Uncovering the face of the feminine in revelations of divine love, translated by Mirabai Starr (a summary by Pat Evert)
Mother is, for Julian, the best descriptor for God Herself! In a profoundly patriarchal, hierarchical, judgmental, exclusionary, imperial, and warlike period of history and Christianity, I believe it was probably necessary and salutary. Without which, we have some form of toxic religion, in which God is a tyrant and eternal punisher. This is not the God of Julian’s belief. God is, in essence, like a good mother—so compassionate that there was no need to compete with a Father God—as we see in Julian’s always balanced teachings. Almighty God and Vulnerable God as one. ~ Richard Rohr
Introduction –
The Face of the Holy One – They warn you about impure thoughts, but the God you love is an unconditionally loving mother who squeezes your cheeks, looks into your eyes, and tells you that you are the most adorable creature she ever created. All you perceive, from horizon to endless horizon, is love. As far as your eye can see there stretches a line of joyous children being welcomed home. Your God would never punish you for being a human being: this life itself is your penance, she reminds you. But it is also more than that: it is a crucible for transformation.
The Showings – She was a thirty-year-old medieval Englishwoman having a near-death experience. She almost didn’t make it through the night. As she felt her soul begin to slip away, she had a vision of Christ, followed by fifteen more over the course of the next few hours, which she spent the next two decades unpacking, winnowing, and interpreting for the sake of all spiritual seekers everywhere. the teachings that Christ gave to her filled her heart with humility, empathy for all suffering beings, and a burning yearning for union with God, which she refers to as “oneing.” Julian asks what the Holy One meant by all this. “Love. Stay with this and you will know more of the same. You will never know anything but love, without end.”
No Such Thing – Sin. “The truth is,” Julian confesses, “I did not see any sin. I believe that sin has no substance, not a particle of being, and cannot be detected at all except by the pain it causes. The suffering we cause ourselves through our acts of greed and unconsciousness is the only punishment we endure. God, who is All-Love, is “incapable of wrath.” And so it is a complete waste of time, to wallow in guilt. Rush into the arms of God where we will remember who we really are. Separation from the Holy One is nothing but illusion. We are always and forever “oned” in love with our Beloved. Therefore, sin is not real; only love is real.
God-the-Mother – Who else but a mother would pour herself out and break herself open for her children? Who but a mother would nurture life inside her own body and maintain a garden where we can take refuge and grow strong? God-the-Mother, according to Julian’s view, is identical with the Second Person of the Holy Trinity: Christ. In this form he himself offered the unconditional service and duties of motherhood. Being nearest to our own nature, the mother’s serving is most immediate. Being unconditionally loving, the mother’s service is most willing. And being the truest thing there is, the mother’s service is most certain. Only God could ever perform such duty.” The ever-present source of all Goodness, who transcends gender and permeates all things: All One Love.
A Light in the Darkness – She teaches us that God’s love has nothing to do with rules and retribution and everything to do with mercy and compassion. She shows us that our failings and transgressions are simply an opportunity to learn and grow, and should be honored as such, but not dwelled upon. Most of all, Julian of Norwich promises that, in spite of appearances to the contrary, all is well. Not just that creation was beautifully made to begin with, and that it will all work out in the end, but that everything is all right at every moment, if we could only look through the eyes of love. But then the veil drops again and we forget. We succumb to the illusion that we are worthless wretches and life a cruel conspiracy. God loves us completely, exactly as we are. All that is created, it lasts, and will last forever, because God loves it.
PART I: Revelations of Love
Sixteen Showings of Love
The first showing revealed his crown of thorns. This showing described the Trinity in detail, as well as the Incarnation, and the essential unity between the human soul and the Divine.The second showing revealed the darkening of his lovely face, which symbolized his supreme passion. The third showing revealed that our God created all that exists and is the cause of everything that happens. The fourth showing revealed the lashing of his tender body and the copious blood he shed. The fifth showing revealed that the precious passion of Christ overcomes the spirit of evil. The sixth showing revealed that our God rewards all his blessed servants with profound gratitude in the world to come. The seventh showing revealed that both joy and suffering are bound up with the human experience. The eighth showing revealed the final sufferings of Christ and his cruel death. The ninth showing revealed that the outcome of Christ’s terrible passion and heartrending death is the pure delight that infuses the blessed Trinity. The tenth showing revealed that the heart of our Lord Jesus has been broken in two for love. The eleventh showing was an exalted revelation of his blessed Mother. The twelfth showing revealed that our Lord is the supreme source of all life. The thirteenth showing revealed that our God wants us to deeply appreciate the magnificence of what he has done and truly cherish all that he has made. We need not demand that he disclose all his secrets now. The fourteenth showing revealed that God is the ground of all our seeking. The fifteenth showing revealed that one day all our pain and sorrow will be lifted and we shall live with him in everlasting bliss. The sixteenth showing revealed that the Creator, eternally dwells in our souls.
Three wishes
These showings were revealed on May 8, 1373, to a simple, unlearned creature, who had once asked for three gifts from God: one, participation in his passion; two, a life-threatening illness; and three, the grace of the triple-wound (contrition, compassion, and unbearable longing for God). The first two prayers soon passed from my mind, while the third prayer perpetually burned in my heart.
Encountering the Trinity (1)
I saw the red blood trickling down from under his garland of thorns. The blood flowed hot and fresh, just as abundantly as it had during the time of his passion when the actual thorns pressed into his blessed head. He who was both God and man, who suffered like this for me. This sight of his blessed passion, combined with the revelation of the Godhead in my understanding, helped me to believe that I had the strength to overcome whatever spirits of evil and other supernatural temptations I might encounter.
Saint Mary
Next, he brought our blessed Mother, Saint Mary, to my mind. She was very young—a simple, humble girl—barely older than a child. She appeared as the same size and age that she was in real life when she conceived the Christ Child. From this place of wisdom and truth, fully aware of God’s vastness and of her own littleness, both humbly and boldly, she responded to the angel Gabriel, “Behold! Here I am, the handmaiden of God.”
A Hazelnut
Then he showed me a small thing, the size of a hazelnut, nestled in the palm of my hand. It was round as a ball. I looked at it with the eyes of my understanding and thought, What can this be? And the answer came to me: It is all that is created. I was amazed that it could continue to exist. It seemed to me to be so little that it was on the verge of dissolving into nothingness. And then these words entered my understanding: It lasts, and will last forever, because God loves it. Everything that is has its being through the love of God.
He Is Enough
He wants us to rest in him. He is all that is, and he knows that anything less is not enough for us. Our Lord also showed me that it gives him great pleasure when a simple soul comes to him naked, open, and intimate. I understood this when the following prayer came to me: God, through your goodness, give me yourself. You are enough for me. I cannot honor you by asking for anything less. When I do ask for less, I am never satisfied. Only in you do I have all. He sustains us always in his perfect love.
Intermediaries
And so it is not wrong to seek God and praise him through his intermediaries, as long as we remember that he is the goodness within everything. Until we come to know God directly and realize that he already has us enfolded in himself.
The Miracle of the Human Body
God does not disdain anything he has created. It is clear that it is God who has devised this perfect system. God’s love for us is so great that it surpasses the understanding of any living being. It also awakens in us abundant love for all our fellow beings.
Herring Scales
To help me learn the meaning of this revelation, our Beloved showed me Our Lady Saint Mary. I recognized that she is the embodiment of exalted wisdom and truth. At the same time that I beheld Mary in a spiritual vision, I was watching the copious bleeding of Christ’s head in a bodily vision. Nevertheless, three images came to mind at the same time: one was the roundness of the drops of blood as they emerged from his head; another was the way the drops looked like the scales of a herring as they spread over his forehead; and the other was that the flow was so abundant it reminded me of rain cascading from the eaves of a house. This showing was vivid and alive, hideous and dreadful, and sweet and lovely.
Our Friendly Lord
Of all the showings revealed to me, the one that gave me the most comfort was that our sweet Lord—who is infinitely exalted and alone is worthy of worship—is also utterly simple and friendly. Oh! How could such a noble being honor me any more completely and give me any greater joy than to share with me (who is so ordinary) his personal friendship? This showing was so vivid and uplifting, it ravished my heart, and in light of his tender intimacy, I lost myself in joy and almost forgot who I was altogether. We shall all see him face-to-face, and he will personally manifest his friendship to each one of us. And so this showing reveals nothing less or more than our faith has already taught us, only now we know it with the whole of our souls.
Not for Me Alone
From the revelation of the abundant bleeding of his dear head I learned: He made everything for love, and by love all things are sustained and protected, and ever shall be. God is everything that is good; the goodness in everything is God. I understood that the vision I was receiving was not for me alone, but for all beings.
Today Is My Judgment Day
I said this because I expected to die. God has made it clear to me that he gave me these showings for the good of everyone. In his gracious love and goodness, he desires that this vision be of comfort to us all.
Loving God Better
This revelation does not make me a better person. I am only better if I love God better. We are all one in love. It is only in unity with my fellow spiritual seekers that I am anything at all. It is this foundation of unity that will save humanity.
Loving All That Is
God loves all that he has created. God is inside us, and inside God is everything. And so whoever loves God loves all that is.
His Ravaged Face
I had a physical vision of the face on the crucifix. I beheld aspects of his passion: vile contempt, spitting and pummeling, and more excruciating wounds than I could possibly count. It filled my heart with sorrow. If God wants to show you more, he will be your light. You need no other light than him.
Plunging into the Sea
At some point, my mind was plunged into the depths of the sea. What I realized was that even if a man or a woman were brought down to the bottom of the ocean each could still see God. God is everywhere. We believe that we hardly see God at all, but what he desires is for us to believe that we see him continuously. There were moments when I doubted that it really was a vision from God.
Veronica’s Veil
This showing symbolized the shame of our negative deeds, which our sweet, bright, blessed Lord bore for us. It made me think of the veil of the blessed Veronica, which carried the imprint of his holy face as he was in the throes of his cruel passion, willingly bound for his death. The true face of the one reflected in Veronica’s veil was the very essence of the beauty of heaven, flower of the earth, fruit of the blessed maiden’s womb. our Maker wishes us to be like Christ our Savior, dwelling forever and ever in a state of grace, by the power of our re-creation. Remember how I said before that our bright and lovely Lord concealed his Godhead inside our pale and lowly flesh?
He Wants Us to Seek Him (16)
God loves it when we seek him. What pleases God is our continual search, fueled by faith, hope, and love. What pleases us is encountering the object of our heart’s deepest desire, which fills us with joy. It is God’s will that we strive for three things: willingness, patience and finally complete faith.
A Single Point
Next, I saw God in a single point in my mind. I realized that God is the center of all that is and the Doer of all that is done. Then, this question arose in my mind: What is sin? For I saw truly that God is responsible for everything, no matter how little, and nothing happens by luck or chance. Love compelled me to conclude that all that is done is well done. He does everything and is incapable of sin. This led me to believe that sin is no thing. Nowhere in all that was revealed to me did I see a trace of sin. And so I stopped looking for it and moved on.
Rightfulness
What I saw next was the absolute rightfulness of God’s action for all souls. Rightfulness has two beautiful aspects: it is right, and it is full. Nothing he does ever lacks mercy or grace. Nothing is missing. Human beings deem certain actions as good and others as evil, but this is not the way our Lord sees things. But we must also understand that the most insignificant acts are just as important as the most exalted, because they all share the common trait of being ordained by the Divine.
Perfectly Arranged
This is why the blessed Trinity is always completely happy with everything he does. God has revealed all this with abundant blessing, as if to say, See, I am God! See, I am inside everything and I do everything. See my hand in all my works: I shall never lift it, for all eternity. See, I guide all things to the goal I ordained for them, by the same power, wisdom, and love with which I created them. How could anything possibly be amiss?
No Wrath in God
Before God revealed any words to me, he allowed me to simply gaze upon him for a long time. He said to my soul, In this way, the spirit of evil is overcome. What he meant was that the power of his blessed passion is greater than all darkness. The Adversary is wicked, but he’s impotent. Remember: there can be no wrath in God. He endlessly upholds that which honors him and, with infinite power and perfect justice, opposes the forces of evil, which busily conspire to act against the divine will.
Laughter
I saw Christ scorn the malice of the Adversary and thoroughly dismiss him as powerless, and I saw that he wants us to discount him, too. This made me laugh out loud, which made the people around me laugh. When we see that the power of love overcomes the spirit of evil, it fills our hearts with comfort and joy.
Shifting Between Certainty and Despair
I was filled with everlasting certainty, which pervaded my being with its sustaining power and drove out all pain and fear. This lasted only a little while, however. Then the feeling shifted, and I was plunged into the depths of despair. I felt abandoned. I was so weary of my life, so annoyed with myself that I barely had the patience to go on living. And so I clung to these truths, but I did not feel them. I was suffering. And then I was in bliss. Back and forth—first one, then the other—maybe twenty times.
Well and Woe
What this revelation showed me is that some souls benefit from this range of feelings. God wants us to know that he supports us equally in well and woe. Both are one love. It is God’s will that we do everything in our power to find that inner consolation and rest in it. Pain passes, but that divine bliss is eternal.
Crown of Thorns
I watched in horror as the drying flesh around the crown of thorns began to lose its weight and lift from his skull, forming a kind of second circle around his head. His physical nature demanded liquid, and no one would give him anything to drink or offer him comfort of any kind. This lack of moisture, and the way it made his sweet body shrivel and collapse, was the cruelest torment of all. On top of all the other pains he endured, this anguish was unimaginable. Mere words fail to describe such intolerable suffering.
His Loving Mother
Next, I saw an aspect of the compassion of Our Lady Saint Mary. Christ and his mother were so one-ed in love. Because Mary loved him more than anyone else did, her pain surpassed the pain of all the others. The higher, the more intense, the sweeter the love, the deeper the sorrow the lover feels when she sees her beloved in pain. Indeed, all created things capable of feeling pain suffer with him. At the time of Christ’s death, all creation, which God made to serve us—the earth beneath us and the firmament above—failed in its natural function from sheer sorrow.
Recognizing Christ
Every being everywhere suffered, because the comfort of all creation was faltering. Dionysius was a pagan at the time. When he witnessed the wonders and marvels, the sorrows and terrors that occurred during Christ’s dying, he said, “Either the world is coming to an end right now, or else the One who is the Creator of nature is suffering.” Even those who did not know him experienced sorrow at that time.
Our Inner and Outer Parts
The outer part is our mortal flesh, which will always experience pain and sorrow in this life. Remember, I was suffering greatly from my illness during this time, and this is the part of me that was rebelling. The inner part is in a beautiful, exalted state. It is totally at peace there, deeply in love. I experienced this part secretly. It is from this place that I passionately, wisely, and willingly embraced Jesus. That’s when I realized that the inward part is the master of the outward. The interior neither takes orders from nor pays any attention to the exterior. Its entire focus is on oneing with our beloved Jesus. It was revealed to me that the outward does not convince the inward of its position but rather, by grace, the inner draws the outer to itself.
He Suffered for Us
I watched our beloved Jesus languishing for a long time. He who was highest and most worthy was most drastically brought low and utterly despised. The one who experienced this passion is God incarnate. And he suffered for the sake of every human being. He saw every individual’s sorrow, desolation, and anguish, and, from the depths of his kindness and love, he grieved for us all. He suffered for us.
Our Fragile Human Hearts
Then I realized that if he were to show us his most blissful countenance now, no pain on earth could possibly trouble us. In exchange for the bit of pain we endure in our lives, we will receive a transcendent, boundless knowledge of God, which we could never have without that portion of tribulation.
The Bliss of the Father
Then our kind, sweet Lord said, “If you are satisfied, I am satisfied. It is a source of endless joy, bliss, and delight to me that I suffered my passion for you. At that point, my consciousness was transported to paradise, where I perceived three states of bliss, which astonished me. I thought, I see three heavens, but they are all part of the blessed humanity of Christ. None is greater than another, or less, neither higher nor lower, but they are all equal in their supreme joy.
We Are His Crown
The Father is well pleased with all that Christ has done for our liberation. Through the generosity of his Father, who has given us to him, we are his bliss! We are his reward! We are his honor! We are his crown. What I am trying to say is that we bring Christ such great bliss that he counts all his hard labor, painful passion, and cruel and shameful death as nothing. When he said to me, “If I could suffer more, I would,” I realized that he would die as often as he could. Even though his sweet humanity could only suffer and die once, the goodness in him can never cease from offering itself. This deed does not disturb me, since I would, for love of you, die and die again, and suffer and suffer again, paying absolutely no attention to my pain.
Love Is Greater Than Pain
The love that made him suffer his passion is greater than all his pain. His love is as far beyond his pain as heaven is from earth. It is because of this love that he uttered these sweet words, “If I could suffer more, I would suffer more.” He did not say, “If it were absolutely necessary, I would suffer more.” Because even if it weren’t necessary, he would do this over and over again for our love. God ordained this deed and action for the benefit of our liberation.
Nothing but pleased – Joy stands for the Father’s pleasure; bliss for the Son’s honor; and delight for the Holy Spirit. The Father is pleased; the Son is honored; and the Holy Spirit is happy forevermore.
The Joy that Permeates the Passion
I saw the joy that permeates his passion and makes him take delight in it. He wants our souls to be completely and joyfully engaged. For we are his bliss, and he delights in us and wishes for us to delight in him. We are liberated, and Christ endlessly rejoices.
The Cheerful Giver
When he said, “Are you well satisfied?” and then when he said, “If you are satisfied, I am satisfied.” It was as if he had said, Your satisfaction is enough to give me everlasting joy and delight. I ask nothing more than this in exchange for my service. The courteous giver counts all his cost and labor as nothing compared to the joy and delight he derives from bringing pleasure and comfort to someone he loves.
Gazing Into His Side
Then, with a cheerful expression, our Beloved looked into his side and gazed into his wound with joy. There he revealed to me a beautiful and delicious place, ample enough for all humanity to rest in peace and love. Our sweet Lord said, with passionate bliss, “Oh, how I have loved you!” My child, behold and see the utter delight and bliss I take in your liberation. For love of me, enjoy it with me now.
Oh, How I have Loved You
To deepen my understanding, he said these blessed words, “See how I have loved you!” It was as if he had said, Behold and see that even before I died for you I loved you so much that I wanted to die for you! And now I have died for you and have willingly suffered what I could. Now all my bitter pain and cruel labor have been transformed into endless joy and bliss for me and for you.
Would You Like to See Her?
Wondrous love Christ has for this sweet maiden, his blessed mother, Our Lady Saint Mary, he revealed her in all her joy. It was as if he had said, Do you want to see how much I love her, so that you can rejoice in the love I have for her and she has for me? For love of you, I have made her so noble, so worthy, so sublime. This delights me, and I wish to delight you. I wanted to see the virtues of her blessed soul—her truth, her wisdom, her love—and from this come to know myself better and increase my loving awe of God.
Radiant Mother
Where before I had perceived her as so little and simple, now I saw her in all her glory—radiant, regal—more pleasing to him than all created beings. And so he wants all who rejoice in him to rejoice in her, to share the delight he takes in her and that she takes in him. He showed her to me three times. The first time was when she conceived, the second was in her time of sorrow beneath the cross, and the third was as she is now: radiating honor and joy.
It Is I
He showed me that our soul will never find rest until it comes into him and understands that he is the fullness of all joy.
It is I, I am the one you long for. I am the one you desire. I am the object of your intention. I am all.
PART II – EVERY KIND OF THING SHALL BE WELL
All Will Be Well
In this showing Jesus gave me all that I needed. “Sin is inevitable,” he said, “yet all will be well and every kind of thing shall be well.”
I Saw No Sin
I saw all this suffering in a fleeting glance, which quickly turned into comfort. But the truth is, I did not see any sin. I believe that sin has no substance, not a particle of being, and cannot be detected at all except by the pain it causes. It is only the pain that has substance, for a while, and it serves to purify us and make us know ourselves. It is true that sin causes all this pain, but all will be well…
Not an Iota of Blame
When he said these gentle words, he showed me that he does not have one iota of blame for me, or for any other person. One day we will understand why he allowed the suffering of sin to come into this world, and we will endlessly rejoice.
Shattering Compassion
My own heart was filled with compassion for all my fellow spiritual seekers, in the same way that I was filled with pain and compassion for the passion of Christ. But our Lord revealed this to me: “I shall turn this into a great thing—a thing of endless honor and everlasting joy.” I saw that our Beloved rejoices (with sympathy and compassion) in the hardships his servants endure. I heard him say, I shall utterly shatter you. I will empty you of your vain inclinations and bitter pride. After that I will gather you up and infuse you with humility and gentleness. I will make you pure and holy. I shall one you to myself.
We Do Not Suffer Alone
He wants us to know that all our pain will be transformed into blessings and honor by virtue of his passion. He wants us to realize that we never suffer alone, but always together with him, and to rest in him as our foundation. He looks upon us with nothing but sympathy and mercy, as the children we are: guileless, innocent.
Repairing the Sin of Adam
He showed me that the most harm that has ever been done, or ever will be until the world ends, was caused by Adam. He wanted me to acknowledge his glorious reparation and realize that this is infinitely more pleasing to the beloved Godhead than Adam’s sin was harmful. He wants us to pay attention to this teaching: Since I have set right the greatest of transgressions, I want you to rest assured that I will make well everything that is less serious.
Room for All
Our Savior and our salvation are open and clear, beautiful and luminous and ample. There is room enough for all of humanity here. We are bound to this part by God and powerfully attracted to it. Our Beloved wants us to Rejoice in Him as He rejoices in us.
Secret Teaching
It is appropriate for God to hold his secret counsel in peace. It is appropriate for his servants, out of reverence and respect, to let go of our desire to understand his mysteries. Do the saints in heaven wish to know anything other than what God chooses to reveal to them? No! They surrender to his will in all matters.
I Have the Power to Make All Things Well
“I have the power to make all things well,” he said. The entire blessed Trinity is unified when he says, “I shall.” And where he says, “You will see for yourself,” I believe he is including the whole of humanity. Those of us who will be one-ed with Christ, bringing him endless joy and bliss, are still here in this world, and more of us are being born every day. This is his thirst.
Human and Divine
Christ is both God and human. He assured us of this when he said, “It is a source of endless joy, bliss, and delight to me that I suffered my passion for you.” In his humanity, into which all human beings are woven, he is not yet fully glorified and is not beyond suffering.
Longing
As long as we are in need, Christ will continue to experience the very essence of spiritual thirst, and the energy of his longing draws us to himself. But his wisdom and his love do not allow him to put an end to this longing until the perfect time.
You Will See for Yourself
He does not only pay attention to lofty and noble things, but also to things that are humble and small. He cares about the one as much as the other, this as well as that. there are many actions in this world that seem to be done with evil intent, and we see that they cause great harm. It seems impossible to us that such things could ever have a good outcome. We are too blind to comprehend the wondrous wisdom of God, too limited to grasp the power and goodness of the blessed Trinity.
Hidden Blessing
And so I draw deep comfort from these words, “I have the power to make all things well,” and I know that our Beloved has many great blessings in store for us. He chooses to hide from us exactly what it will be and how it will be done. Yet it must, for now, remain a secret.
How Could All Be Well
One of the things our faith says is that many creatures will be damned. The only answer I could find in any of my showings was when our Beloved said, “What is impossible for you is not impossible for me. I will keep my word in all things, and I shall make all things well.” How he will do it remain a mystery to any mind inferior to the mind of Christ.
Nothing About Hell
The only thing that even came close was the showing in which God revealed to me that he completely dismisses the spirit of evil. They seem to be dismissed when they die. While I saw several showings of Christ passion and felt a glimmer of the suffering Our Lady and his true friends experienced when they saw him in pain, I did not see anything about those who put him to death. We need to be satisfied with both his concealing and his revealing. This showing taught me that the more we busy ourselves in uncovering his secrets, in this or any other matter, the farther we will be from knowing.
Mystery
Our beloved God revealed to me that there are two kinds of mystery. One is the Great Secret. These are things that will remain hidden until the time comes when he will clearly reveal them to us. Our Beloved will fully and graciously reveal to us everything that is to our advantage to know.
Righteousness and Mercy
He is constantly leading all created things to the same glorious outcome. He does all that is good and tolerates all that is evil. Righteousness is something so good that it cannot be better than it is. God himself is true righteousness.
The Great Deed
I might go on missing the mark, but this will not hinder him in the slightest from blessing me with his great goodness. Beholding this truth is the highest joy for a soul in awe of God. My only task was to accept it wisely, faithfully, trustingly, and with joy. He does not want us to ever be afraid of what he will do to us. We should equally rejoice in that which he reveals and that which he conceals.
Something to Do with Me
This great deed shall be done for all of us. All we will do is continue missing the mark. It doesn’t matter. Rejoice in me! Of all the things you can do, this is what pleases me most.
Miracles
“I have performed many miracles in the past,” he said. “But I have never stopped making miracles, and I never will.” He does not want us to become overly disheartened by the sorrows that befall us or the temptations that besiege us. It has always been this way before miracles come.
I Will Keep You Safe
Just as I was shown that I am going to miss the mark whether I intend to or not, I saw that God will keep me safe no matter what, and that the same is true for all my spiritual companions. What could make me love my fellow spiritual seekers more than to see that God loves them all as one unified soul? For in the higher part of every individual soul on the spiritual path there is a spark of the Divine will that never has and never shall consent to sin. There is also a savage will in the lower part of humanity that is incapable of willing anything good. But the God-part is so good that it triumphs over the animal-part, and he loves us for who we are.
Sin Is the Source of Honor
Sin is a source of honor, rather than shame. While it is true that for every sin there is corresponding pain, we are blessed an equal measure of love. Just as we suffer various pains in this life in accordance with the severity of our various sins, we shall be rewarded in heaven with various joys in proportion to the victories we achieved. The goodness of God could never permit them to suffer for the actions they already paid for in their lifetime.
Beloved Sinners
There are innumerable others who are recognized by the Church along with their sins. There is no shame in this, because all their transgressions have been turned into honor. He transforms all things, no matter how ugly or sorrowful, into blessing. God gave him joys in the next world that far exceeded anything he would have experienced if he had not missed the mark and fallen.
A Contrite Heart
Sin is the harshest affliction that can burden our souls. It is a scourge that strikes men and women, and so severely damages us in our own eyes that we judge ourselves as unworthy. Contrition, compassion and true longing for God are the medicines that heal every soul who has missed the mark.
Glorious Compensation
God sees the healed wounds of the soul as honors. Our compensation will not be trivial. It will be exalted, glorious, filled with goodness.
Welcome Home
God will keep us fully safe. Remember when he gave us a glimpse of extreme spiritual thirst? This is the intensity with which he yearns to complete our joy.
Separation
If all the pains of earth, purgatory, and hell were laid in one pile, and sin in another, it would be better to choose all that pain than sin, which is separation from God. There is no crueler hell than to be separated from God. He wants us to be like him: wholly loving toward ourselves and toward all beings. Let God’s words bring you endless comfort: “I will keep you safe.”
I Am the Ground of Your Prayer
We often fail to trust God completely. “I am the ground of all your praying. First, it is my will that you have what you long for (oneing with me). Next, I am the one who makes you long for it. It originated from him, not you. He shall give our prayer back to us as a gift of gratitude, filled with endless honor and boundless joy.
Pray Without Ceasing
Our prayer, makes us like him. It is his blessed will that we be like him, not only in our nature (which we already are and always have been) but also in our will. Thanksgiving is a true, inner awareness. This is the holiest prayer—thanksgiving.
He Prays through Us
Prayer originates with God himself. The fruit that we harvest through prayer: that is, to be one-ed with and made like our Lord in every way.
Nobly Made
We have been most excellently and nobly made. God protects everything he has created in a field of love for our benefit. We should pray that he guide and direct us for the greatest good in this life.
Partners with God
Prayer unites the soul with God. Prayer becomes the witness that the soul wills as God wills. Through prayer, the soul and God come into perfect accord. The whole purpose for praying is to be made one with the vision and contemplation of the One we long for. In a true state of prayer, we rejoice, stilled by holy awe. The more the soul sees God, the more the soul desires to see God. She needs to ask to be made soft and supple, aligned with the divine will. For the Divine does not align himself to our will. No amount of prayer will makes God conform to us.
Seeing God Face-to-Face
His continual working in every kind of thing is so beautifully done—so wise and so powerful—that it surpasses our greatest imagination. He will give us the oneing we desire. We will long for our Beloved until the day we die. And on that day we will merge with our Beloved, knowing ourselves clearly and possessing God completely. We shall see God face-to-face.
Truth Sees, Wisdom Contemplates
We human beings continuously perform his will and honor him always, without end. Truth sees God. Wisdom contemplates God. When these two things come together, a third gift arises: the wondrous delight in God, which is love.
Human Judgment
God judges us according to our true essence, which he keeps, whole and safe, inside himself always. Depending on external appearances, human judgment is muddled. God’s righteous judgment arises from his exalted and endless love. I could not find blame and anger anywhere in God!
Conflicted
God himself showed me the higher judgment, and I was compelled to accept it. At the same time, I could not seem to give up the lower judgment previously taught to me by Holy Church. These two perspectives: loving-kindness and recrimination.
Know Yourself
It is only by faith that we can know the true self here in the fleshliness of this passing life. Once we clearly see and truly know our self, we shall clearly see and truly know our God in the fullness of joy. We can never know ourselves completely until the last moment of this passing life. Divine love is boundless and will continue forever, which infused me with an unshakable security in my total protection and blissful salvation. To love the teaching of the Holy Church and take delight in it, I could rise to an ever more exalted knowledge and more profound loving.
Contrary to His Nature
We do many things that we should stop doing and leave things undone that we ought to do. We deserve some blame and castigation for this. Still, notwithstanding all this, I saw that in truth our Beloved is never angry, nor ever shall be, for he is God. God is himself the goodness that is incapable of anger, for he is nothing but goodness. For the goodness of God has made our soul so completely one with him that there can be absolutely nothing separating us.
Remission
Two duties belong to our souls. One is to reverently marvel. The other is humbly to endure, always taking pleasure in God. I had been taught that the mercy of God was supposed to be manifest in the remission of his wrath.
We Are Changeable
If we saw God at all times, we wouldn’t have any harmful experiences or painful feelings. Rejoicing in his sight mitigates the grief and fear, so that they do not cause me as much pain. We frequently live without seeing him, and we fall back into ourselves.
Fully Safe
The Holy Spirit, who is the endless life that dwells in the soul, keeps us fully safe and makes peace in our soul and gives our soul rest. I never saw any anger, except on the part of human beings, and God forgives us for that. It comes from a lack of power, a lack of wisdom, or a lack of goodness.
Mercy and Grace
This all flows from the abundance of love. Grace transforms our shame-filled failings into bountiful and never-ending solace. Grace lifts our terrifying falling into noble, honorable elevation. God’s mercy and forgiveness are all about abating and absorbing our anger, not his.
The Opposite of Wrath
Our beloved God cannot forgive, because he cannot be angry. It would be impossible. For anger and friendship are opposites. It is vital for us to believe that the One who dissolves and destroys our wrath and makes us humble and gentle is himself clothed in that same gentle and humble love, which is the opposite of wrath. This counters our tendency to be angry and argumentative. Until we take possession of our birthright of loving and nonviolent toward ourselves and toward all our fellow seekers, and able to love everything God loves.
Refuge
The moment the soul is at peace within itself, it is immediately made one with God, because there is no place in him for wrath. There is no room for opposition or hindrances of any kind. It is our negativity and oppositional attitude that cause us such suffering.
Seeing As He Sees
In the sight of God the soul never died and never will. I see that you are the embodiment of Truth. I do not see you showing us any kind of blame. How can this be? And so it was a miracle to me that I saw the Beloved holding us no more to blame than if we were as pure and holy as the angels in paradise. If I could see as he sees…
The Courage to Ask
“What if I concluded that there is no such thing as sin and we are not to be blamed for our transgressions?” I asked him.
Part III – You Will Not Be Overcome
God and Adam
In God’s sight, all humanity is one person, and all people are a single humanity. At times, neither can we see our loving Lord, who is so gentle and tender with us, nor do we perceive how utterly that Lord loves us. I clearly understood that if only we could accept the wisdom of these two truths, we would know ourselves and know God. He is always kindly inclined toward us, loving us unconditionally.
Countenance of the King
His countenance was merciful. He held within him a sublime sanctuary, high and wide, as spacious as the vast heavens. We cannot see God as he is. And so when he, of his goodness, wishes to show himself to us, he may appear as a humble man.
Adam’s Fall
There is a divine will within every soul that would never have evil intent. Rather, its impulse to do good has no limits, and so the soul remains ever-good in the eyes of God. Our true essence can never be separated from his.
No Beginning, No End
With the complete assent of the Trinity, the Middle Person chose to be the ground and head of this beautiful human nature out of which we all arise, within which we are all enfolded, and to which we shall all return. Human nature was created rightfully one-ed with the Creator, who is Essential Nature, Uncreated, that is, God. This is why there is absolutely nothing separating the Divine Soul from the Human Soul. He knit the beloved soul of humanity into his own when he made us. The knot that connects us to him is subtle and powerful and endlessly holy. And he also wants us to realize that all souls are interconnected, united by this oneness, and made holy in this holiness.
One Love
God’s love for humanity is so vast that he makes no distinction between the blessed Christ and the least soul among us. It is a sublime realization to see with inner eyes that God, our Creator, dwells inside us, and it is an even more exalted thing to understand inwardly that the essence of our soul, which is created, dwells in God. I saw no difference between the divine substance and the human substance; it was all God. One God. One Love.
Sensuality
In spite of all our feelings of well and woe, God wants us to understand that our existence is far more real in the realm of spirit than it is on earth. Our essence is in God, and God is in our sensuality.
Our Higher Nature
Christ, dwelling within us, keeps these gifts safely enclosed in himself, until the time comes when we are fully mature in body and soul. Both the higher and the lower aspects of human nature, enfolded in Christ, are elements of a single soul. The higher part is one with God, dwelling in the fullness of joy and peace. The lower part takes form and suffers for the liberation of all beings.
Source of All Motherhood
She says, “It is I.” What she means is, I am the Power and Goodness of the Fatherhood. I am the Wisdom and Loving-kindness of the Motherhood. It is I, the endless fulfillment of all true desire.
Benefits of Falling
When we honestly look at our faults, we see that we will ultimately be elevated to the highest heavenly realms, and that we would never be able to achieve these heights if we had not been humbled and laid low. When all we want to do is run away and hide, rush into her arms. She will let our suffering run its course until the right time has come for our burden to be lifted.
Father and Mother of Creation
Her love never allows us to waste a single opportunity. She is the essence, she is the same thing as nature. And she is the true Father and true Mother of all creation.
I Will Take Away Your Pain
Before these showings, I had an intense yearning to be delivered from this life and from this world. “Why then does it bother you to endure these things for a while, since it is my will and for my glory?” It’s a good thing that we do not know the time of our death; if we did, we probably would not be able to stand the waiting.
Holy Awe
We may be as sure of the bliss of divine love here on earth as we will be in the world-to-come. And so the soul who recognizes this will not be afraid of anything, but instead experience pure awe in the face of the One she loves. If we cultivate holy awe, we will have deep peace and gentle rest, and everything he does will bring us delight.
His True Home
God is the Creator who dwells in the center of our own being, which is his true home. He created our soul to be as lovely, as good, and as precious as he could make it, and so he is endlessly pleased with us.
You Will Not Be Overcome
“Be well aware that it was not a hallucination you saw today. Accept it, believe it, trust in it, hold it close and allow it to comfort you, and you will not be overcome.”
Denying Truth
On the very same day that he revealed this blessed truth, I denied it the minute the showings had passed. But our beloved Jesus in his mercy would not let the revelation perish, but showed it to my soul all over again, with even greater plenitude.
Grave Error
At this point I need to tell you about the creatures who have committed grave errors and rather than being condemned for it live in everlasting joy in God. We are ordained by nature to behold his beautiful, blessed face and see him truly, and we are brought to this by grace. It is also true that he is closer to us than the heart can think.
Mirth and Mourning
It is a matter of mirth that our Beloved, our Creator, lives inside us and that we live in him. It is a matter of mourning that our spiritual eye can be so blind and that we become weighed down with the burden of mundane life and the darkness of our own imperfections so that we are no longer able to look our Beloved in the eye or clearly perceive his beautiful, blessed face.
Spiritual Sickness
We suffer from two kinds of spiritual sickness: one is impatience (or indolence); the other is fearful doubt. It is our ignorance of love that causes all the trouble.
Unreasonable Despondency
Yet when it comes to knowledge of love, it is here that we are most blind. He also wants us to forgive ourselves and let go of this unreasonable despondency and these fearful doubts.
Dread
How could our Beloved be pleased when his lovers doubt his Goodness?
ABC’s
God himself is nearest and humblest, highest and lowest, and he does everything. God gives our souls what they need.
His Resting Place
He has chosen the soul of humanity as his resting place, and this is the great city and honorable throne from which he lovingly reigns. He will never rise or move away from this spot inside us.
Mistakes Are Inevitable
The Master sees the servant with compassion and not with blame. This passing life does not require that we live without sin. He loves us endlessly, and we miss the mark constantly.
Rising and Falling
In the sight of God we do not fall, and in our own sight we do not stand. While both of these perspectives are true, as I see it, the way God sees is the highest truth. God wants us to focus more from the higher point of view.
Love Was His Meaning
Would you like to know our Lord’s meaning in all this? Know it well: love was his meaning. Who revealed this to you? Love. What did he reveal to you? Love. Why did he reveal it to you? For love. Stay with this and you will know more of the same. He loved us before he even made us, and this love has never diminished and never will.
