Ther ben four manner of drede, but reverent drede is a lovely true that never is without meke love; and yet thei be not both one; and how we should pray God for the same. Seventy-fourth chapter.
Three Kinds of Fear That Serve a Purpose
Julian describes the first three kinds of fear—fright, fear of pain, and doubtful fear—and how each can lead to good when turned toward God.
For I understand four kinds of fear. One is the fear of fright that comes to a person suddenly through frailty.1 This fear does good, for it helps to purge a person as bodily sickness does, or such other pain that is not sin. For all such pains help a person, if they are patiently borne. The second is fear of pain, by which a person is stirred and awakened from the sleep of sin. For the time being he is not able to perceive the soft comfort of the Holy Spirit until he has understanding of this fear of pain, of bodily death, and of spiritual enemies. And this fear stirs us to seek comfort and mercy from God, and so this fear helps us to seek comfort and mercy from God and enables us to have contrition through the blissful touching of the Holy Spirit.2 The third is doubtful dread. When doubtful dread draws us toward despair, God wants it to be turned in us into love through the knowledge of love—that is, so that the bitterness of doubt is transformed by grace into the sweetness of natural love.3 For it can never please our Lord that His servants doubt His goodness.
Reverent Dread and Love
Julian introduces reverent dread as the fourth kind of fear, explaining that it is inseparable from love and that both are rooted in us by nature and grace.
The fourth is reverent dread. For there is no dread that fully pleases God in us except reverent dread, and that is very gentle, for the more it is had, the less it is felt because of the sweetness of love. Love and dread are brothers, rooted in us by the goodness of our Maker, and they will never be taken from us. We have it by nature to love, and we have it by grace to love; we have it by nature to dread, and we have it by grace to dread.4 It belongs to lordship and to fatherhood to be dreaded, just as it belongs to goodness to be loved. And it belongs to us, as His servants and children, to dread Him for His lordship and fatherhood, just as it belongs to us to love Him for His goodness. Though this reverent dread and love are never parted, they are not the same thing; they are two distinct qualities in their nature and their working. And neither of them can exist without the other. Therefore I am sure: whoever loves also dreads, even though he feels it only a little. All dreads other than reverent dread that are offered to us, though they come under the guise of holiness, are still not so true—and by this they can be told apart.5
The True Dread That Leads to Trust
Julian describes the true reverent dread that makes us flee to God like a child to its mother, and assures that this dread will be delightful in heaven.
That dread which makes us quickly flee from everything that is not good, and fall into our Lord's breast as a child into its mother's bosom, with all our intent and all our mind, knowing our feebleness and our great need, knowing His everlasting goodness and His blissful love, seeking only Him for salvation, cleaving to Him with sure trust—that dread which brings us into this working—is natural, gracious, good, and true. And everything that goes against this is either wrong, or mixed with wrong. Then this is the remedy: to know them both and refuse the wrong. For the natural benefit of the dread that we have in this life by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit—that same benefit will be, in Heaven before God, gentle, courteous, and fully delightful.
Prayer for Reverent Fear and Humble Love
Julian concludes by urging prayer for reverent fear and humble love, which together enable trust in God and please Him.
And so in love we will be intimate and near to God, and in dread we will be gentle and courteous toward God, and both in equal measure.6 Let us ask our Lord God that we may fear Him reverently, love Him humbly, and trust in Him with all our strength. For when we fear Him reverently and love Him humbly, our trust is never in vain; for the more we trust, and the more strongly we trust, the more we please and honor our Lord in whom we trust. And if this reverent dread and humble love fail us (God forbid), our trust will soon be thrown into disorder for a time.7 And therefore we greatly need to pray to our Lord for grace, that we may have this reverent dread and humble love, as His gift, in heart and in deed; for without this no one can please God.
Read the original Middle English
For I understond four manner of dreds. One is the drede of afray that cummith to a man sodenly be frelte. This drede doith good, for it helpith to purge man as doeth bodily sekenes or swich other peyne that is not synne. For all swich peynys helpe man, if thei be patiently taken. The second is drede of peyne, wherby man is sterid and wakid fro sleepe of synne. He is not abil for the time to perceivyn the soft comfort of the Holy Gost, till he have understonding of this drede of peyne, of bodily deth, and of gostly enemyes. And this drede stirrith us to seken comfort and mercy of God, and thus this drede helpith us to sekyn comfort and mercy of God and abileth us to have contrition be the blisfull touching of the Holy Gost. The third is doubtfull drede.
Doutfull drede, in as mech as it drawith to dispeir, God will have it turnyd in us into love be the knowing of love, that is to sey, that the bitternes of doubt be turnyd into sweteness of kinde love be grace. For it may never plesyn our Lord that His servants douten in his goodnes.
The fourth is reverent drede. For there is no drede that fully plesith God in us but reverent drede, and that is full soft, for the more it is had, the less is it felt for swetenes of love. Love and drede are brethren, and thei arn rotid in us be the goodnes of our makere; and thei shall never be taken fro us without end. We have of kinde to loven, and we have of grace to loven; and we have of kinde to dreden, and we have of grace to dreden. It longith to the lordshippe and to the faderhede to be dred, as it longith to the goodnes to be lovid. And it longith to us that arn His servants and His children to dreden Him for lordshipp and faderhede, as it longith to us to loven Him for goodhede. And thow this reverent drede and love be not partid asundre, yet thei arn not both one, but thei arn two in properte and in werking. And neither of them may be had without other.
Therfore I am sekir, he that lovith, he dredith, thow that he fele it but a littil. All dreds other than reverent drede that arn proferid to us, thow they come under the collor of holyness, yet arn not so trew, and hereby may they be knowen asunder.
That drede that makith us hastily to fleen from all that is not good, and fallen into our Lords brest as the child into the moder barme, with all our entent and with all our mynd, knowand our febilness and our gret nede, knowing His ever lesting goodnes and His blisfull love, only sekeing to Him for salvation, clevand to with sekir troste - that drede that bringith us into this werking - it is kinde, gracious, good, and true. And all that contraries to this, either it is wronge or it is medlid with wronge. Than is this the remedye: to knowen hem both and refusen the wrong. For the kinde profitt of drede which we have in this lif be the gracious werking of the Holy Gost, the same shall be in Hevyn aforn God, gentill, curtes, and ful delectabil.
And thus we shall in love be homley and nere to God, and we shall in drede be gentil and curtes to God, and both alike evyn. Desir we of our Lord God to dredin Him reverently and to love Him mekely and to trosten in Him mytyly. For whan we drede Him reverently and loven Him mekely our troste is never in vaine; for the more that we trosten, and the mytylier, the more we plesyn and worshippe our Lord that we trosten in. And if us feile this reverent drede and meke love (as God forbode we should), our trost shall sone be misrulid for the tyme. And therefore us nedith mekil for to prayen our Lord of grace that we may have this reverent drede and meke love, of his gift, in herte and in werke, for withouten this no man may plesyn God.
Notes
- 1 ↩enm afray: fright/alarm; drede of afray rendered as fear of fright.
- 2 ↩Source repeats the seek-comfort-and-mercy clause emphatically (stirrith... thus helpith); retained as written.
- 3 ↩ME 'kinde love' is rendered as 'natural love' (love belonging to our nature/kind), matching Julian's later pairing of what we have 'of kinde' and 'of grace' to love; 'kindly love' is also possible if affective warmth is preferred over the nature/grace sense.
- 4 ↩Middle English kinde is Julian's technical term for created nature, set in deliberate parallel with grace.
- 5 ↩ME 'collor' = 'color' in the sense of outward guise or pretext ('under the color of'); rendered 'guise' for modern clarity.
- 6 ↩Middle English homley here means intimate familiarity with God (Julian's 'homely'), not plain or unattractive.
- 7 ↩misrulid means misgoverned or disordered in its rule; rendered as 'thrown into disorder' to keep the temporary loss of right ordering.
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