Love Was His Meaning: A Bedside Book of Prayers for Ordinary Christians

Living in Norwich, England in the 14th and early 15th century, Dame Julian of Norwich spent much of her life as an anchorite, that is, as a vowed religious living by herself in a small room attached to a parish church. Beyond this, little is actually known about Dame Julian, as she was called. What is known about her, and what makes her an inspiration for so many ＂ordinary Christians＂ today is her remarkable book, Revelations of Divine Love, or, as she called them, Showings. The Revelations are a description of a series of visions which opened Julian to the depths of God’s unconditioned love for us in Jesus Christ. They are noted for their spiritual depth and theological courage, for their literary elegance and the spirit of joy and humility that permeates them. Julian was one of a number of spiritual writers of her time, known now as the Fourteenth Century English Mystics. Her book is the first book known to have been written by a woman in English. After being nearly forgotten for 600 years, Julian’s insights and gentle wisdom have now made her justly famous. In a medieval church which emphasized God’s condemning wrath, Julian wrote, There is no wrath in God....It is the most impossible thing that can be that God would be angry, for wrath and friendship are two opposites. Just as striking and as relevant to the 21st century is Julian’s perception of the feminine element in God. As truly as God is our Father, Julian wrote, so truly God is our Mother. The Episcopal Church celebrates her feast every 8th of May. The Roman Catholic Church honors her on the 13th of May, based upon interpretations of the handwritten date of her visions in the earliest manuscript, VIII May or XIII May. Julian considered herself to be an ＂ordinary Christian,＂ and wrote with love of her ＂even-Christians,＂ by which she meant her fellow ordinary followers of Christ. As Julian prayed often in silence, so many who have read and loved her give high priority to ’still prayer’ and intercession for all in need. This is especially true of the Order of Julian of Norwich, a contemplative order for monks and nuns in the Episcopal Church founded in 1984 and located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. As the three windows of Julian’s anchorhold cell opened, one to the altar, one to the room of her lay sisters, and one to the public lane, so the life of the Order looks, first to the worship of God, secondly to the support and strength of the wider community of the Order (their Oblates and Associates) and thirdly to the service of others. The prayers in this book come from my more than thirty years of learning from Mother Julian, and from various Celtic Saints in Ireland and Scotland. Most of the devotions in this book first appeared in my weblog at www.BellsofNorwich.net. This book is a response to some who have asked for a collection of these devotions all in one place. I hope it will be helpful.Walter William Melnyk, Advent 2014

Melnyk graduated from Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, in 1969 with a BA in journalism. In 1981 he graduated from the School of Theology of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, with a Master of Divinity degree. He was ordained to the priesthood of the Episcopal Church in 1982. Over a ministry career that followed in the next twenty-three years, he served parishes in South Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania. He writes about Celtic spirituality and its relationship to Christianity. In 1984 he assisted in the formation of the order of Julian of Norwich, a contemplative Order in the Episcopal Church, and is an Oblate of that order.