Dear Friends,
In the Tenth Revelation, Julian of Norwich sees Christ look down from the cross towards his side and reveal his Sacred Heart:
And with this, our good lord said full blissfully: “Lo, how I loved thee,” as if he had said: “My darling, behold and see thy lord, thy God, that is thy maker and thy endless joy. See thine own brother, thy savior. My child, behold and see what delight and bliss I have in thy salvation, and for my love enjoy it with me.”
Julian hears a direct locution in which Christ speaks, in five words, everything that could be said from his Heart to Julian’s: “Lo, how I loved thee.” And yet, for Julian, the layers of meaning keep pouring forth, as if Christ had told her his love over and over again, as lovers do, in countless different and intimate ways. She tries to find words to express the inexpressible:
And also, for better understanding: this blessed word was said, “Lo how I loved thee,” as if he had said: “Behold and see that I loved thee so much, before I died for thee, that I wanted to die for thee. And now I have died for thee, and suffered willingly whatever I can. And now is all my bitter pain and all my hard travail turned to endless joy and bliss to me and to thee. How should it now be that thou should pray to me for anything that pleases me, but that I should full gladly grant it thee? For my pleasure is thy holiness and thy endless joy and bliss with me.”
Julian’s use of paraphrase here reaches a fever pitch. It is “as if” Christ had said there is nothing he would not have done to show his love for her, as for every person. From eternity, he knew he would die for love. Then he “suffered willingly” and did die for love. And now, he is in “endless joy and bliss” and wants nothing so much as to share his love with all those for whom he has died. This is the love, past, present, and future, that Julian understood “was without beginning, and is, and shall be forever.”
Here, for the first time, Julian introduces the topic of prayer in connection with Christ’s love. Why should he refuse anything that she asks for, if it is pleasing to him? Out of love, he will grant it if it will lead to her holiness and eternal joy. How could he not?
This is the understanding, simply as I can say of this blessed word: "Lo, how loved thee." This showed our good lord [to us] to make us glad and merry.
Here Julian expresses the source of the true gladness and merriment we celebrate at Christmas: That God became human in Jesus Christ, was conceived in Mary’s womb, born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, then lived and taught and worked miracles of mercy and healing for our sake, and finally, suffered and died – all out of unconditional love for each and every one of us. Our good Lord invites us to “behold and see what delight and bliss” he has in our salvation. And he wants us “to enjoy it” out of love for him!
May this Christmas be full of special blessings and an ever-greater capacity to be “glad and merry” in the birth of Jesus Christ and in the joyful reality of our salvation!
Veronica
Note: Quotations above are from my book: Julian's Gospel: Illuminating the Life & Revelations of Julian of Norwich (Orbis Books).
In the Tenth Revelation, Julian of Norwich sees Christ look down from the cross towards his side and reveal his Sacred Heart:
And with this, our good lord said full blissfully: “Lo, how I loved thee,” as if he had said: “My darling, behold and see thy lord, thy God, that is thy maker and thy endless joy. See thine own brother, thy savior. My child, behold and see what delight and bliss I have in thy salvation, and for my love enjoy it with me.”
Julian hears a direct locution in which Christ speaks, in five words, everything that could be said from his Heart to Julian’s: “Lo, how I loved thee.” And yet, for Julian, the layers of meaning keep pouring forth, as if Christ had told her his love over and over again, as lovers do, in countless different and intimate ways. She tries to find words to express the inexpressible:
And also, for better understanding: this blessed word was said, “Lo how I loved thee,” as if he had said: “Behold and see that I loved thee so much, before I died for thee, that I wanted to die for thee. And now I have died for thee, and suffered willingly whatever I can. And now is all my bitter pain and all my hard travail turned to endless joy and bliss to me and to thee. How should it now be that thou should pray to me for anything that pleases me, but that I should full gladly grant it thee? For my pleasure is thy holiness and thy endless joy and bliss with me.”
Julian’s use of paraphrase here reaches a fever pitch. It is “as if” Christ had said there is nothing he would not have done to show his love for her, as for every person. From eternity, he knew he would die for love. Then he “suffered willingly” and did die for love. And now, he is in “endless joy and bliss” and wants nothing so much as to share his love with all those for whom he has died. This is the love, past, present, and future, that Julian understood “was without beginning, and is, and shall be forever.”
Here, for the first time, Julian introduces the topic of prayer in connection with Christ’s love. Why should he refuse anything that she asks for, if it is pleasing to him? Out of love, he will grant it if it will lead to her holiness and eternal joy. How could he not?
This is the understanding, simply as I can say of this blessed word: "Lo, how loved thee." This showed our good lord [to us] to make us glad and merry.
Here Julian expresses the source of the true gladness and merriment we celebrate at Christmas: That God became human in Jesus Christ, was conceived in Mary’s womb, born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, then lived and taught and worked miracles of mercy and healing for our sake, and finally, suffered and died – all out of unconditional love for each and every one of us. Our good Lord invites us to “behold and see what delight and bliss” he has in our salvation. And he wants us “to enjoy it” out of love for him!
May this Christmas be full of special blessings and an ever-greater capacity to be “glad and merry” in the birth of Jesus Christ and in the joyful reality of our salvation!
Veronica
Note: Quotations above are from my book: Julian's Gospel: Illuminating the Life & Revelations of Julian of Norwich (Orbis Books).
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