Revelations of Divine Love is a fourteenth-century work of Christian mysticism and the first book by a woman to be published in English. While struck with a serious illness, the anchorite Julian of Norwich prayed fervently for a deeper understanding of God's love. After her surprise recovery, she reported sixteen visions from Christ; these revealed deep religious truths that provided great insight in a time of plague, war, and religious schism. Her record of these visions and her reflections on them continue to inspire religious thinkers today.
"And I saw full surely that ere God made us He loved us; which love was never slacked nor ever shall be. And in this love He hath done all His works, and in this love He hath made all things profitable to us, and in this love our life is everlasting." Julian of Norwich saw this love as the answer to the problems of confusion, division, and evil in the world. More than 600 years later, Christians are still struggling with these issues, and Revelations of Divine Love is persistently powerful.
At the height of medieval European mysticism, Julian, a Benedictine nun in England received 16 visions of the Trinity and the suffering of Christ. After spending 20 years meditating upon what she had seen during her prolonged ecstasy, she began to write about her visions. Her message to her fellow European mystics and the rest of Christendom was that full knowledge of God required knowledge of self.
