About Julian of Norwich who is quoted in The Gap Year Reflections
Julian of Norwich was only six years old at the time of the devastating Black Death (1348-1350) which killed over half the European population. In the U.S. we lost over 1-million during the COVID-19 Pandemic. If you are reading this, you survived. A survivor,Julian was fortunate to attend a school for girls run by nuns of the local Benedictine abbey.
The virus caught up with Julian when she was 30. In the U.S.people continue to die of the COVID virus. Julian nearly died. As she lay on her deathbed, she had a series of spiritual visions. Once recovered she wrote them down in Revelations of Divine Love so that, fortunately, we still have them today.
From these optimistic writings, she became known as a spiritual authority and adviser, a famous anchoress. As an anchoress, Julian lived a solitary life that not only allowed her a place of calm and quiet in a chaotic world but also—as the virus continued to deplete the population-- preserved her own life.
Depictions of Julian have her sitting serenely, her cat on her lap, opening her window shutter to people coming for spiritual advice. One of Julian’s more noted visitors was the English mystic writer Margery Kempe whose autobiography notes that she sought out, "Dame Jelyan ... for the anchoress was expert in "divine revelations”, "and good counsel could give.” “This was said so tenderly, without blame of any kind toward me or anybody else."
Today,may we also be tender toward others.
