Revelations of Divine Love — Julian of Norwich

Anp thus I saw that God enjoyeth that he is our father, and God enjoyeth that he is our mother: and God enjoyeth that he is our very spouse, and our soul his loved wife: And Christ enjoyeth that he is our brother: and Jesu enjoyeth that he is our Saviour. These be five high joyes, as I understand ; in which he will that we enjoy, him praising, him thanking, him leving, him endlesly blessing, all that shall be saved, for the time of this life: we have in us a marvellous medelour both of weal and of woe: we have in us our Lord Jesu Christ up-risen ; and we have in us the wretchedness and the mischief of Adams falling, dying. By Christ we be lastingly kept; and by his gracious touching we be raised into very trust of salvation. And by Adams falling, we be so briken in our failing on diverse manners by sin and by sundry pains. In which we be made dark, and so blind, that unneths we can take any comfort. But in our meaning, we abide God, and faithfully trust to have mercy and grace. And this is his own working in us; and of his goodness [it] openeth the eye of our understanding, by which we have sight, some time more, and sometime less, after that God giveth ability to take. And now we be 138

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raised into that one, and now we are suffered to fall into that other. And thus is that medle so marvellous in us, that unneths we know of our self, or of our even christen, in what way we stand for the marvellousness of this sundry feeling, but that [for] each holy assent that we assent to God when we feel him, truly willing to be with him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might, And then we hate and despise our evil stirring, and all that might be occasion of sin, ghostly and bodily. And yet nevertheless, when this sweetness is hid, we fall again into blindness, and so into woe and tribulation on diverse manners. But then is this our coinfort, that we know in our faith that by the vertue of Christ which is our keeper, we assent never thereto. But we grudge there against, and endure in pain and in woe, praying into that time that he sheweth him again to us. And thus we stand in this medelour all the dayes of our life: but he will we trust that he is lastingly with us; and that in three manners. He is with us in heaven very man, in his own person, us up-drawing : and that was shewed in the ghostly thirst. And he is with us in earth, us leading, and that was shewed in the /Aird ; where I saw God in a point. And he is with us in our soul, endlesly wonning [uniting], ruling, and guiding us: and that was shewed in the xvith. as I shall say. And thus in the servant was shewed the blindness and the 139-

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mischief of Adams falling. And in the servant was shewed the wisdom and the goodness of Gods Son. And in the lord was shewed the rewth and the pity of Adams woe : and in the lord was shewed the high nobihty and endless worship that mankind is come to by the vertue of the passion and the death of his dear worthy Son. And therefore mightily he enjoyeth in his falling, for the high raising and fulhead of bliss that mankind is come to, overpassing that we should have bad, if he had not fallen. And thus to see this over-passing nobility, was my understanding led into God, in the same time that I saw the servant fall. And thus we have matter of mourning; for our sin is cause of Chnsts pains. And we have lastingly matter of joy; for endless love made him to suffer. And therefore the creature that seeth and feeleth the working of love by grace, hateth nought but sin; for of all thing, as to my sight, love and hate be hardest and most unmeasurable contraries. And notwithstanding all this, I saw and understood this in our Lord’s meaning, that we may not in this life keep us from sin ; all holy in full cleanness, as we shall be in heaven. But we may well by grace keep us fro the sins which would lead us to endless pain, as Holy Church teacheth us, and eschew venial, reasonably up our might. And if we by our blindness, and our wretchedness any time fall, that we readily rise, 140

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