Dearest Julian of Norwich
Essential Resources on a Medieval Anchorite Woman Everyone Should Read
Ruins like these conjure up pictures of Julian of Norwich’s 14th-century existence, cloistered in a cell attached to her parish church. How did she feel as she slowly walked to take her anchorite vows, all dressed in black, participating in ceremonial rites that so closely resembled a funeral? What’s the story of how this fourteenth-century woman, often considered the first female author in the English language, learned to read and write during an era stained by plagues and marked with conflict? Encased in cold stone walls and a damp earthen floor, did the cat in her cell keep her sane?
We don’t know much about the life of Julian of Norwich. But once you discover her work, you’ll find her legacy lurking everywhere. Beloved by authors like T.S. Eliot, C.S. Lewis, and Iris Murdoch, Julian’s influence has rippled down the ages of Christian history and into contemporary thought.
An anchorite is someone who takes a vow to be secluded from society, choosing to dedicate their lives to prayer and asceticism. Legend has it they often kept cats as their only companions, which is why Julian is often drawn with one. She was most likely an anchorite for over two decades until her death in 1416. By the end of her life, she had become renowned for her gentle nature and profound wisdom. People would travel far and wide to her humble cell, eager to receive advice, blessings, and prayers. I just finished Victoria Mackenzie’s debut novel, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain, which helps you to imagine the interior world and events of Julian’s life, culminating in a fictional conversation between herself and the fiery mystic Margery Kempe.
Julian’s book, Divine Revelations, is a devotional exploration of the lavish love of God in the form of 16 visions of Christ. These are simultaneously lofty and transcendent, yet hunkered down in embodied analogies that can resonate with both medieval peasants then and laypeople today. She sees God in the seemingly insignificant, saying, ‘The fullness of Joy is to behold God in everything’. Take this famous quote about a hazelnut. See how she employs a simple concrete image to unlock a palpable sense of being held by an affectionate God.
And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, ‘What may this be?’ And it was answered generally thus, ‘It is all that is made.’ I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God.
In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it.
Three-quarters of the way through Divine Revelations, Julian turns to the theme of the maternal care of Christ. She compares His suffering on the cross to that of labour pains, the way He sustains our souls to the act of nursing, and His constant attention to the tender care of a mother. Interestingly, in her book Jesus Through Medieval Eyes, Medieval scholar Grace Hammon argues and demonstrates that depicting Jesus as Mother was actually quite a common practice in the church during the Middle Ages.
Julian is most quoted for her peace-bestowing and fortifying words ‘All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well’. These lines are best read when taking a long, deep breath. Next, repeat them over and over throughout the day as stressors arise, anchoring yourself in your held-ness and beloved-ness. See the phrase enfolded into the final lines of T.S. Eliot’s famous poem, the Four Quartets:
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always--
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well’
As deep blue summer skies wane and the air holds whispers of fall, I’ll end this post with some autumnal ambience by circling back to her hazel nut analogy. Below, you’ll find a tiny poem I wrote inspired by this image.
Resources
If you want to take a deep dive into Julian, here are some bits to explore below:
Divine Revelations by Julian of Norwich
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain by Victoria MacKenzie
The Woman in the House by Kiki McGrath in Image Journal
Jesus Through Medieval Eyes by Grace Hamman
Pints with Jack Podcast- Jack’s Bookshelf: Julian of Norwich
Drinking in all the beauties and oddities around me.
Warmly,
Carolyn
The first time I read Revelations it seemed so hard to understand. I reread it again a few months ago and absolutely loved it. Then we read ‘I, Julian’ by Claire Gilbert for a book club and it made me appreciate her even more.
Thanks for the reminders.
I love Julian of Norwich! First came across her in my Reformation/Counter-Reformation class. It was wonderful to finally meet the woman behind the words I had been singing for so long, “All shall be well, all shall be well. All matter of things shall be well.” Looking forward to using these resources you provided!