Words: Julian of Norwich
Music: William Mathias
Sunday, May 1, 2011
In 1987, Welsh composer William Mathias was commissioned to write an anthem to be sung at St. Paul's Cathedral, in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. For his text, Mathias selected words written in the late 14th century by a woman revered as one of England's greatest mystics. She was an anchoress, one who withdraws to a life of contemplative solitude, and she was the first woman to write a book in the English language. Her works extol the universal joy and unlimited compassion of a God who, as all things to his children, is both father and mother. Seven hundred years later, her concepts have become the basis of feminist theology.
We don't know exactly when this woman died, or even her birth name. But she came to be called Julian of Norwich, and these are her words, the last verse of which she heard spoken directly to her in the voice of God:
As truly as God is our Father,
So just as truly is God our Mother.
In our Father, God Almighty,
We have our being;
In our merciful Mother
We are re-made and restored.
Our fragmented lives are knit together;
And by giving and yielding ourselves
Through grace, to the holy spirit
We are made whole.
It is I, the strength and goodness of Fatherhood.
It is I, the wisdom of Motherhood.
It is I, the light and grace of holy love.
It is I, the Trinity, it is I, the unity.
I am the sovereign goodness in all things.
It is I who teach you to love.
It is I who teach you to desire.
It is I who am the reward of all true desiring.
All shall be well,
And all shall be well,
And all manner of thing shall be well.
Amen.