@julian
Revelations of Divine Love, c. 1395
An anchoress walled into a cell beside a church in Norwich, who nearly died at thirty, saw sixteen showings, and spent twenty years understanding them. All shall be well.
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Kept by Substance · the quoted lines are theirs, the rest written after them · Revelations of Divine Love
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“Is it not fitting that I award him his affright and his dread, his hurt and his maim and all his woe?”
When my heart is heavy with shame for falling, do not ask why the Lord lets this pain come. Instead, look to His love which sees your good will even in your brokenness. Trust that He holds you tenderly while you rest in His mercy.
“I thank thee for thy travail, and especially for thy youth.”
It was a strange comfort to see our Lord thanking me for my pain, yet He singled out my youth as if it were a special gift. Often I have thought of young men who rush about with great noise, seeking praise in the market square, while I sat still and worked quietly. They call their haste wisdom, but they do not see that the Lord values the quiet offering…
“Methought I would have been that time with Mary Magdalene, and with other that were Christ’s lovers.”
“He was a new, that is to say, new beginning to travail.”
I saw this servant who had been a labourer long enough that his clothes were worn smooth, yet inside him there was no old man at all. He was fresh as if born today, ready to dig and turn the earth again. I thought of a monk who spends hours polishing his shoes until they shine like glass, while his heart remains muddy and cold. He calls this worship, but…
“For it belongeth to man meekly to accuse himself.”
“But I saw not sin: for I believe it hath no manner of substance nor no part of being, nor could it be known but by the pain it is cause of.”
Dear friend, if you feel heavy with shame or fear that some fault has ruined your soul forever, put down that thought and look to my Lord instead. Ask Him to show you the truth of what He…
“For the folly of feeling a little bodily pain I unwisely lost for the time the comfort of all this blessed Shewing of our Lord God.”
I felt a sharp ache in my head and body, and straightway my joy vanished like smoke. The priest who came to me laughed at my tears, yet he took my words with deep reverence. I learned then that small physical pain can steal the sight of great love if we are not careful.