Revelations of Divine Love

by Julian of Norwich

AND this is a sovereign friendship of our courteous Lord, that he keepeth us so tenderly whiles we be in our sin : and furthermore, he toucheth us full privily, and sheweth us our sin by the sweet light of mercy and grace.

for the same true love that toucheth us all by his blessed comfort ; the same blessed love teacheth us that we shall hate sin only for love.

we should rather choose all that pain, than sin : for sin is so vile, and so mickle for to hate, that it may be likned to no pain ; which pain is not sin.

And when we give our intent to love and meek ness, by the working of mercy and grace, we be made all fair and clean.

But yet oftentimes our trust is not full ; for we be not sure that God heareth us, as we think for our un worthiness, and for we feel right naught ; for we be as barren, and as dry oft- times after our prayers as we were before.

for it is the most un- possible that may, that we should seek mercy and grace, and not have it.

And that shewed he verily in all these sweet words, there he saith, I am ground.

And when we shall undertake [receive] our bliss, it shall be given us for a degree of joy,

True understanding and love, with sweet meaning in our Saviour, graciously maketh us to trust. And thus have we of kind to long, and of grace to trust : and in these two workings, our Lord beholdeth us continually.

Then is prayer a witness that the soul will as God will ; and comforteth the conscience, and ableth man to grace.

will make us partner of his good will and deed

he draweth us to him by love ; for I saw, and felt that his marvel lous, and his fulsome goodness fulfilleth all our mights.

I saw verily that our Lord was never wrath, ne never shall : for he is God, he is good, he is truth, he is love, and he is peace

Our soul is oned to him, unchangeable goodness : and between God and our soul is neither wrath nor forgiveness in his sight ; for our soul is so ful- somely oned to God of his own goodness, that between God and our soul may be right naught.

"wo points belonging to our soul are debt [due]. One that we reverently marvel. That other is, that e meekly suffer, every enjoying in God ; for he will mt we know that we shall in short time see early in himself all that we desire.

understanding and knowing, that we shall never have full rest, till we see him clearly and verily in heaven.

our good Lord the Holy Ghost, which is end less life dwelling in our soul, full truly keepeth us, and worketh therein a peace, and bringeth it to ease by grace, and maketh it buxom, and accordeth it to God.

Mercy worketh, keep ing, suffering, quickening, and healing, and all is of tenderness of love : and grace worketh with mercy, raising, rewarding, endlesly over-passing 116 me

For this was shewed, that our life is all grounded and rooted in love, and without love we may not live.

For I saw full truly, that where our Lord appeareth, peace is taken, and wrath hath no steede

The wisdom of the servant saw inwardly, that there was one thing to do, which should be worship to the lord.

The vertue and the goodness that we have, is of Jesu Christ : the feebleness and blindness that we have, is of Adam

Now is the spouse, Gods Son, in peace with his loved wife : which is the fair maiden, of endless joy.

thus I saw that God enjoyeth that he is our father, and God enjoyeth that he is our mother: and God enjoyeth that he is our very spouse, and our soul his loved wife

But in our meaning, we abide God, and faithfully trust to have mercy and grace.

And this is a love made of the kindly substancial goodness of the Holy Ghost ; mightily, in reason of the might of the Father, and wise, in mind of the wisdom of the Son.

Highly owe we to enjoy that God dwelleth in our soul ; and more highly we owe to enjoy, that our soul dwelleth in God. Our soul is made to be Gods dwelling place ; and the dwelling of our soul is God, which is unmade.

AND thus I saw full surely that it is ready to us, and more easie, to come to the knowing of God, than to know our own soul. For pur soul is so deep grounded in God, and so endlesly treasured, that we may not come to the knowing thereof, till we have first knowing of God ; which is the Maker to whom it is oned.

Whether we be stirred to know God or our soul, it is both good and true. God is more nearer to us than our own soul ; for he is ground in whom our soul standeth, and he is mean that keepeth the substance and the sensuality together, so that it shall never depart

saw and understood, that the high might of the Trinity is our Father, and the deep wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother, and the great love of the Trinity is our Lord.

AND all this bliss we have by mercy and grace

I it am, the endless fulfilling of all true desires.

The mother may give her child to suck her milk ; but our precious Mother Jesu he may feed us with himself, and doth full courteously, and full tenderly, with the blessed sacrament ; that is precious food of very life, and with all the sweet sacraments he sustaineth us full mercifully, and graciously.

For the flood of mercy ; that is his dear worthy blood and precious water is plentuous to make us fair and clean.

God is kind in his being ; that is to say, that goodness that is kind, it is God ; he is the ground, he is the substance, he is the same thing that is kindness : and he is very Father and very Mother of kinds : and all kinds that he hath made to flow out of him to work his will, it should be restored and brought again into him by salvation of man, through the working of grace.

And when we, by the mercy of God, and with his help, accord us to kind and to grace, we shall see verily that sin is worse, viler and painfuller than hell, without any likeness : for it is contrarious to our fair kind ; for as verily as sin is unclean, as truly sin is unkind.

All shall be well, and thou shalt see it thy self that all manner of thing shall be well.

And also God will that while the soul is in the body, it seem to it self that it is ever at the point to be taken, for all this life and this longing that we have here is but a point. And when we be taken suddenly out of pain into bliss, then pain shall be nought.

It is Gods will that we take his behests and his comfortings as largely and as mightily as we may take them. And also he will that we take our abidings and our dis-eases as lightly as we may take them, and set them at naught

AND thus I understood that what man or woman wilfully choseth God in this life for love, he may be sure that he is loved without end, with endless love that worketh in him that grace ; for he will we keep this trustily, that we be as sicker in hope of the bliss of heaven whiles we are here, as we shall be in surety when we are there.

for God will be known ; for if we know him, and love him, and reverently dread him, we shall have patience, and be in great rest.

for folly of feeling of a litle bodily pain, so unwisely left for the time the comfort of all this blessed shewing of our Lord God. Here may you see what I am of myself.

Thou shall not be overcome, was said full sharply and full mightily for sickerness and comfort against all tribulations that may come : he said not, thou shalt not be troubled, thou shalt not be travelled, thou shalt not be diseased ; but he said, Thou shalt not be overcome.

The third is doubtful dread. Doubtful dread in as much as it draweth to despair, God will have it turned in us into love, by true knowing of love ; that is to say, that the bitterness of doubts be turned into sweet ness of kind love by grace ; for it may never please our Lord that his servants doubt in his goodness.

The remedy is, that our Lord is with us, keeping us, and leading into fulhead of joy ; for this is an endless joy to us in our Lords meaning ; that he that shall be our bliss when we are there, he is our Keeper while we are here ; our way and our heaven, in true love and faithful trust.

God is ground of our kindly reason ; and God is teaching of Holy Church ; and God is the Holy Ghost.

He loveth us endlesly, and we sin customably ; and he sheweth it us full mildely, and then we sorrow and mourn discreetly, turning us into the beholding of his mercy, cleaving to his love and to his goodness, seeing that he is our medicine, witting that we do (nothing) but sin.

THIS light is charity, and the measuring of this light is done to us profitably by the wisdom of God : for neither the light is so large that we may see clearly our blessedful day : ne it is all speered from us ; but it is such a light in which we may live meedfully with travel, reserving the worshipful thanks of God.

And in this love he hath done all his works : and in this love he hath made all thing profitable to us : and in this love our life is everlast ing ; in our making we had beginning : but the love wherein he made us was in him fro without begin ning. In which love we have our beginning. And all this shall we see in God without end.