A papal message and blessing marking the 650th year since the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich received her “Revelations of Divine Love” has been sent to all those participating in commemorations.
The Pope’s blessing, sent to both the Catholic Bishop of East Anglia and the Church of England Bishop of Norwich, was read out at a special service in Norwich Anglican Cathedral last Sunday, 14 May.
In a joint statement, Bishop Peter Collins and his Anglican counterpart, Graham Usher, stated they were “very grateful” to the Pope for his blessing and “delighted that Catholics, Anglicans and Christians of other denominations, will be coming together to pray and be inspired by Julian’s life and witness to God in Jesus”.
The Pope’s message, dated 8 May, states he was pleased to find that pilgrimages and other events were being held to mark the anniversary, and extended “the assurance of my spiritual closeness to those taking part”. Referring to Julian’s famous apprehension in a vision that “all manner of thing shall be well”, the Pope added that he prayed “all who face the pressing challenges of war, injustice, ecological disaster or spiritual poverty, may be consoled and strengthened by these enduring words of wisdom”. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, also sent his best wishes to those commemorating the anniversary, saying he was “glad that her shrine is honoured and maintained today, and pray that it will continue to flourish”.
Julian, an anchorite, or enclosed hermit, living in Norwich in the 14th and 15th century, began receiving visions of Christ’s passion in 1673 when she was thirty years old. The Revelations of Divine Love is the oldest surviving work by a woman writer in the English language. Little-known for many centuries after the English reformation, they have enjoyed a significant twentieth-century renaissance. Although Julian is not a canonised saint in the eyes of the Church, Revelations of Divine Love is quoted in the Catechism. Alongside events in both Catholic and Anglican Churches in the region, an exhibition, a writing competition and a “cloth of kindness” stitched together from local textiles are all planned to celebrate Julian’s life in the coming months.
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