Of the second long temptation of the devill to despeir; but she mytyly trosted to God and to the feith of Holy Church, rehersing the passion of Christe be the which she was deliverid. Sixty-ninth chapter.
The Fiend's Assault
Julian describes the fiend's return with heat, stench, and jabbering that stirs her to despair, but God gives her grace to trust and comfort her soul.
After this, the fiend came again with his heat and his stench and kept me fully occupied. The stench was so vile and so painful, and also dreadful and oppressive.1 Also I heard a physical jabbering as if it came from two bodies, and both, it seemed to me, jabbered at once as if they were holding a parliament with great urgency.2 And all of it was soft muttering, since I understood nothing of what they said.3 And all this was to stir me to despair, as I thought, seeming to me as if they scorned the saying of beads—prayers rattled off roughly with the mouth, lacking the devout attention and wise diligence we owe to God in our prayers.45 And our Lord God gave me grace powerfully to trust in Him, and to comfort my soul with spoken words as I would have done for another person who had been afflicted.6 It seemed to me that struggle could not be likened to any bodily labor.7
Holding Fast to Faith
Julian fixes her bodily senses on Christ's Passion and the faith of Holy Church, resolves to keep herself from sin, and is delivered from the fiend by Christ's power.
I set my bodily eye on the same cross where I had found comfort before that time; my tongue on speaking of Christ's Passion and rehearsing the faith of Holy Church; and my heart to fasten on God with all the trust and the strength. And I thought to myself, meaning: You have great busy work now to keep yourself in the faith, so you won't be seized by your enemy; if from this time on you would always be so busy keeping yourself from sin, that would be a good and a sovereign occupation.8 For I truly thought that if I were safe from sin, I would be fully safe from all the fiends of Hell and enemies of my soul. And so he occupied me all that night, and in the morning until it was about the hour of Prime.9 And at once they were all gone and all passed away, and then nothing was left but the stench, and that still lasted a while. And I scorned him, and so I was delivered from them by the power of Christ's Passion.10 For by that the fiend is overcome, as our Lord Jesus Christ said before.
Read the original Middle English
After this the fend came agen with his hete and with his stinke and made me full besy. The stinke was so vile and so peynfull, and also dredfull and travellous. Also I heard a bodily jangeling as it had be of two bodies, and both, to my thynkyng, janglyd at one time as if they had holden a parlement with a gret bysynes. And al was soft muttering, as I understode nowte what they seid. And al this was to stirre me to dispeir, as methowte, semand to me as thei scornyd bidding of beds, which arn seid boistrosly with mouth, failing devowte entending and wise diligens the which we owen to God in our prayors. And our Lord God gave me grace mytyly for to trosten in Him, and to comforten my soule with bodily spech as I shuld have don to another person that had ben travelled. Methowte that bysynis myte not be likenyd to no bodily bysynes.
My bodily eye I sett in the same cross wher I had ben in comfort aforn that tyme; my tonge with speech of Crists passion, and rehersing the feith of Holy Church; and myn hert to festen on God with al the trost and the myte. And I thowte to myselfe, menand: Thou hast now grete bysynes to kepe the in the feith, for thou shuldst not be taken of thi enemy; woldst thou now for this time evermore be so bysy to kepe the fro synne, this were a good and a soverain occupation. For I thowte sothly, were I saf fro synne, I wer full saf fro all the fends of Helle and enemys of my soule. And thus he occupyed me al that nyte, and on the morne till it was about prime day. And anon they wer all gone and all passid, and then left nothing but stinke, and that lestid still awhile. And I scornyd him, and thus was I deliverd of hem be the vertue of Christ passion. For therwith is the fend overcome, as our Lord Jesus Criste seid aforn.
Notes
- 1 ↩travellous rendered as 'oppressive' (causing travail/distress); alternative: 'troublesome'.
- 2 ↩jangeling/janglyd rendered as 'jabbering/jabbered' (noisy, confused talk); bysynes as 'urgency' (busy urgency of deliberation).
- 3 ↩as rendered as 'since' (causal: she could make out no words).
- 4 ↩bidding of beds = saying of beads (prayer-counting); the relative clause taken as describing hollow bead-saying being mocked/parodied.
- 5 ↩devowte entending kept as 'devout attention' (interior intention in prayer), not mere feeling.
- 6 ↩travelled rendered as 'afflicted' (ME travail = troubled/distressed), consistent with earlier travellous.
- 7 ↩bysynis/bysynes = spiritual busy occupation/struggle of resisting the fiend; ME double negative not...no rendered as 'any'.
- 8 ↩ME 'soverain occupation' means a supreme or most excellent occupation, not political sovereignty.
- 9 ↩ME 'prime day' names the liturgical hour of Prime, roughly the first daytime office (~6 a.m.).
- 10 ↩ME 'vertue' here means operative power or efficacy, not moral virtue in the later narrow sense.
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