Revelations of Divine Love — Julian of Norwich

endless soveraign love unmade. And a mans soul“ is a creature in God, which hath the same properties ‘ made ; and evermore it doth that it was made for; “ [it] seeth God, it beholdeth God, and it loveth * God: wherefore God enjoyeth in the creature, and |j the creature in God, endlesly marvelling. In which | i marvelling he seeth his God, his Lord, his Maker $ so high, so great, and so good, in regard of him that ; is made, that unneth the creature seemeth ought to |‘ the [it] self; but the brightness and clearness of truth | | and wisdom maketh him to see, and to know, that he | is made for love; in which love God endlesly keepeth him.

The Forty-fifth Chapter

Gop deemeth us upon our kindly substance, which is ever kept one in him, whole and safe without end. And this doome is of his rightful-head. And | man deemeth upon our changeable sensuality, which | seemeth now one, now another, after that it taketh | of the parties, and sheweth outward. And this | doome is meddled; for sometimes it is good and | easie; and sometime it is hard and grievous: and | in as much as it is good and easie, it longeth to the | rightfulness; and in as much as it is hard and grievous, our good Lord Jesu reformeth it by mercy and grace, through vertue of his blessed passion, and so bringeth [it| to the rightfolness. And though 108 amanti Mosaic

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THE FORTY-FIFTH CHAPTER.

these two be thus accorded and oned, yet it shall be known both [ = both shall be known] in heaven, without end. The first doome is of Gods rightfulness,

.| and that is of his own high endless love ; and that is | that fair sweet doome that was shewed in all the fair ; | revelation, in which I saw him assigne to us no man- | ner of blame. And though these were sweet and | delectable, yet only in the beholding of this, I could d not be full eased: and that was for the doome of

Holy Church, which I had before understanded,

| and was continually in my sight. And therefore by .| this doome, me thought that me behooveth needs | to know my self a sinner: and by the same doome I | understood, that sinners be sometimes worthy blame | and wrath ; and these two could I not see in God : | and therefore my advise and desire was more than I t| can or may tell. For the higher doome God sheweth ‘| himself in the same time; and therefore me bei| hooved needs to take it: and the lower doome was learned me before time in Holy Church ; and therefore I might not by no way leave the lower doome. Then was this my desire, that I might see in God, in what manner that the doome of Holy Church here in earth is true in his sight, and how it longeth

| to me verily to know it, whereby they might both be saved, so as it were worshipful to God, and right way to me. And to all this, I ne had no other

, | answer, but a marvellous example of a lord, and of a

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servant, as I shall say after, and that full mistely | y shewed: and yet I stood in desire, and will, into |,

SIS

my lives end, that I might by grace know these two | dooms, as it longeth to me. For all heavenly things, | and all earthly things that long to heaven, be com- |; prehended in these two dooms. And the more | knowing and understanding, by the gracious lead- | ing of the Holy Ghost, that we have of these F two dooms; the more we shall see and know our l failings; and ever the more that we see them, | the more kindly by grace, we shall long to be | fulfilled of endless joy and bliss, for we be made thereto.

The Forty-sixth Chapter

AND cur kindly substance is now blessedfully in God, | and hath been sithens it was made, and shall be | without end. But our passing living that we have | here in our sensuality, knoweth not what our self is, but in our faith. And when we know, and see verily, and clearly what our self is, then shall we verily and clearly see, and know our Lord God in fulhead of joy. And therefore it behoveth needs to be, that the nearer we be our bliss, the more we shall long; and that both by kind and by grace. We may have knowing of our self in this life, by con- 110 si

THE FORTY-SIXTH CHAPTER,

"| tinual help and vertue of our high kind; in which

: knowing, we may encrease and wax by furthering * | and speeding of mercy and grace. But we may

-| never full know our self into [until] the last point :

i | in which point, this passing life, and ali manner

'! | of woe and paine shall have an end. And there- €] fore it longeth properly to us, both by grace and

| by kind, to long and desire, with all our mights ti to know our self. In which full knowing, we

=| shall verily and clearly know our God in fulhead

"| of endless joy. And yet in all this time, fro the

“| beginning to the end, I had £&vo manner of be-