The Complete Julian of Norwich Quotes

“Neither on the one hand fall overly low, inclining to despair, nor on the other hand be over reckless as if we gave no heed, but humbly acknowledging our weakness, aware that we cannot stand even a twinkling of an eye except by the protection of grace, and reverently cleaving to God, trusting in Him alone.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“I saw truthfully that our Lord was never angry, nor ever shall be, for He is God: He is good, He is life, He is truth, He is love, He is peace; and His power, His wisdom, His Love, and His Unity do not allow Him to be angry.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“Julian’s triumphant proclamation of the essential goodness and immeasurable value of a human being. This is a radical theology for the fourteenth century, when most Christian writers (providing a setup for John Calvin) emphasized humanity’s wickedness and depravity.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“To me was shown no more cruel hell than sin, for a natural soul hates11 no hell except sin, and all is good except sin, and nothing is evil except sin.12”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“He wishes us to be aware that not only does He take heed to noble and great things, but also to little and small things, to lowly and simple things, both to one and to the other; and so means He in that He says, “All manner of thing shall be well”; for He wills that we be aware that the least little thing shall not be forgotten.1”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“for He considers sin as sorrow and pain for His lovers to whom because of love He allots no blame.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“The most significant point that can be seen in the Passion is to comprehend and to understand that He who suffered is God,2 seeing beyond this two other points which are lesser3 (the one is what He suffered, and the other for whom He suffered).”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“And when I saw all this, it was necessary to agree that the mercy of God and the forgiveness is in order to abate and consume our wrath, not His.13”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“Christ’s yearning for us acts almost like a magnet, “drawing us up” to His heavenly presence.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“this is His thirst: a love-longing8 to possess us all together wholly within Himself9 for His joy,”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“Lord replied to all the questions and doubts1 that I could raise, saying most reassuringly: “I have the ability to make everything well, and I have the knowledge to make everything well, and I have the wish to make everything well, and I shall2 make everything well; and thou shalt see for thyself that all manner of thing shall be well.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“Our Lord has pity and compassion on us because some creatures make themselves so busy about His secrets; and I am certain if we were aware of how much we would please Him and ease ourselves by abandoning that, we would.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“all the pain and tribulation to which he would have brought them, shall endlessly go with him to hell.13”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“Note, however, that suffering is never seen by Julian or shown by Christ to be “punishment.” In that sense, Julian is radical among her peers. For Julian, suffering is either the result of sin or simply “the way things are.” God never inflicts pain or punishment on his people. 18”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“the phrase here—“the soul can do no more than seek, suffer, and trust”—may well be the most succinct summary of the holy Christian life in all Christian literature.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“a kind of orthodox version of pantheism: wherever anything “good” is, there is God.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“This is Julian’s constant theme: God longs for us as much as (or more than) we long for God; and God’s “homeliness” is emphasized by His willingness to “wait for us constantly, sorrowing and mourning until we come.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“For the thirst of God is to have the whole of mankind within Himself;”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“The fearsome Power of the Father and the formidable Wisdom of the Son are both subordinated to the unfailing Love of the Holy Spirit.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“there persists a fear that hinders us, because of paying attention to ourselves and the sins we have done in the past8 (and some of us because of our present everyday sins),”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“He wills that in everything we have our contemplation and our enjoyment in Love.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“The scrupulous fixation on one’s sins passes for humility, but it is, in fact, a sin against God’s love. If one cannot see beyond one’s sins, one is blinded to the ever-present forgiving love of God.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“He showed in the high, wondrous words where He said, “I am He who is highest; I am He who is lowest; I am He who is all.”)”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“If all that is not good were separated from us, we would be good. When sinfulness is separated from us, God and the soul are all one, and God and man are all one.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“These words: “Thou shall not be overcome,” were said very sharply and very powerfully, for certainty and comfort against all tribulations that can come.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“He made man’s soul as fair, as good, as precious a creature as He could make it, therefore the Blessed Trinity is wholly pleased without end in the creation of man’s soul, and He wills that our hearts be powerfully raised above the depths of the earth and all vain sorrows, and rejoice in Him.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“God, who is the Creator dwelling in the self (for in man’s soul is His true dwelling).9”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“whatever good any human being does is actually the result of the presence of Christ within”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“Thus Jesus Christ, who does good against evil, is our true Mother—we have our being from Him where the basis of motherhood begins,3 with all the sweet protection of love that accompanies it endlessly. As truly as God is our Father, so truly God is our Mother.”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich

“that is the quality in God which does good against evil.2”
― Fr. John Julian, The Complete Julian of Norwich