Who was Mother Julian of Norwich and why is she vital?

8 May is the standard day to recollect Mother Julian of Norwich. She is significant because her book stays a classic of Christian spirituality and is the primary book in English known to have been written by a girl. This is her story …

Anchorites

One class of hermit was the reclusive anchorites, who took a vow of poverty, a vow of chastity, and a vow to be anchored to at least one place. The term ‘anchorite’ comes from the Greek word άναχωρητής (anachoretes). These were men or women who lived in a cell or room, also called anchorholds, attached to a church to devote their lives to prayer. Being anchored to at least one spot, they were called anchorites, and feminine anchorites, who were more common, were generally known as anchoresses. Many churches had them, and they’d have been connected to a priory, but as a substitute of living in community, they lived in isolation apart from visits.

An anchorite’s cell

A church may need had a cell occupied by successive anchorites or anchoresses. These varied in size but normally amounted to at least one or two rooms built against the church wall, with a window to the surface to permit food to be passed in and waste to be removed via a chamber pot. There would even be a window into the church, through which the anchorite received communion.

Once an anchorite was within the cell, the door connecting it to the church constructing would have been sealed or locked, however the windows allowed them to confer with visitors and receive food, clothing, and other items. People would bring them food, or someone from the local abbey is likely to be assigned to take care of them. 

Conditions did vary. Some anchorites were walled in, but others could wander across the church, and a few had their very own walled gardens. Sometimes they might leave temporarily to go on pilgrimage. Anchorites were seen as holy and were often consulted by others; some became famous and received visitors from afar.

Mother Julian

One such anchoress was generally known as Mother Julian and lived in Norwich. She was born about 1342 in Norwich. She was six years old when the Black Death got here to the town and devastated the population, and she or he was one among its survivors. Some wonder if the experience of losing her family to the plague led her to a life as an anchoress. Others suggest she may have already got been an anchoress before the plague and that her isolation saved her from infection.

Norwich

The English city of Norwich lies in Norfolk in East Anglia, within the south of England, where it juts into the North Sea. In medieval times, Norwich was the second-largest city in England after London, at a time when the population of the entire country was just a number of million. It was a wealthy city through trade with the Low Countries. In medieval times, the town had a cathedral, five monasteries, a convent, and plenty of parish churches. There were many priests, monks, nuns, and anchorites, making a vibrant religious life.

The name Julian

To many, it could appear odd that Mother Julian bears what’s now considered a male name. In medieval England, the name ‘Julian’ was used for each genders, although today we might use Julian as a male name and Juliana as the feminine variant. She can also be called Dame Julian, Mother Julian, or Juliana of Norwich in several books. In fact, her real name will not be known.

Julian may need been her real name or a latest religious name taken on entering the convent. Many experts think that the name Julian can have been taken from St Julian’s Church in Norwich, where she was anchored, and that she became generally known as Julian by reference to her location. In turn, St Julian’s Church will not be named after her but was dedicated to an earlier St Julian, though it will not be certain which one: St Julian of Le Mans, St Julian the Hospitaller, or St Juliana of Nicomedia.

St Julian’s Church, Norwich

St Julian’s Church is within the south of Norwich and was built on the location of an earlier Anglo-Saxon church destroyed by the Vikings in 1004. The later Norman church had a round tower, and two-thirds of all round towers in England are present in Norfolk. The church was connected to the nuns on the Benedictine priory at Carrow Abbey in Bracondale, southeast Norwich. It is assumed that Mother Julian had been a nun attached to that priory, since it was their nuns who cared for the church and due to this fact also for the anchoresses, and Mother Julian was clearly literate and educated. Mother Julian’s cell was in a corner of the churchyard next to the church. She was likely one among many anchoresses who occupied the cell in succession. She was isolated, but not at all times alone, as she received visitors. She was sustained by her personal faith, which was very real to her, and plenty of say she had a cat for company.

Revelations

When she was thirty years old, Mother Julian got here near death and lay sick for 3 days. In May 1373, a priest gave her the last rites, but as he held up his crucifix, she became transfixed by it. Over the following hours, she experienced a series of about fifteen visions, which she called ‘shewings’. These concerned Christ’s crucifixion and the depths of divine love. A final vision got here later, after which she miraculously recovered. In these visions, she wrestles with core Christian questions on the meaning of suffering, the truth of evil, the foreknowledge of God, the character of sin, the ability of prayer, and the long run of the soul.

Mother Julian told these visions to visitors and wanted them written down for the good thing about others. Later, from about 1395, she expanded her writings with theological reflections. She didn’t write in Latin but in straightforward English. This makes her the primary woman known to have written a book in English.

Summary of the visions

The first eight visions give attention to the visual images of the crucified Christ, emphasising his suffering and his blood cleansing all sin. In her last eight visions, she had deeper revelations about sin, creation, and joy. In her ninth vision, God told her that sin is ‘behovely’, or crucial, for good to return from it, and she or he expressed her most famous phrase: “All shall be well.” Her tenth vision dwelt on the one Christian commandment to like God and our neighbours. In her eleventh vision, a hazelnut in God’s hand symbolised fragile creation sustained solely by love. In her twelfth vision, she outlined contrition, compassion, and longing as three wounds of the soul. In her thirteenth vision, she learned that humanity was in a nasty way, yet God serves through Christ. In her fourteenth vision, she experienced joy beyond description and perceived Christ’s motherly nurturing, learning the importance of prayer. Her fifteenth vision concerned the abundance of affection and the concept that sin harms none eternally, because the Holy Spirit revives the soul. In her final vision, she received the peace of mind that “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well,” and gained an understanding of the Trinity.

The motherhood of God

Mother Julian is recognised as a mystic and theologian. Her theology is optimistic and sees God’s love expressed in joy and compassion. She also emphasises the maternal nature of God, describing God as each father and mother. She explained how the bond between mother and child is akin to the connection an individual can have with Jesus. Centuries before feminism, Mother Julian explored maternal imagery for God. Her emphasis on God’s mother-like compassion complements the standard language of Father and King, giving a richer and more relational texture to Christian devotion. She wrote, “As truly as God is our Father, so truly God is our Mother.”

Death

It will not be known exactly when Mother Julian died, but she was elderly, and estimates of the date of her death range from 1416 to 1430. Her cell continued to be utilized by successive anchoresses until the Reformation, when the practice was discontinued in England. With the Dissolution of the Monasteries, many anchorite cells were demolished or repurposed, though a number of remain.

Revelations of Divine Love

Various manuscripts of Mother Julian’s writings have survived through the ages. However, they were little known until they were published in 1670 by Hugh Paulinus de Cressy. He was born in Yorkshire around 1605, became an Anglican priest, and fled to continental Europe in the course of the English Civil War, disillusioned by Puritanism. He later became a Roman Catholic in Rome in 1646 and entered the Benedictine order at Douai in France, taking the name Serenus. He was deeply fascinated by Benedictine mysticism and was introduced to Mother Julian’s writings within the British Library. In 1670, he published them under the title XVI Revelations of Divine Love, shewed to a devout servant of Our Lord, called Mother Juliana, an Anchorete of Norwich: Who lived within the Dayes of King Edward the Third.

Reprints and latest editions

Cressy’s edition was reprinted in 1843, sparking renewed interest in Victorian England. It was reprinted again in 1864, and a new edition was produced by Henry Collins in 1877. However, from 1901, her writings became widely known when a more readable version in modernised English was published. This edition, based on a manuscript within the British Library, was edited by Grace Warrack and published by Methuen in London. This gave Mother Julian’s works a large audience, and since then there have been many further editions and translations.

St Julian’s Church today

St Julian’s Church in Norwich fell into disrepair within the Victorian era and was restored in 1845. It was partly destroyed in the course of the Blitz in June 1942, when the tower was hit and shortened. The church was restored again after the war. The site of the unique anchorite cell has been identified and reconstructed to indicate the way it may need looked in medieval times. A contemporary stained-glass window on the church depicts Mother Julian in traditional robes, holding her writings, together with her famous words “All shall be well” amongst her visions. Nearby is the Julian Centre, with a bookshop, library, and All Hallows Guesthouse suitable for spiritual retreats.

Memorials

Mother Julian is remembered by Anglicans on 8 May, the day of her first vision. She was never formally canonised but is remembered within the Catholic calendar on 13 May, the day of her recovery. Today, she is recognised across Christian denominations as a crucial mystic, England’s most famous female visionary, and a major figure in the event of feminist theology. In recent a long time, many books have been written about her, and she or he is well known as a key figure in Norwich’s history and heritage.

Norwich memorials

In 2000, a statue of Mother Julian was erected by the west door of Norwich Cathedral. In 2009, a latest bridge over the River Wensum was named Lady Julian Bridge. In 2021, the University of East Anglia opened a latest constructing called the Julian Study Centre.

Upsurge in interest

During the COVID lockdown, there was an upsurge in interest in Mother Julian, as she seemed especially relevant to people experiencing isolation. In 2023, a series of events in Norwich marked the 650th anniversary of her revelations. On Sunday 5 November 2023, she featured on BBC Radio 4’s Something Understood, presented by Mark Tully.

Collect

The Anglican collect prayer for 8 May is:

“Most holy God, the bottom of our beseeching,
who through your servant Julian
revealed the wonders of your love:
grant that, as we’re created in your nature and restored by your grace,
our wills could also be made one with yours,
that we may come to see you nose to nose
and gaze on you for ever;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who’s alive and reigns with you,
within the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.”