Revelations of Divine Love

The "Revelations of Divine Love" (which also bears the title "A Revelation of Love — in Sixteen Shewings" above the first chapter) is a book of Christian mystical devotions written by Julian of Norwich. It was the first published book in the English language to be written by a woman. At the age of thirty, 13 May 1373, Julian was struck with a serious illness. As she prayed and prepared for death, she received a series of sixteen visions on the Passion of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Saved from the brink of death, Julian of Norwich dedicated her life to solitary prayer and the contemplation of the visions she had received. She wrote a short account of her visions probably soon after the event. About twenty or thirty years after her illness, near the end of the fourteenth century, she wrote down her visions and her understanding of them. Whereas Latin was the language of religion in her day, Julian of Norwich wrote in a straightforward Middle English, perhaps because she had no other medium in which to express herself (she describes herself as "a simple creature unlettered", "Rev." chap. 2).

The "Revelations" is divided into eighty-six chapters. These chapters are gathered into larger sections as follows:
# Introductory thoughts — chapters 1–3
# The first fourteen revelations, each in turn — chapters 4–43
# Thoughts about the foregoing fourteen revelations — chapters 44–63
# Revelations fifteen and sixteen in turn — chapters 64–86
# A scribal postscript

The first chapter begins with a single sentence introduction: "This is a Revelation of Love that Jesus Christ, our endless bliss, made in Sixteen Shewings, or Revelations particular". This is followed by a sentence or two describing each of the sixteen visions in turn. The second chapter is partly autobiographical. Julian mentions her illness, but in a spiritual manner. She reflects on three 'gifts' from God: meditation on the Passion of Christ, meditation on her own suffering and the gift of greater piety (which she calls 'wounds'). In the third chapter, which concludes the introduction, Julian writes more concretely about the events of her illness and her preparation for death by receiving the last rites. The introduction ends with Julian's recounting of her sudden recovery as she lay on her deathbed gazing at a shining image of the cross.

The individual revelations are as follows:
# The Crown of Thorns and God's love for all that is made — the hazelnut
# The face of Jesus on the Cross
# All creation is in God's wise care
# The scourging of Jesus, and the spilling of his blood
# The evil one defeated by the cross
# God's gifts of thanks to those who serve him
# God comforts those whether in good times or bad
# The death of Christ
# The love for humanity that brought Christ to his Passion fills the heavens
# The broken heart of Jesus for love of the world
# Mary, mother of Jesus
# The glory of Christ
# The great deed of God's making amends for our sin, which prevents us, and that he will make all things well
# God is the ground of our beseeching: he inspires us to pray and gives us what is needful
# Our coming up above: resurrection
# Christ dwells in the souls of those who love him

External links

* [http://www.cynthialarge.com/julian/julianpage.html Paintings of Julian of Norwich by Cynthia Large]
* [http://www.umilta.net/love1.html Julian of Norwich, "Showing of Love"] - from the [http://www.umilta.net/julian.html Juliansite]
* [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/julian/revelations.html "Revelations of Divine Love"] — from the [http://www.ccel.org Christian Classics Ethereal Library]