Sunday, September 28, 2008

What the heck is an "Anchoress" and who is this Dame,Julian of Norwich?



Curious as to what an Anchoress is (or was) and why I chose it as a name for my blog on the web site, Beliefnet? No, it isn't a person who handles an anchor. Here's a partial explanation from Wikipedia:

Anchorite (male)/anchoress (female), (adj. anchoritic; from the Greek ἀναχωρέω anachōreō, signifying "to withdraw", "to depart into the rural countryside"), denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic and, circumstances permitting, Eucharistic-focused life. As a result, anchorites are usually considered to be a type of religious hermit although there are distinctions in their historical development and theology. The anchoritic life is one of the earliest forms of Christian monastic living. Popularly it is perhaps best-known from the surviving archeological and literary evidence of its existence in medieval England.

The most famous Anglican Anchorite was Julian of Norwich, an image of her seen above (which may or may not be historically accurate, given the time in which she lived.) Part of an entry for her on Wikipedia is as follows:

Julian of Norwich (c. November 8,1342– c. 1416) is considered one of the greatest English mystics. Little is known of her life aside from her writings. Even her name is uncertain, the name "Julian" coming from the Church of St. Julian in Norwich, where she was an anchoress, meaning that she was walled into the church behind the altar during a mass for the dead. At the age of 30, suffering from a severe illness and believing she was on her deathbed, Julian had a series of intense visions of Jesus Christ. (They ended by the time she overcame her illness, May 13, 1373) She recorded these visions soon after having them, and then again twenty years later in far more theological depth. They are the source of her major work, called Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love(circa 1393). This is believed to be the first book written by a woman in the English language Julian became well known throughout England as a spiritual authority: Margery Kempe mentions going to Norwich to speak with Julian.

Although she lived in a time of turmoil, Julian's theology was optimistic, speaking of God's love in terms of joy and compassion as opposed to law and duty. For Julian, suffering was not a punishment that God inflicted, as was the common understanding. She believed that God loved and saved everyone. Popular theology magnified by current events including the Black and a series of peasant revolts assumed that God was punishing the wicked. In response, Julian suggested a far more chimerical theology, universal salvation. Because she believed that beyond the reality of hell is yet a greater mystery of God's love, she has also been referred to in modern times as a proto-universalist. Even though her views were not typical, local authorities did not challenge either her theology or her authority to make such religious claims because of her status as an anchoress.


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