Julian of Norwich

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint Julian of Norwich
Born	November 8, 1342
Died	c. 1416<tr><td>Venerated in</td> <td>Roman Catholic Church Anglican</td></tr><tr><td>Major shrine</td> <td>Church of St. Julian in Norwich</td></tr>
Feast	Roman Catholic Church, May 13 Anglican, May 8
Image:Gloriole.svg Saints Portal

Julian of Norwich (c. November 8, 1342 – c. 1416) is considered to be one of the greatest English mystics. Little is known of her life aside from her writings. Even her name is uncertain, the name "Julian" coming from the Church of St. Julian in Norwich, where she occupied a cell adjoining the church as an anchoress. At the age of thirty, suffering from a severe illness and believing she was on her deathbed, Julian had a series of intense visions. (They ended by the time she overcame her illness on May 13, 1373.) <ref name="eb">"Julian of Norwich". Encyclopedia Britannica Profiles. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on 2006-06-13. </ref> These visions would twenty years later be the source of her major work, called Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love (circa 1393). This is believed to be the first book written by a woman in the English language. Julian became well known throughout England as a spiritual authority: Margery Kempe mentions going to Norwich to speak with Julian.

Although she lived in a time of turmoil, Julian's theology was optimistic, speaking of God's love in terms of joy and compassion as opposed to law and duty. For Julian, suffering was not a punishment that God inflicted, but was a means he used to draw us closer to himself. This was different from the prevailing views of her time, which typically saw afflictions like the Plague as divine punishment. Because of her intimations that beyond the reality of hell-fire is yet a greater mystery of God's love, she has also been referred to in modern times as a proto-universalist.

Her great saying, "Sin is behovely, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well", reflects this theology. It is also one of the most individually famous lines in all of Catholic theological writing, and certainly one of the most well-known phrases of the literature of her era. It was quoted in T.S. Eliot's "Little Gidding", the fourth of his Four Quartets.

She is commemorated by the Anglican Church on May 8 and by the Roman Catholic Church on May 13.

A modern statue of her has been added to the facade of the Anglican Norwich Cathedral.

The song "Julian of Norwich" by Sydney Carter commemorates her optimistic philosophy.