God lovid His chosen fro without begynnyng, and He never suffrith them to be hurte, wherof their bliss might be lessid; and how privities now hidde in Hevyn shall be knowen, wherefore we shall bliss our Lord that everything is so wele ordeynid. Eighty-fifth chapter.
The Lord's Endless Beholding
Julian marvels that despite human blindness, Christ continually beholds us with joy, and we please Him best by believing and rejoicing in this.
I marveled greatly at this sight. For despite our simple living and our blindness here, our courteous Lord still endlessly watches us in this work, rejoicing.1 Of all things, we can please Him best by wisely and truly believing this, and by rejoicing with Him and in Him.2
From Eternal Love to Heavenly Sight
God's unbegun love secures our bliss forever; after judgment we will see hidden mysteries and praise Him that all is well, just as He ordained before creation.
For as truly as we will be in the bliss of God without end, praising and thanking Him, just as truly we have been loved and known in God's foresight, in His endless purpose from before the beginning—in which unbegun love He made us, and in that same love He keeps us, never allowing us to be hurt in any way that could lessen our bliss.3 And so, when the judgment is given and we are all brought up above, we will clearly see in God the secrets that are now hidden from us.4 Then none of us will be stirred to say in any way, "Lord, if it had been thus, then it would have been fully well"; but we shall all say without voice, "Lord, blessed may you be, for it is thus: it is well."5 And now we truly see that everything is done just as it was ordained before anything was made.
Read the original Middle English
And in this sight I mervelid heyley. For notwithstondyng our simple liveing and our blindhede here, yet endlesly our curtes Lord beholdith us in this workeing, enjoyand. And of all thing we may plesin Him best wisely and truely to leven it and to enjoyen with Him and in Him. For as verily as we shall ben in the bliss of God withouten end, Him praysand and thankand, as verily we have ben in the foresight of God lovid and knowen in His endless purpose fro withouten begynning, in which onbegunne love He made us, and in the same love He kepith us, and never suffrith us to be hurte be which our bliss myte be lesid. And therfore whan the dome is goven, and we ben al browte up above, than we cleerly se in God the privities which be now hidde to us. Than shall non of us be sterid to sey in onywise, "Lord if it had ben thus, than it had bene full wele"; but we shall seyn al without voice, "Lord, blissid mot thou ben, for it is thus, it is wele." And now se we verily that all thing is done as it was then ordeynd beforn that ony thing was made.
Notes
- 1 ↩curtes Lord: Julian's distinctive 'courteous Lord' retained. enjoyand: present participle of spiritual rejoicing—God rejoicing as He beholds us.
- 2 ↩leven: taken as 'believe' (ME leven/leve), not 'leave' or 'live'—the object is the revealed truth of God's rejoicing regard.
- 3 ↩onbegunne love: rendered 'unbegun love' to preserve Julian's technical sense of love without beginning. fro withouten begynning: 'from before the beginning' / from eternity.
- 4 ↩dome: ME 'doom' as the Last Judgment; rendered 'judgment'. privities: hidden secrets/mysteries of God.
- 5 ↩Quoted address kept solemn and uncontracted. Source 'thou' modernized to 'you' per register policy. First 'thus' is the counterfactual wish for another ordering; second 'thus' affirms the actual ordering. 'without voice' = silently / inwardly, without spoken words.
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