Revelations of Divine Love — Julian of Norwich

good and a gracious, to will meekly and mightily be fastened and oned to our Mother Holy Church, that is Christ Jesu. For the flood of mercy; that is his dear worthy blood and precious -water is plentuous to make us fair and clean. The blessed wounds of our Saviour be open and enjoy to heal us. The sweet gracious hands of our Mother be ready and diligent about us; for he in all this working useth the very office of a kind nurse that hath naught else to done, but to entend to the salvation of her child. It is his office to save us; it is his worship to do it; and it is his will we know it: for he will we love him sweetly, and trust in him meekly and mightily. And this shewed he in these gracious words, ‘I keep thee full surely.’

The Sixty-second Chapter

For in that time he shewed our frailty and our fallings, our breakings and our naughtings, our despites and our chargings, and all our woe, as far forth as me thought that it might fall in this life. And therewith he shewed his blessed might, his blessed wisdom, his blessed love, that he keepeth us in this time as tenderly, and as sweetly to his worship, and as surely to our salvation, as he doth when we be in most solace and comfort; and thereto 168 aii E A

THE SIXTY-SECOND CHAPTER,

raiseth us ghostly and highly in heaven, and turneth all to his worship, and to our joy without end. For his precious love he suffereth us never to lose time. And all this is of the kind goodness of God by the working of grace. God is kind in his being; that is to say, that goodness that is kind, it is God; he is the ground, he is the substance, he is the same thing that is kindness: and he is very Father and very Mother of kinds: and all kinds that he hath made to flow out of him to work his will, it should be restored and brought again into him by salvation of man, through the working of grace. For of all kinds that he hath set in divers creatures by party, in man is all the whole in ful-head ; and in vertue, in fair-head, and in good-head, in rialty and in noblety, in all manner of solemnity of preciousness and worship. Here may we see that we be all bound to God for kind, and we be bound to God for grace. Here may we see that us needeth not greatly to seek far out to know sundry kinds, but to Holy Church into our Mothers breast; that is to say, into our own soul, where our Lord dwelleth: and there should we find all now, in faith and in understanding ; and after, verily in himself, clearly in bliss. But no man, ne woman take this singularity to himself ; for it is not so, it is general: for it is our precious Mother Christ: and to him was this fair kind dight, for - the worship and the nobly of mans making, and for 3 169

THE FOURTEENTH REVELATION.

the joy and the bliss of mans salvation, right as he saw, wist and knew from without beginning.

The Sivty-third Cha pter

Here may we see that we have verily of kind to hate sin; and we have verily of grace to hate sin. For kind is all good and fair in itself: and grace was sent out to save kind and keep kind, and destroy sin, and bring again fair kind into the blessed point fro thence it came; (that is, God,) with more nobleness and worship by the vertuous working of grace ; for it shall be seen, before God, of all his holy [saints] in joy without end, that kind hath been assaid in the fire of tribulation, and therein found no lack, nor no default. Thus is kind and grace of one accord ; for grace is God, as unmade kind is God: he is two in manner working, and one in love. And neither of them worketh without other, ne none be departed. And when we, by the mercy of God, and with his help, accord us to kind and to grace, we shall see verily that sin is worse, viler and painfuller than hell, without any likeness: for it is contrarious to our fair kind; for as verily as sin is unclean, as truly sin is unkind. And this is an horrible thing to see, to the loving soul that would be all fair and shining in the sight of God, as kind and grace teacheth. 170

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THE SIXTY-THIRD CHAPTER,