Carl McColman, Christian Mystics: 108 Seers, Saints, and Sages (Hampton Roads: 2016), xix.Īdapted from Richard Rohr, Following the Mystics Through the Narrow Gate: Seeing God in All Things, disc 7 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2010), CD, DVD, MP3 download and Instead, it is full of delight, freedom, intimacy, and cosmic hope. It is not based in sin, shame, guilt, or fear of God or hell. Her spirituality is unlike the religious views common in her time. Julian is thought to be the first known woman to write a book in English. Her writings are usually called Revelations of Divine Love or sometimes Showings. Julian first wrote a short text about the showings, but feeling it did not do justice to her experience, she rewrote it as a longer text some years later. They look like they are alone, but exactly the opposite is the case. They go apart to find a way to experience their truth in a healing, transformative way for others. People like Julian don’t want to engage in oppositional thinking, and they don’t need to prove they’re right, so they often become hermits. It took her twenty years to find a language that the larger Church could understand, and then it took us over 600 years to finally take her seriously.
Julian felt the need to go apart and reflect on her profound experiences. The anchor-hold had a window looking into the church sanctuary that allowed Julian to attend Mass and another window so she could counsel and pray over people who came to her on the street. We do not know her real name, since she never signed her writing. Julian was later named after that church. This was such a profound experience that Julian eventually asked the bishop to enclose her in an anchor-hold, built against the side of St. That is what unitive consciousness allows us to see. Like all mystics, she realized that what Jesus was saying about himself he was simultaneously saying about all of reality. As a priest held a crucifix in front of her, Julian saw Jesus suffering and heard him speaking to her for some hours.
Julian experienced her “showings,” as she called them, all on one night (May 8 or 13, 1373) when she was very sick and near death. I return to her writings again and again, every few months, and always discover something new. Lady Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) is one of my favorite mystics and teachers. To embody union with God is to discover these beautiful characteristics emerging from within and slowly transfiguring us to remake us in the very image and likeness of God.
grounded in love, mercy, tenderness, compassion, forgiveness, hope, trust, simplicity, silence, peace, and joy. Our goal, therefore, is to learn: to learn the curriculum of a truly spiritual life. God is the principal or headmaster, and the saints and mystics are the various teachers and coaches who will interact with us on a day-to-day basis. We who seek to grow spiritually are like children ushered off to school for their education and personal growth.
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