unawares; and so in our blindness and ignorance we say that this is accident or luck, but to our Lord God it is not so. Therefore I was obliged to accept that everything which is done is well done, because our Lord God does everything; for in that instant the actions of human beings were not shown, but only those of God within human beings; for he is in the centre of everything and he does everything, and I was sure he never sins. And here I saw that sin is really not something which is done, for in all this vision no si
n appeared. So I marvelled no longer about this but looked at our Lord to see what he would show. And thus, so far as was possible at that time, the righteousness of God’s actions was shown to the soul. Righteousness has two admirable properties: it is just and it is complete13 (and so are all the works of our Lord God), and it does not need the intervention of either mercy or grace, for it is completely righteous, and lacks nothing. (At another time God gave me a vision of naked sin, as I shall recount later,14 revealing his use of the operation of mercy and grace.)

  And this vision was shown to my understanding because our Lord wants the soul to be moved to consider himself and all his works taken together; for they are wholly good, and all his actions are sweet and comforting and bring great comfort to the soul that turns from considering the blind judgement of man to the fair, sweet judgement of our Lord God; for a man considers some deeds well done and some deeds evil, but our Lord does not consider them in the same way; for as everything which naturally exists is of God’s making, so everything which is appropriately done is of God’s doing; for it is easy to understand that the best deed is well done; and the lowest deed is done as well as the best and the highest; and all are done appropriately and in the order that our Lord has ordained since before time began, for there is no doer but he. I saw quite certainly that he never changes his purpose in anything, nor ever will, for ever; for nothing has been unknown to him in his just ordinances since before time began, and therefore everything was set in the order in which it would remain for ever before anything was made; and nothing of any kind will fail to conform to this; for he made everything in the perfection of excellence; and therefore the Holy Trinity is always satisfied with all his works.