May 13 St. Juliana of Norwich

[Denise]

St. Julian/Juliana of Norwich (1342–1416) is a Benedictine nun who lived as a recluse in Norwich, England. Little is known of her life with certainty. At the age of 30 she was suddenly struck by a severe illness which almost took her life. During this illness she received a series of visions of Jesus Christ in sixteen separate revelations. When she recovered from her illness the visions stopped.

Fifteen years later, Our Lord appeared to her to give her the meaning of her visions. St. Julian wrote her visions down in a book called Revelations of Divine Love, the earliest surviving book in the English language known to have been written by a woman. After these revelations she began to live a solitary life as an anchoress in a little cell built into the wall at the church of St. Julian in Norwich, not far from London.

During her life the Church was in schism, and England was caught in a long war with France. The book contains a message of optimism based on the certainty of being loved by God and of being protected by his Providence. She received visitors to her cell and gave them guidance on the spiritual life, becoming a spiritual mother to many. St. Julian is an important medieval mystic whose response to the problem of evil is cited in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

[MarieT]

a very interesting mystic
The whole ceremony of entombment in the cell by the bishop and the lifestyle led afterwards was fascinating. Apparently she could keep a cat (but not a cow for milk) once entombed in her cell. The cats were permitted because of mice / rat issues.

She had asked the Lord from a very young age to be given the opportunity to experience witnessing the Lord's passion first hand.

With its brutality and torture, a wimp like myself wondered why she asked for this. Her graphic disclosure of the effect of the crown of thorns, cross, lance etc was rather vivid. She states the Holy Spirit gave her the strength and joy after the experience.

I still havent seen Mel Gibson's "The Passion".....i keep wanting to watch it but cannot handle a 2 minute trailer even....too distressing