The problem of writing a biography about Julian of Norwich — a contemporary of Chaucer, and the first woman to write a book in English — is that most of her life is a mystery.
No one even knows if her name was really Julian, or if that was just derived from the Church of St. Julian in Norwich, a bustling river port city on the far eastern coat of of England, where she lived as an anchoress, enclosed in a cell attached to that church.
All that is certain comes from her major work, “Revelations of Divine Love.” At the age of 30, near death from a serious illness, she experienced an intricate series of visions of Jesus Christ, which she later recorded in two separate versions.
Despite the enigma of her personal life, Julian has become a significant figure in contemporary spirituality, especially among women because of her insights on the motherhood of God, which was revolutionary for the 14th century.
She also wrote about the body, the relationship of the soul to God and the passionate love that God without wrath has for humans.
Passion for all things Julian has triggered a constant stream of new translations, anthologies and devotional books.
Amy Frykholm, a special correspondent for “The Christian Century” who lives in Leadville, has just added to the trove with a new book called “Julian of Norwich: A Contemplative Biography.”
Her narrative, which she calls “an act of empathetic imagination,” crackles with life.
Here is young Julian at Mass, a crowd waiting behind her as she made her confession. “Some muttered and clicked their rosaries, some chatted, others prayed,” writes Frykholm. “Candles flickered and gave off a balmy smell of wax; the rain cooled the stone of unpaned windows.”
Here is Julian with her mother, embroidering linens for the altar, and meeting with her friar-teacher, who worries about her safety.
“An educated woman and visionary was poised on a precipice,” writes Frykholm. “If the authorities gained access to her writing, they might conclude that the visions were from the devil. They might see reason to condemn her, to take away her writing materials, to put her in prison, or even to kill her.”
Frykholm wanted to get as close to Julian as possible, to imagine her daily life right down to the smells and the sights. She spent time in Norwich, steeping herself in historical details.
“Her writings are incredibly hard to access without understanding the historical context,” she said in an interview.
“So in order to tell a story that people could really engage, I studied hard, weighed the facts, read her writings carefully, and told a story, with fairly controversial choices, about who Julian might have been.”
One of those tough decisions was to portray Julian as a mother, although some scholars still argue that she was a nun.
“She sees God as a mother who wraps us up and cares for us,” Frykholm said. “She calls Jesus our mother and says his time on the cross was labor so that he could give birth to us.”
The possibility that Julian married, had children, and lost them in the plagues of the 14th century gives a clue, Frykholm believes, to the mystery of why suffering is at the center of her writing, and what motivated her to become the first woman to write a book in English.
But it is Julian’s particular view of God that speaks to many modern seekers.
“She had learned to detect in everything — the calendula growing bright orange in the hedgerow, the tiny gooseberries, the garlic mustard in her porridge — the presence of God,” writes Frykholm. “It was a quality of listening, a way of paying attention. In this way, life had begun and would end in love.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
