Jesus usith more tenderness in our gostly bringing forth; thow He suffrith us to fallyn in knowing of our wretchidness, He hastily resysith us, not brekyng His love for our trespass, for He may not suffre His Child to perish. For He will that we have the properte of a Child fleing to Him alway in our necessite. Sixty-first chapter.
The Tender Care of Jesus Our Mother
Jesus tends us with unmatched tenderness in our spiritual birth, kindling understanding and raising us when we fall.
And in our spiritual birth, He protects us with a tenderness beyond all comparison, because our soul is of greater worth in His sight.1 He kindles our understanding, directs our ways, eases our conscience, comforts our soul, and enlightens our heart. He gives us a partial knowledge and love of His blissful Godhead, along with a gracious mindfulness of His sweet Manhood and His blessed Passion, and a courteous wonder at His high, surpassing goodness. He makes us love all that He loves for the sake of His love, and to be well pleased with Him and all His works.2 When we fall, He quickly raises us by His loving call and gracious touch. Once we are strengthened by His sweet working, we willingly choose Him, by His sweet grace, to be His servants and His lovers forever.
The Grace of Falling and Rising
We are allowed to fall harder to learn our own weakness and God's unbreakable love, which uses both falling and recovery for our benefit.
After this, He allows some of us to fall harder and more grievously than we ever did before, or so it seems to us. And then we who are not altogether wise suppose that everything we have begun was nothing; but it isn't so. We need to fall, and we need to see it, because if we didn't fall, we wouldn't know how feeble and wretched we are on our own. Nor would we so fully know the marvelous love of our Maker.3 For in Heaven, we will truly see forever that we sinned grievously in this life, yet we will also see that we were never hurt in His love, nor were we ever of less worth in His sight. Through the experience of this falling, we'll gain a profound, marvelous knowledge of God's endless love. For that love is firm and marvelous, a love that cannot and will not be broken by our trespasses.4 This is one way to understand the benefit. Another is the lowliness and meekness we'll gain by seeing our own falling. For by that we'll be highly raised in Heaven, a raising we could never have reached without that meekness; and therefore we need to see it, and if we don't see it, though we fall, it wouldn't benefit us. Typically, we fall first and see it afterward—and both are part of God's mercy. A mother may sometimes let her child fall and suffer in various ways for its own good, but because of her love, she can never allow any real harm to come to the child. And though an earthly mother might let her child perish, our heavenly Mother, Jesus, cannot let us, His children, perish.
Christ the Almighty Mother
Christ, all-powerful and all-loving, invites us to run to Him as a child to its mother, trusting even in distress, for He knows the right time for comfort.
For He is almighty, all wisdom, and all love, and so there is none but He. Blessed may He be. But often when our falling and our wretchedness are shown to us, we're so terribly afraid and so deeply ashamed of ourselves that we hardly know where to stand. But then our courteous Mother doesn't want us to flee, because nothing would be more hateful to Him. But then He wants us to act like a child, because when it is distressed or afraid, it immediately runs to its Mother for help with all its might. So He wants us to act like a meek child, saying: "My kind Mother, my gracious Mother, my precious Mother, have mercy on me. I have made myself foul and unlike You, and I cannot and may not amend it except with intimate help and grace." And if we don't feel eased right away, we can be sure that He is acting like a wise mother. For if He sees that it is more profitable for us to mourn and weep, He allows it, with compassion and pity, until the best time, out of love. And then He wants us to take on the nature of a child that always naturally trusts in the Mother's love, in good times and in bad.
Safety in Holy Church
We find our Mother in Holy Church, unbroken and sustaining us, where Christ's blood, wounds, and hands continually nurture and save us.
And He wants us to hold firmly to the faith of Holy Church, and find there our precious Mother in the comfort of true understanding, with all the blessed community. For a single person may often be broken, as it seems to oneself, but the whole body of Holy Church was never broken, and never shall be, without end. And therefore it is a sure thing — a good and gracious one — to will humbly and firmly to be sustained and united to our Mother, Holy Church, who is Christ Jesus.5 For the food of mercy that is His precious blood and precious water is plentiful to make us fair and clean. The blessed wounds of our Savior are open and rejoice to heal us.6 The sweet, gracious hands of our Mother are ready and diligently about us. For in all this working He uses the office of a kind nurse, and has nothing to do but attend to the salvation of her Child.7 It is His office to save us.
Full Assurance in His Keeping
Christ honors us by saving us, and He wants us to trust Him meekly and mightily, for He keeps us fully secure.
It's his honor to do it, and it's his will that we know it, for he wants us to love him sweetly and trust in him meekly and mightily.8 And he showed this in these gracious words: I keep you fully secure.
Read the original Middle English
And in our gostly forthbringyng, He usith mor tenderness of keping without ony likenes, be as mech as our soule is of more price in His syte. He kyndelyth our understondyng, He directith our weys, He esith our consciens, He comfortith our soule, He lightith our herte, and gevith us in parte knowyng and lovyng in His blisful Godhede, with gracious mynd in His swete Manhede and His blissid passion, with curtes mervelyng in His hey, overpassyng goodnes, and makith us to loven al that He loveth for His love, and to bend payd with Him and all His werkes. And we fallen, hastily He reysith us be His lovely clepyng and gracious touchyng; and whan we be thus strenthyd be His swete werkyng, than we wilfully chesyn Him, be His swete grace, to be His servants and His lovers lestingly without end. And after this He suffrith sum of us to fallen more hard and more grevously than ever we diden afore, as us thynkyth. And than wene we, that be not al wyse, that al wer nowte that we have begun; but it is no so. For it nedith us to fallen, and it nedith us to sen it, for if we felle nowte, we should not knowen how febil and how wretchid we arn of ourselfe. Ne also we shuld not fulsomely so knowen the mervelous love of our maker. For we shal sen verily in Hevyn withouten end that we have grevously synned in this life, and notwithstondyng this, we shal sen that we were never hurt in His love, ne were never the less of price in His syte.
And be the assay of this fallyng we shall have an hey, mervelous knoweing of love in God without end. For herd and mervelous is that love which may nowte, ne will not, be brokin for trespas. And this is one understonding of profite. Another is the lownes and mekenes that we shal gettyn be the syte of our fallyng. For therby we shal heyly ben raysid in Hevyn, to which reysing we might never a come withoute that mekeness; and therfore it nedyth us to sen it, and if we sen it not, thow we fellyn, it shuld not profitt us. And commenly, first we fallen, and syth we sen it, and both of the mercy of God. The Moder may suffre the child to fallen sumtyme, and be disesid in dyvers manners for the owen profitt, but she may never suffre that ony maner of peril cum to the child, for love. And thow our erthly moder may suffre hir Child to perishen, our hevynly Moder, Jesus, may not suffre us that arn His children to perishen.
For He is almyty, all wisdom, and al love, and so is non but He. Blissid mot He ben.
But oftentymes whan our fallyn and our wretchidnes is shewid us, we arn so sore adred and so gretly ashamid of ourselfe, that onethys we wettyn where that we may holden us. But than will not our curtes Moder that we fle awey, for Him wer nothing lother. But He will than that we usen the condition of a child, for whan it is disesid or dred, it rennith hastely to the Moder for helpe with al the myte. So wil He that we don as a meke child, seyand thus: "My kind Moder, my gracious Moder, my dereworthy Moder, have mercy on me. I have made myselfe foul and onlike to the, and I ne may ne can amenden it but with prive helpe and grace." And if we fele us not than esyd al swithe, be we sekir that He usith the condition of a wise moder. For if He sen that it be more profitt to us to morne and to wepen, He suffrith it, with ruth and pite, into the best tyme, for love. And He will than that we usen the propertie of a child that evermor kindly trosteth to the love of the Moder in wele and in wo.
And He will that we taken us mytyly to the feith of Holy Church, and fyndyn there our dereworthy Moder in solace of trew understonding with al the blissid common. For on singler person may oftentymes be broken, as it semyth to selfe, but the hole body of Holy Church was never broken, ne never shall, withouten end. And therfore a sekir thing it is, a good and a gracious, to willen mekely and mytyly ben susteynd and onyd to our Moder, Holy Church, that is Crist Jesus. For the foode of mercy that is His dereworthy blood and pretious water is plentious to make us faire and clene. The blissid wound of our Savior ben open and enjoyen to helyn us. The swete gracious hands of our Moder be redy and diligently aboute us. For He in al this werkyng usith the office of a kinde nurse, and hath not all to don but to entendyn abouten the salvation of hir Child. It is His office to saven us.
It is His worship to don it, and it is His will we knowen it, for He will we loven Him swetely and trosten in Him mekely and mytyly. And this shewid He in these gracious words: I kepe the ful sekirly.
Notes
- 1 ↩ME 'gostly forthbringyng' carries Julian's maternal image of Christ bringing the soul forth spiritually; rendered as 'spiritual bringing-forth' to keep that force. 'without ony likenes' = beyond any likeness/comparison.
- 2 ↩ME 'bend payd' (be and paid) = contented/well-pleased; rendered 'be well pleased'.
- 3 ↩ME 'fulsomely' = fully/abundantly; rendered 'so fully'.
- 4 ↩ME 'herd' rendered as 'firm' (steadfast/hard), not harshness: the love is unbreakable under offense.
- 5 ↩Julian identifies Holy Church as Christ Jesus: Mother-Church and Christ are not treated as rival centers, but as one maternal office.
- 6 ↩Source has singular 'wound' with plural verbs ('ben…enjoyen'); rendered as wounds to match the plural verbs and the usual Passion sense.
- 7 ↩Pronouns shift from 'He' to 'hir' within the nurse metaphor: Julian keeps Christ's person while speaking of maternal office.
- 8 ↩ME 'worship' here means honor/glory due to God (not liturgical worship); rendered 'honor' to match Julian's usual sense of what redounds to His worth.
Revelations of Divine Love (Showings) companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent