Julian of Norwich
Further information: Julian of NorwichJulian of Norwich was a fourteenth-century female mystic and anchoress, a religious person living secluded in a cell within a church. According to her own accounts, Kempe visited Julian and stayed for several days; she was especially eager to obtain Julian's approval for the "very many holy speeches and converse with our Lord...also the many wonderful revelations, which she described to the anchoress to find out if there was any deception in them. For the anchoress was expert in such things and could give good advice." Evidently, Julian approved of Kempe's revelations, or at least did not denounce them as false, giving Kempe her most credible source that her religiosity was genuine. However, Julian does instruct and caution Kempe to "measure these experiences according to the worship they accrue to God and the profit to her fellow Christians." Julian is also the one to justify and confirm that Kemp's tears are physical evidence of the Holy Spirit in soul. At the end of their discussion, Julian finally encourages Kempe to "Set all your trust in God and fear not the language of the world."
Read more about this topic: Margery Kempe
Famous quotes containing the word julian:
“The rich were dull and they drank too much or they played too much backgammon. They were dull and they were repetitious. He remembered poor Julian and his romantic awe of them and how he had started a story once that began, “The very rich are different from you and me.” And how someone had said to Julian, “Yes, they have more money.””
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)