Juliana of Norwich has some wonderful meditations on the Litany of the Sacred Heart. THIS work may be described as a commentary on, or a series of passages illustrating, the invocations of the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, extracted from the rich mine of treasures to be found in the Revelations of Divine Love by Mother Juliana of "Norwich, who lived in the fourteenth century. The theme of these Revelations is the love of Jesus, especially manifested in His Holy Passion and Death, which she sums up in the last chapter of her book in the following words: " I desired oftentimes to learn what was our Lord's meaning. And fifteen years after and more, I was answered in ghostly understanding. Saying thus: - \: Vouldst thou learn thy Lord's meaning in this thing? Learn it well: Love was His meaning. Who showed it thee? Love. What showed He thee? Love. Wherefore showed it He? For love. Hold thee therein and thou shalt learn and know more in the same. But thou shalt never know nor learn therein other thing without end.' Thus was I learned that Love was our Lord's meaning.
Julian of Norwich (1342 - 1416)
Julian of Norwich was an English anchoress and an important Christian mystic and theologian. Her Revelations of Divine Love, written around 1395, is the first book in the English language known to have been written by a woman. Julian was also known as a spiritual authority within her community, where she also served as a counsellor and advisor. She is venerated in the Anglican and Lutheran churches. The Roman Catholic Church has not declared her to be a saint or given her the title Blessed. Accordingly, she does not appear in the Roman Martyrology, nor is she included in the calendar of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.The first printed version of the Revelations was edited by a Benedictine, Serenus Cressy, in 1670. It was reprinted in 1843, 1864 and again in 1902. Modern interest in the text increased with the 1877 publication of a new edition of the Long Text by Henry Collins. An important moment was the publication of Grace Warrack's 1901 version of the book, with its "sympathetic informed introduction" and modernised language, which introduced most early 20th century readers to Julian's writings. Following the publication of the Warrack edition, Julian's name spread rapidly and she became a topic in many lectures and writings. Many editions of the works have been published in the last forty years (see below for further details), with translations into French (five times), German (four times), Italian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Catalan, Greek and Russian.
... Show more