Text taken from the Alternative Service book for evening prayer and comes from psalm 18; “I will love thee, Oh Lord my strength, the Lord is my strong rock and my defence”.
On May 8th the church would have remembered Lady Julian of Norwich, or as is printed in the new calendar where she is simply noted as Julian of Norwich, mystic, 1417.
Very little is actually known about her, especially with regard to her childhood and background. She was born in 1342 and on May 8th1375 (aged 33) when she was seriously ill she received a number of visions concerning the Holy Trinity and the Passion of our Lord. She wrote down her account of these visions and probably and maybe as a consequence of, around the same time she devoted herself to the solitary life of an anchoress or hermit, living in a small cell attached to the church of St Julian in Norwich.
Her writings were completed by 1393 (l8 years later) and are known today throughout the Christian world as “Revelations of Divine love”.
She is believed to have died about 1417 (making her 75) but may well have lived longer. No trace of her burial remains. “You shall soon forget me” she wrote, and, “do so that I shall not hinder you, and also, Jesus is teacher of all”. However the first of these quotes proved wrong as she is not forgotten after all these centuries and her work and her teachings continue today.
A selection of her writings entitled “Enfolded in Love” (I have not read this) rapidly became a best seller introducing thousands of people to one of the most wonderful of Christian voices. All over the world scholarly and devotional studies have appeared and for some people Julian has become like a patron Saint. Julian groups, and thousands of pilgrims to her shrine in Norwich, testify to the extraordinary influence of this woman writer of so long ago. “How can this be?” is the question that springs to mind.
The answer is that her thoughts appear to chime in with many of those of our own time. Her age was similar in many ways to our own; new ideas challenging old customs and thinking. For example today, the idea of women Bishops challenges many traditionalist views. Religion in her day was in disarray and divided in opinion against itself, there were many fears and questions for the future. Julian faced all these with complete assurance in the love of God; as should we all. The Lord did not say “you shall not be afflicted” or “you shall not be tossed in the tempest of life” but he did say “You shall overcome” and that is the anchor that we too can claim and cling to in times of trial. “You shall not be overcome”. Christ is our rock and our foundation on which we build enduring faith.
Julian’s ideas are impossible to summarise in a few lines but Julian had a deep and abiding sense of the centrality of God (at all times and in all places, even and especially in adversity). God remains our maker and keeper, our everlasting love, our joy, and ultimately our bliss. So we should seek God with faith and hope and love.
For Julian, God is the ground of all that exists, its maker, sustainer, and redeemer. Nothing is outside of his creative will.
And so I leave you with these few and famous lines from Julian of Norwich, that “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all shall be very well”. Amen.
Jan Walker. Reader