The fifteenth Revelation is as it shewid etc. The absense of God in this lif is our ful gret peyne, besyde other travel, but we shal sodenly be taken fro all peyne, having Jesus to our Moder; and our patient abyding is gretly plesyng to God. And God wil we take our disese lightly, for love, thinkand us alwey at the poynte to be delivirid. Sixty-fourth chapter.

The Longing for Deliverance

Julian confesses her deep desire to be freed from this world and its pains, especially the pain of God's absence, and receives the Lord's comforting promise of sudden deliverance and eternal bliss.

Before this time I had a great longing and desire for God's gift: to be delivered from this world and from this life. For often I saw the woe that is here, and the well-being and the bliss that are there.¹ And if there had been no pain in this life but the absence of our Lord, it seemed to me that at times it was more than I could bear, and this made me mourn and long earnestly. And also of my own wretchedness, sloth, and weakness—that I did not like to live and to labor as it fell to me to do.² And to all this our courteous Lord answered for comfort and patience, and said these words: Suddenly you will be taken from all your pain, from all your sickness, from all your distress, and from all your woe.³ And you will come up above, and you will have me as your reward.⁴ And you will be filled with love and with bliss. And you will never have any kind of pain, any kind of dislike, any wanting of will, but forever joy and bliss without end.⁵

Patience in Waiting

The Lord teaches that patient endurance of suffering for a short while is honorable, and that not knowing the hour of deliverance helps us stretch our patience across our whole life, for this life is but a point.

Why should it trouble you, then, to suffer for a while, since it's my will and my honor?⁶ And in this word—'Suddenly you will be taken'—I saw that God rewards a person for the patience they have in waiting on God's will and God's timing, and that a person stretches their patience over the whole span of their life. For not knowing the time of his passing — that is a great benefit. For if a person knew his time, he wouldn't keep patience beyond that time.⁷ And as God wills, while the soul is in the body, it seems to itself that it's always on the point of being taken. For all this life and this weariness we have here is only a point, and when we're taken suddenly out of pain into bliss, then pain will be nothing.⁸

The Vision of the Soul's Deliverance

Julian sees a vision of a foul, swollen body from which a pure, beautiful child springs into heaven, symbolizing the soul's clean deliverance from mortal flesh, and reflects that being taken from pain is a greater comfort than pain being taken away.

And in this time I saw a body lying on the earth, a body that looked heavy and ugly, without shape or form, as if it were a swollen mass of stinking mire; and suddenly out of this body burst a beautiful creature, a tiny child, fully formed, swift and lively, whiter than a lily, which glided swiftly up into Heaven.⁹¹⁰ And the swollenness of the body signifies the great wretchedness of our mortal flesh, and the littleness of the child signifies the cleanness of purity in the soul.¹¹ And I thought: None of this child's beauty remains with this body, nor does any foulness of this body cling to this child.¹² It is most blissful for a person to be taken from pain, more than for pain to be taken from a person; for if pain is taken from us, it may come again. Therefore it is a supreme comfort and a blissful beholding in a loving soul that we will be taken from pain.¹³¹⁴ For in this promise I saw a marvelous compassion that our Lord has toward us in our woe, and a courteous promise of complete deliverance.¹⁵

Holding Fast to the Promise

God wills that we fix our minds on the blissful beholding of His promise, and when we fall into heaviness, we should remember He has not forgotten us, taking our troubles lightly for love's sake to receive greater reward.

For He wants us to be comforted in the passing over, and that is what He showed in these words: "And you will come up above, and you will have me as your reward, and you will be filled with joy and bliss."¹⁶ It's God's will that we set the focus of our thought on this blissful beholding as often as we can, and keep ourselves in it as long as we can with His grace. For this is a blessed contemplation for the soul that is led by God, and very much to His honor for as long as it lasts. And when we fall again into our heaviness and spiritual blindness, and into the feeling of pains, spiritual and bodily, by our frailty, it's God's will that we know He hasn't forgotten us. And that is what He means in these words, and He says for our comfort: "And you will never again have pain, nor any kind of sickness, nor any kind of displeasure, nor any wanting of will — but sheer joy and bliss without end."¹⁷ "Why then should it grieve you to suffer a while, seeing that it's my will and my honor?" It's God's will that we take His promises and His consolations as fully and as strongly as we can take them. And He also wants us to take our waiting and our troubles as lightly as we can take them, and count them as nothing.¹⁸ For the more lightly we take them, and the less value we set on them for love's sake, the less pain we'll have in feeling them, and the more thanks and reward we'll have for them.¹⁹

Read the original Middle English

Aforn this tyme I had gret longyng and desire of Goddis gifte to be deliverid of this world and of this lif. For oftentimes I beheld the wo that is here, and the wele and the bliss that is beyng there. And if ther had ben no peyn in this lif but the absens of our Lord, methowte it was sumtime mor than I myte baren, and this made me to morn and besyly to longen. And also of myn owen wretchidnes, slawth, and wekehede, that me lekid not to leveyn and to travelyn as me fel to don. And to all this our curtes Lord answerid for comfort and patiens, and said these words: Sodenly thou shal be taken fro al thy peyne, fro al thi sekeness, fro al thi disese, and fro al thi wo. And thou shalt commen up aboven, and thou shalt have me to thi mede. And thou shal be fulfillid of love and of bliss. And thou shal never have no maner of peyne, no manner of mislekyn, no wanting of will, but ever joye and bliss withouten ende.

What shuld it than agrevyn the to suffre a while sen that it is my will and my worship? And in this word, Sodenly thou shal be taken, I saw that God rewardith man of the patiens that he hath in abyding Gods will and of his tyme, and that man lengith his patiens over the tyme of his living.

For onknowing of his tyme of passing, that is a gret profitt. For if a man knew his time, he shuld not have patience over that tyme. And as God will while the soule is in the body, it semyt to the selfe that it is ever at the poynt to be takyn. For al this life and this langor that we have here is but a poynte, and whan we arn taken sodenly out of peyn into bliss, than peyn shall be nowte.

And in this tyme I saw a body lyand on the erth, which body shewid hevy and oggley withoute shappe and forme, as it were a bolned quave of styngand myre; and sodenly out of this body sprang a ful fair creature, a little childe, ful shapen and formid, swyft and lively, whiter than lilly, which sharpely glode up on to Hevyn. And the bolnehede of the body betokenith gret wretchidnes of our dedly flesh, and the littlehede of the child betokenith the clenes of purity in the soule. And I thowte: With this body belevith no fairehede of this child, no on this child dwellith no foulehede of this body. It is ful blisfull, man to be taken fro peyne, mor than peyne to be taken fro man; for if peyn be taken fro us it may commen agen. Therfore it is a severen comfort and blissfull beholdyng in a lovand soule yf we shal be taken fro peyne. For in this behest I saw a mervelous compassion that our Lord hath in us for our wo and a curtes behoting of clene deliverance.

For He will that we be comforted in the overpassing, and that He shewid in these words: And thou shalt come up aboven, and thou shal have me to thi mede, and thou shall be fullfillid of joye and bliss. It is God will that we setten the poynte of our thowte in this blisfull beholdyng as often as we may, and as long tyme kepen us therin with His grace. For this is a blissid contemplation to the soule that is led of God and full mekil to His worship for the time that it lestith. And we falyn ageyn to our hevynis and gostly blyndhede, and felyng of peyens, gostly and bodily, be our frelty, it is God will that we knowen that He hath not forgetten us, and so menith He in thes words and seith for comfort: And thou shall never more have peyne, no manner sekenes, no maner mislekyng, non wanting of will but over joy and bliss withouten ende. What shuld it than agrevyn the to suffre a while, seing it is my will and my worshippe? It is God will we taken His behests and His comfortings as largely and as mytyly as we may taken hem. And also He will that we taken our abiding and our diseses as lytely as we may taken hem, and set hem at nowte. For the lyter we taken hem, and the less price we setten at hem for love, the less peyne shall we have in the feling of hem, and the more thanke and mede shal we have for hem.

Notes

1 ↩wele rendered as well-being (ME weal/good), paired with bliss as the heavenly counterpart to earthly wo.
2 ↩Elliptical continuation of s3's mourning/longing: also of/over her own wretchedness. leveyn = to live; travelyn = to labor/toil; as me fel to don = as it fell to me to do (as was my duty).
3 ↩disese rendered as distress (ME general trouble/discomfort), not narrowly disease; kept parallel with peyne, sekeness, and wo. curtes kept as courteous, Julian's characteristic divine epithet.
4 ↩mede rendered as reward (ME meed/recompense).
5 ↩mislekyn rendered as dislike (displeasure/being displeased). wanting of will kept close: unsatisfied desire / nothing the will lacks. ME double negative (never ... no) normalized to single negation in modern English.
6 ↩ME 'worship' here means honor/glory (worth-ship), not liturgical worship; rendered as 'honor'.
7 ↩patience over that tyme: following the previous section's sense that a person lengthens patience across the whole span of life; knowing a fixed end would cut short that enduring wait.
8 ↩langor rendered as weariness: Middle English languor/lingering sickness of mortal life, not mere tiredness.
9 ↩ME styngand may mean stinking or stinging; the established Showings sense here is stinking mire (a foul, quivering bog).
10 ↩quave is a quivering bog or quagmire; bolned means swollen or bloated.
11 ↩Swollenness or bloatedness of the body as emblem of mortal wretchedness.
12 ↩ME belevith means remains/stays with; the double no is emphatic Middle English negation, not a modern double negative.
13 ↩ME yf after 'it is comfort' often has factive force ('that'), not a mere hypothesis; rendered as that to preserve the promissory certainty of being taken from pain.
14 ↩ME severen = sovereign (supreme/excellent), a standard Julian collocation with comfort.
15 ↩clene here means pure/complete/utter, not merely tidy; rendered complete deliverance.
16 ↩enm 'overpassing' names the sudden passage from this life's pain into heavenly bliss; rendered here as 'the passing over'.
17 ↩enm 'wanting of will' means frustrated or unfulfilled desire; 'over joy' is taken as sheer/utter joy rather than merely 'only joy'.
18 ↩enm 'diseses' here means discomforts/hardships rather than illness alone; 'abiding' is patient waiting/endurance.
19 ↩enm 'thanke' keeps the sense of credit/approval before God, not mere polite gratitude; paired with 'mede' as reward.

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