Statue of Juliana of Norwich, the fourteenth-century mystic

WE CANNOT know ourselves until we know God. This was one of the insights of Juliana of Norwich, also known as Julian, a fourteenth-century recluse and mystic who was probably a Benedictine nun who lived in Norwich, England. She wrote:

This is the cause why we are not at rest in heart and soul; that here we seek rest in things that are so little there is no rest in them, and we do not know our God who is all mighty, all wise and all good. For he is true rest.

No soul can have true rest until it finds created things are empty. When the soul gives up all for love, so that it can have him that is all, then it finds true rest.

For he is endless and has made us for his own self only, and has restored us by his blessed Passion, and keeps us in his blessed love. And he does all this through his goodness.

God of your goodness give me yourself, for you are enough for me.

[From Daily Readings with Julian of Norwich, Vol. 1; Template Publishers, Springfield Illinois; 1980. Trans. The Julian Shrine]

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