Julian of Norwich 1343 – 1416
Julian of Norwich was an English anchoress and the author of the Revelations of Divine Love, the first surviving book in English written by a woman. At thirty she received a series of sixteen visions during a near-fatal illness, and she devoted the rest of her life, enclosed in a cell attached to St Julian's Church in Norwich, to meditating on their meaning. Her two texts, the short and long versions of her Revelations, develop a theology of God's all-encompassing love, the inseparability of joy and sorrow, and the motherhood of Christ. She has become one of the most read of medieval mystics.
Key facts
- Nationality
- English
- Era
- Medieval
- Movements
- Medieval, Christian
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Julian of Norwich:
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
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Attributed to Julian of Norwich:
“Love was His meaning.”
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Attributed to Julian of Norwich:
“He said not, 'Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be afflicted'; but He said, 'Thou shalt not be overcome.'”
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Attributed to Julian of Norwich:
“The greatest honour we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of His love.”
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Attributed to Julian of Norwich:
“He did not say: 'You shall not be tempest-tossed, you shall not be over-strained, you shall not be disquieted'; but He said: 'You shall not be overcome.'”