The most engaging and complete collection available of this 14th century English mystic

The Revelations of Julian of Norwich is the first book written in English by a woman - in this case, by a 14th century recluse who recounts the poignant, subtle, and radical insights granted to her in sixteen visions of the crucified Christ as she lay on what was believed to be her deathbed. Julian's miraculous recovery from that illness then led to twenty more years of reflection and contemplation on those revelations and finally to her writing a detailed account of her mystical experience.

Her work - in the same Middle English as her contemporary Geoffrey Chaucer - is dense, deeply intuitive, and theologically complex. The Complete Julian is the first book to offer a modern translation of all of Julian's writings (including her complete Revelations), a complete analysis of her work, as well as original historical, religious, and personal background material that helps the reader comprehend the depth and profundity of her life and work.

[Julian's Revelations] may well be the most important work of Christian reflection in the English language.
-- Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury

The Christian mystical tradition has its roots in Holy Scripture but was enunciated most clearly by the late 5th century author writing under the name Dionysius the Areopagite. It was acquaintance with the medieval version of that work which inspired the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing and led him to develop his insights and perceptions of the obscurity and unknowability of God. His understanding was that God was on an entirely different plane of existence from human beings--indeed, so different that time-bound human language was inadequate to describe God exhaustively or accurately. Intellect and emotion both fail in seeking God, who can only be encountered by rejecting of all common earthly means in a cloud of forgetting and the discovery of Godself in the dark cloud of unknowing which can be pierced only with a lance of longing love.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

For thirty years, Fr. John-Julian has practiced contemplative prayer daily as a monk of the Order of Julian of Norwich. The book is a record of letters of advice written to a young seminarian who was interested in investigating the practical dimensions of the contemplative way for himself, full of questions: What is all this contemplative prayer people are talking about these days? I never heard anything about that back in my parish. Is this really part of the Christian tradition or some New Age import from Buddhism or some other -ism? The answering letters have been edited, re-written, expanded, and polished into Letters to Jacob: Mostly About Contemplative Prayer (with a nod to C.S. Lewis)--a rare look at the contemplative life from the inside, with a series of cautions and warnings based on the realities of the contemplative way, not some intellectual concept. It faces into the unpopular but essential dynamics that few others have dared to present, with all the masks removed. There are a few theological side trips as well, exploring subjects like the nature of God, sin and repentance, salvation, good liturgy, the keeping of rules, and the spiritual value of bad posture.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.