Revelations of Divine Love — Julian of Norwich

t] his worship; there I say, me, it meaneth man that | shall be saved. For truly I saw that we be that he e | loveth, and do that him liketh, lastingly without any L | stinting. And of this, great riches; and of this,

| high noble vertues by measure come to our soul, | what time that it is knit to our body: in which | knitting we be made sensual And thus in our substance we be full, and in our sensuality we fail; which failing God will restore and fulfill by working of mercy and grace, plenteously flowing into us of his own kind goodness And thus this kind goodness maketh that mercy and grace worketh in us. And the kind goodness that we have of him, ableth us to receive the working of mercy and grace. I saw that our kind is in God whole; in which he maketh diversities flowing out of him to work his will; whose kind keepeth, and mercy and grace restoreth and fulfilleth. And of these none shall be perished; for our kind which is the higher party. is knit to God in the making, 15;

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and God is knit to our kind, which is the lower ! party in our flesh taking. And thus in Christ our two kinds be oned: for the Trinity is comprehended in Christ, in whom our higher party is grounded and rooted; and our lower party the second Person hath taken, which kind first to him was a dight. For I saw full truly, that all the works that God hath done, or ever shall, were full known to him, and before seen fro without beginning. And for love he made mankind; and for the same love himself would become man. The next good that we receive is our faith, in which our profiting beginneth; and it becometh of the high riches of our kind substance into our sensual soul; and it is grounded in us, and we in that, through the kind goodness of God, by the working of mercy and grace. And thereof come all our goods, by which we be led and saved; for the commandments of God come therein: in which we owe to have évo manner of understanding: that one is, that we owe to understand and know which be his biddings, to love them, and to keep them. That other is, that we owe to know his forbiddings, to hate them, and to refuse them: for in these two is all our working comprehended. Also in our faith come the seven sacraments, each following other in order as God hath ordained them to us, and all manner vertues; for the same 154

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THE FIFTY-SEVENTH CHAPTER,

#}yertues that we have received of our substance | given to us in kind of the goodness of God, the j same vertues by the working of mercy be given s}to us in grace through the Holy Ghost renewed: f| which vertues and gifts are treasured to us in |Jesu Christ; for in that same time that God knit |him to our body in the maidens womb, he took |our sensual soul . In which taking he, us all t| having beclosed in him, he oned it to our substance. In which oning he was perfect man; for Christ having knit in him all man that shall be saved, is perfect man. Thus our Lady is our mother, in whom we be all beclosed, and of her born in Christ; for she that is mother of our Saviour, is mother of all that be saved in our Saviour. And our Saviour is our very mother, in whom we be endlesly born, and never shall come out of him, Plentuously, fully, and sweetly was this shewed: and it is spoken of in the firs, where it is said, “We be all in him beclosed, and he is beclosed in us." And that is spoken of in the xvith. shewing, where he saith, “He sitletlh in our soul;" for it is his liking to reign in our understanding blessedfully, and sitteth [to sit] in our soul restfully: and to dwell in our soul endlesly, us all working into him. In which working he will we be his helpers, giving to him all our

.Jintent, learniag his laws, kecping his lore, desiring

Lo

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that all be done that he doth, truly trusting in him ; for verily I saw that all our substance is in God.

The rift y-eighth Chapter