Julian of Norwich: Simple Ladders of Perfection

Julian's Ladders of PerfectionAmong contemporary lovers of Julian of Norwich there are many who have never read her entire book. There are many reasons for this. Chief among them is that she is not always easy to read. Even rendered in modern English, her fourteenth century prose can be daunting. Then, too, her style is more like the spoken, rather than written word. While this provides a refreshing familiarity for the reader (compared with the medieval Scholastic theologians who were among her contemporaries,) we often must follow her through dependent clauses, subtexts, flashbacks, and changes in direction. A didactic passage may suddenly be interrupted by vision; a vivid "showing" may pause for theological reflection.No less a spiritual leader than Thomas Merton once described Julian as, with John Henry Newman, the greatest Anglican theologian. Her theology, based upon the Trinity and the Incarnation, is impeccable. But she is first a mystic, and said herself that her spiritual visions are near to impossible to express in words. For this reason, many dismiss her as a theologian; perhaps also because of her self-description as "unlettered." She is usually valued for her ability to lead the reader into the deep realms of unmediated experience of the Divine. Often it is said that she provides little or no practical spiritual direction; no instructions on how to pray or how to ascend the ladder of spiritual growth. Unlike her contemporary English Mystic, Walter Hilton (in his Ladder of Perfection,) it is usually said that Julian has no such Ladder, no series of steps to take.Even the somewhat diligent reader of Julian, however, will know this is not so. There are no less than ten simple Ladders of Perfection in Julian's book, easy to spot once the reader is inclined to look for them. They are simple, and brief. Each is composed of three steps, perhaps from Julian's love for the spiritual imagery of the Holy Trinity. They do not build upon each other, but are ten ways of looking a common idea.This book is a simple presentation of the simple mystic visions, theological insight, and Ladders of Perfection that are Julian of Norwich. It begins with her "bodily" visions of the Passion of Christ, extracted in a separate and continuous narrative. It begins there, because all of Julian's spiritual theology emerges from her experience of this Passion. It is needful to read it first, because without her Passion narrative there is no Hazelnut, no Christ Our Mother, no Love Was His Meaning.There follows a brief discussion of the idea of Ladders of Perfection, followed by a presentation of Julian's Ten Simple Ladders. For each ladder there are three words for the three steps, a passage which puts them in context, and a colloquy or reflection, on that Ladder. These appear embedded in the many spiritual insights for which Julian is most famous. These are not gathered into discrete subject areas. Hilton might have done so, or Aquinas, but not Julian. They appear more or less in the order that she wrote them down.It is hoped this will provide the reader with an easy to use "companion" of Julian's work. The quotations from Julian's text are from "A Revelation of Divine Love," modern English translation by Walter William Melnyk, published in 2014.