Revelations of Divine Love — Julian of Norwich

FTER this, Christ shewed a part of his passion, A near his dying: I saw the sweet face as it were dry and bloodless, with pale dying, and dead pale languring, and then turned more dead into blew, and after in brown-blew, as the flesh turned more deep dead. For his passion shewed to me most properly in his blessed face, and namely in his lips; therein I saw these four colours ; those that were before fresh and ruddy, lively and liking to my sight. This was a pittiful changing, to see this deep dying; and also his most [? moisture] cloggering together and dried to my sight. And the sweet body waxed brown and black, all changed and turned out of the fair, fresh, and lively colour of himself into dry dying ; for that same time that our blessed Saviour dyed upon the roode, it was a dry sharp wind, wonder could {wondrous cold], as to my sight: and what time that the precious blood was bled out ef tho sweet body that mitht pass therefro, 15

THE EIGHTH REVELATION,

yet there was a moisture in the sweet flesh of Christ, as it was shewed. Bloodshed and pain dried within, and blowing of the wind and cold, coming from without met together in the sweet body of Christ: and these four dryed the flesh of Christ by process of time. And though this pain were bitter and sharp, yet it was full long lasting, as to my sight. And the pain dried up all the lively spirits of Christs flesh. Thus I saw the sweet flesh dry in my sight, part after part drying with marvellous pain; and as long as any spirit had life in Christs flesh, so long suffered he. This long pain seemed to me as if he had been a sennet dead, dying at the point of out-passing, always suffering the great pain: and there I saw it seemed as he had been a sennet dead, it specifieth, that the sweet body was so discoloured, so dry, so clongen, so deadly, and so piteous, as he had been sevenight dead, continually dying. And methought the drying of Christs flesh was the most pain, and the last of his passion.

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The Ninth Web elation

The Seventeenth Chapter

ND in this drying, was brought to my mind A this word that Christ said, ‘Z thirst For I saw in Christ a double thirst, one bodily, and another ghostly. This word was shewed for the bodily thirst: and for the ghostly thirst was shewed as I shall say after. And I understood by the bodily thirst, that the body had feeling of moisture ; for the blessed flesh and bones was left all alone without blood and moisture. The blessed body dried all alone long time, with wringing of the nails and weight of the body; (for I understood that for tenderness of the sweet hands, and the sweet feet, by the great hardness and grievousness of the nails, the wounds waxed wide, and the body setled for weight by long time hanging,) and pearcing and raising of the head, and binding of the crown, all baken with dry blood, with the sweet hair clinging the dry flesh to the thorns, and the thorns to the flesh drying: and 4

THE NINTH REVELATION.