In the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Julian of Norwich has become one of the most popular and influential spiritual writers of the Christian tradition. That in itself is remarkable, because there is very little evidence of her popularity in her own day or even in the following centuries. Her writings were never widely distributed and exist in only one or two manuscripts.

What has made her popular is the depth and power of her theological and spiritual vision. Her use of maternal imagery with reference to God and to Jesus Christ, the phrases “all shall be well” and perhaps especially that remarkable statement of God’s love with which she concludes her Showings:

“And from the time that it was revealed, I desired many times to know in what was our Lord’s meaning. And fifteen years after and more, I was answered in spiritual understanding, and it was said: What, do you wish to know your Lord’s meaning in this thing? Know it well, love was his meaning. Who reveals it to you? Love. What did he reveal to you? Love. Why does he reveal it to you? For love.”

All of that endears her to contemporary liberal Christians and New-Agers. What many of these people often overlook is how firmly rooted Julian’s thought and experience are in the Christian tradition. The sacraments are important to her, but even more problematic in the twenty-first century is her vivid, devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ. She describes images of Christ’s suffering and death that might offend modern sensibilities. But her understanding of Christ’s love is shaped by her experience of that love in his suffering and death on the cross.