Julian Reconsidered

FAIRACRES PUBLICATIONS 106

The message of optimism and hope of the fourteenth-century writer Julian of Norwich is sometimes understood rather superficially. These two essays, originally lectures given at her Shrine in Norwich, can assist our understanding of her theology. Sister Benedicta Ward reconsiders Julian in the light of the solitary tradition and contemporary medieval documents, suggesting that she may have been a widow who had borne a child. Kenneth Leech shows how Julian can help us to recover a sense of the goodness of creation, challenging superficial interpretations of her saying that ‘all shall be well’.

Kenneth Leech (1939–2015), a Christian socialist priest, was instrumental in setting up the charity Centrepoint to tackle youth homelessness in London. He was a director of the Runnymede Trust and Community Theologian at St Botolph’s Church, Aldgate. He was the author of numerous publications, including Soul Friend (1977), which quickly became one of the classic contemporary explorations of the Christian practice of spiritual direction, and Spirituality and Pastoral Care.
Sister Benedicta Ward SLG (1933–2022) was a member of the Anglican religious community of the Sisters of the Love of God. She wrote and translated a number of books on early monasticism and aspects of the Middle Ages. Her translation of the Prayers and Prosologion of St Anselm has been continuously in print since it was first published in 1973. She was Reader in the History of Christian Spirituality at the University of Oxford and a Supernumerary Fellow of Harris Manchester College