Veronica Mary Rolf’s relationship with Julian of Norwich began during a period of personal crisis when she was introduced to Julian’s most famous saying: ‘All shall be well’. Years later, she read the Revelations of Divine Love and continued to refer to it as a source of comfort and inspiration as she pursued her career in the theatre. Rolf says that Julian became her mentor and guide and believes that her message of God’s unconditional love and mercy is one which needs to be heard today. It is thus clear that Julian’s Gospel is a labour of love, written by someone who has immersed herself in her subject through extensive historical research and close reading of the text.
We know almost nothing about the life of Julian of Norwich before she received her visions and became an anchorite. Rolf therefore devotes the first part of her book to creating an imaginative and credible biography based on historical research and ‘evidence’ gleaned from Julian’s writings. Rolf provides a detailed and fascinating reconstruction of the turbulent events of the fourteenth century – the 100 Years War; The Great Plague; the Peasants’ Revolt; Papal Schism – and describes the cultural, social, and religious milieu that would have formed and deeply influenced Julian’s development as a woman and a mystic. She concludes that Julian’s father was probably a wool merchant and recreates Julian’s childhood and education from her research into the life of women born into the prosperous merchant class of the time.
Rolf explores all aspects of female experience in forensic detail. She is convinced that Julian was married – possibly even twice – and that she had one or more daughters. Apart from the fact that marriage and childbearing were the norm for women, her strongest ‘evidence’ is that Julian’s understanding of God as Mother could only have been written by someone who had experienced being a mother herself. Rolf’s arguments are so persuasive that there is a danger of readers being lured into believing they are reading facts rather than speculation. As Norwich is my home city, I am familiar with the locations mentioned and this added to my interest in this part of the book.
The second, and longer, part of Julian’s Gospel is a personal commentary on the eighty-six chapters of the Revelations. It requires slow and careful reading. Rolf has provided her own modern translation of the passages quoted but retained old spellings for some of Julian’s most frequently used words, such as shewing (revelation), evenchristens (fellow Christians), and ‘alle shal be welle’, in order, she says, ‘to retain the sound of Julian’s own voice and to suggest the unique meanings she gave to these words.’ I would recommend anyone intending to read Rolf’s book to read at least part of the long text of the Revelations or to have a modern translation available for reference.
For readers with a real interest in Julian, this book lives up to its promise to illuminate her revelations. Rolf throws new light on Julian’s mystical theology, her down-to-earth teachings, and her lesson of love, and shows how these contrast with the standard theological doctrines of her times. It is perhaps relevant to note that Rowan Williams has referred to Julian’s writings as ‘anti-theology’.
Unlike Rolf, I find myself unable to respond to Julian’s concept of God and Christ. Furthermore, I find it difficult to overcome my aversion to her morbid obsession with bodily suffering. However, it cannot be denied that interest in Julian has increased greatly in recent years: I recently attended a seminar at Norwich Cathedral, which attracted some forty people. Rolf suggests that there are many in our post-modern world who seek a God who loves us in spite of ourselves, a God in whom we can trust to be true to his Word. I think, however, that she goes a little far in her concluding paragraph when she says: ‘Perhaps Julian realised that her Revelations were not meant solely for the “evencristens” of her time… Perhaps she was aware that her work would not find its audience until a different world arose.’
This book has won awards and plaudits, especially from Catholic theologians. For readers who can share in Julian’s search for God’s presence, she offers a vision of transcendent hope and joy and to them I recommend it unreservedly. For those, like me, who find Julian’s theology problematic, the book still has much to offer and I shall return to it for a closer reading.
Carol Palfrey is Secretary to SOF Trustees.
Veronica Mary Rolf. Orbis (New York 2014). Pbk. 660 pages. £13.69.