Julian of Norwich on Love

"The love that made Him to suffer passeth as far all His pains as Heaven is above Earth."

"The Enemy is overcome by the blessed Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ."

"Glad and joyous and sweet is the Blissful lovely Cheer of our Lord to our souls."

"He willeth that we set our hearts in the Overpassing : that is to say, from the pain that we feel into the bliss that we trust."

"We give our intent to love and meekness, by the working of mercy and grace we are made all fair and clean."

"Each brotherly compassion that man hath on his fellow Christians, with charity, it is Christ in him."

"He willeth that we love Him sweetly and trust in Him meekly and mightily. And this shewed He in these gracious words: I keep thee full surely."

"He that made all things for love, by the same love keepeth them, and shall keep them without end."

"Love was without beginning, is, and shall be without ending. For which love He said full sweetly these words: If I might suffer more, I would suffer more."

"Our Lord Jesus sheweth in love His blissful heart even cloven in two, rejoicing."

"We are kept all as securely in Love in woe as in weal, by the Goodness of God."

"Thus I saw how Christ hath compassion on us for the cause of sin."

"With this same cheer of mirth and joy our good Lord looked down on the right side and brought to my mind where our Lady stood in the time of His Passion; and said: Wilt thou see her?"

"Christ that doeth Good against evil is our Very Mother: we have our Being of Him where the Ground of Motherhood beginneth, — with all the sweet Keeping by Love, that endlessly followeth."

"Revelations of Divine Love in several formats at CCEL"

"All this was to make us glad and merry in love."

"There was a treasure in the earth which the Lord loved. I marvelled and thought what it might be, and I was answered in mine understanding: It is a food which is delectable and pleasant to the Lord."

"I saw full surely that all the works that God hath done, or ever shall, were fully known to Him and aforeseen from without beginning. And for Love He made Mankind, and for the same Love would be Man."

"And this I saw: that what time we see needs wherefor we pray, then our good Lord followeth us, helping our desire; and when we of His special grace plainly behold Him, seeing none other needs, then we follow Him and He draweth us unto Him by love."

"Also to prayer belongeth thanking. Thanking is a true inward knowing, with great reverence and lovely dread turning ourselves with all our mights unto the working that our good Lord stirreth us to, enjoying and thanking inwardly."

"This hath ever been a comfort to me, that I chose Jesus to my Heaven, by His grace, in all this time of Passion and sorrow; and that hath been a learning to me that I should evermore do so: choose only Jesus to my Heaven in weal and woe."

"Though we, by the wrath and the contrariness that is in us, be now in tribulation, distress, and woe, as falleth to our blindness and frailty, yet are we securely safe by the merciful keeping of God, that we perish not. But we are not blissfully safe, in having of our endless joy, till we be all in peace and in love: that is to say, full pleased with God and with all His works, and with all His judgments, and loving and peaceable with our self and with our even-Christians and with all that God loveth, as love beseemeth. And this doeth God’s Goodness in us."

"This shewed our Lord in the wholeness of love that we stand in, in His sight: yea, that He loveth us now as well while we are here, as He shall do while we are there afore His blessed face. But for failing love on our part, therefore is all our travail."

"These two desires of the Passion and the sickness I desired with a condition, saying thus: Lord, Thou knowest what I would, — if it be Thy will that I have it — and if it be not Thy will, good Lord, be not displeased: for I will nought but as Thou wilt."

"I saw that He is to us everything that is good and comfortable for us: He is our clothing that for love wrappeth us, claspeth us, and all encloseth us for tender love, that He may never leave us; being to us all-thing that is good, as to mine understanding."

"Though this reverent-dread and love be not parted asunder, yet they are not both one, but they are two in property and in working, and neither of them may be had without other. Therefore I am sure, he that loveth, he dreadeth, though that he feel it but a little."

"It is God’s will, as to mine understanding, that we have Three Manners of Beholding His blessed Passion. The First is: the hard Pain that He suffered, — with contrition and compassion. And that shewed our Lord in this time, and gave me strength and grace to see it."

"Our good Lord shewed the enmity of the Fiend: in which Shewing I understood that all that is contrary to love and peace is of the Fiend and of his part. And we have, of our feebleness and our folly, to fall; and we have, of mercy and grace of the Holy Ghost, to rise to more joy."

"The other manner of Regard was shewed inward: and that was more highly and all one. For the life and the virtue that we have in the lower part is of the higher, and it cometh down to us of the Natural love of the Self, by grace. Atwix the one and the other there is right nought: for it is all one love. Which one blessed love hath now, in us, double working: for in the lower part are pains and passions, mercies and forgiveness, and such other that are profitable; but in the higher part are none of these, but all one high love and marvellous joy: in which joy all pains are highly restored. And in this our Lord showed not only our Excusing, but the worshipful nobility that He shall bring us to, turning all our blame into endless worship."

"The penance that man taketh of himself was not shewed me: that is to say, it was not shewed specified. But specially and highly and with full lovely manner of look was it shewed that we shall meekly bear and suffer the penance that God Himself giveth us, with mind in His blessed Passion."