Happy Monday! We trust everyone survived a day without Lent Madness and is ready to get back into the voting fray. We kick off the week with what will sure to be a hotly contested battle between Julian of Norwich and William Wilberforce. 14th century Mystic vs. 18th century Reformer. Who will move on to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen? Well, that's up to the global Lent Madness community.
Over the weekend, in the only Saturday matchup of Lent Madness 2016, Methodius defeated his brother Cyril. Lent Madness bracketologists will note that this was not the first brother vs. brother contest. In the first round of the 2014 Saintly Smackdown, eventual Golden Halo winner Charles Wesley dethroned his brother John. Thus there is indeed precedence for hagiographic fratricide.
As a reminder of how this whole process works, the Supreme Executive Committee, released the Ten Commandments of Lent Madness. We encourage everyone who thought pitting Cyril vs. Methodius was "unfair" to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest these rules of the Lenten road.
Finally, some have asked where they can go to see previous results from Lent Madness 2016. Fortunately, we have an amazing Bracket Czar, Adam Thomas, who updates the bracket every day. If you click the Bracket tab on the website, you'll find an updated bracket along with clickable links to the battles that have already taken place. Scroll down on the same tab and you'll encounter the 2016 Matchup Calendar, where you can find out the precise date your favorite saint will be entering the Lent Dome to do battle.
Julian of Norwich
We know very little about Julian of Norwich. Her name is derived from the place where she devoted herself to a life of solitary prayer, study, and writing—the Church of Saint Julian. Her works date her life to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, during a period of rampant epidemics of the Black Plague.
In 1373, at around the age of thirty, Julian suffered from a severe illness during which she had visions of Jesus Christ. She wrote them down immediately, and the 11,000-word text is believed to be the earliest surviving book written by a woman in the English language.
Around 1393, Julian explored the meaning of the visions in a longer version of Revelations of Divine Love. The book was widely read and is still embraced by both Catholics and Protestants as offering important and profound mystical insight into the nature of God. Julian believed sin was a necessary step to knowing one’s self and accepting God’s love. She taught that we sin because we are naive. To learn we must fail, and to fail we must sin.
She worried over the fate of those who were not raised in the Christian faith and had never heard the gospel. But she came to believe that God does everything in love, and therefore, “that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well,” possibly making her an early believer in universal salvation.
Julian described Jesus as a mother who is wise, loving, and merciful. She believed the bond between mother and child was the closest earthly relationship one could have to the love of Jesus. She also used metaphors of conception, nursing, and labor in connection with Jesus’ love, but at other times called him our brother.
Collect for Julian of Norwich
Lord God, in your compassion you granted to the Lady Julian many revelations of your nurturing and sustaining love: Move our hearts, like hers, to seek you above all things, for in giving us yourself you give us all; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was born on August 24, 1759. Family bequests left him independently wealthy, which allowed him to pursue a life of his own choosing. An affluent, educated politician and Christian who lived out his beliefs, Wilberforce defined himself through his devotion to dismantling slavery throughout the British Empire.
During a trip to the European continent, his spiritual life began to blossom, thanks to Bible reading and a commitment of service to God. Wilberforce’s embrace of Christianity prompted his interest in governmental and human rights reform.
Elected to the House of Commons in 1780 (a seat he held for forty-five years), Wilberforce was someone who commanded an audience. He was introduced to the horrors of the slave trade in 1787 by a group of anti-slave activists. His epiphany was stunning, and his dedication to abolishing slavery was lifelong. A journal entry indicated, “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners.”
His campaigns eventually led to the passage of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which abolished the slave trade in the British Empire but did not abolish slavery as a practice. Those who were already slaves remained so. Wilberforce was not deterred, and his efforts to completely abolish slavery throughout the empire continued. Poor health forced his resignation from Parliament in 1826, but he persisted in his crusade. Eventually, he was instrumental in the creation and passage of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, which abolished slavery and emancipated all slaves in the British Empire.
Wilberforce died three days before Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act but was assured before his death that it would be ratified. Wilberforce died in London on July 29, 1833, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Collect for William Wilberforce
Let your continual mercy, O Lord, kindle in your Church the never-failing gift of love, that, following the example of your servant William Wilberforce, we may have grace to defend the poor, and maintain the cause of those who have no helper; for the sake of him who gave his life for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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310 comments on “Julian of Norwich vs. William Wilberforce”
Freeing living, human beings across a nation. This is such a force for God's love in the world. While I love Julian's prayer (which has brought comfort to me), the "life of the mind" and mysticism that she represents is no match for saving even just one person from the loss of a true human existence represented by slavery.
I am already looking for Julian's books online. This was a great match up, but I had to vote for Julian. I did not know about either of these saints until today, so thank you Lent Madness!
I'm into mystics anyway, and the line "all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well" --her most famous line--is something only a mystic could say. Well, maybe not *only* a mystic, but it is a kind of mystical insight. (I think Eliot used the line in "Four quartets.")
I have been playing for 2 years, but this is the first time I was moved to comment. This one was SO hard. Had it been Wilberforce vs almost anyone else I would have voted for him, but Julian was so special. In the end, it came down to the fact that I use her quotation "and all shall be well..." ALL the time, so I felt like she has more of a place in my life. And since I am Jewish, that is saying something about a saint!
Hi JennyC! I didn't know Lent Madness was celebrated by Judeo-cousins as well. I'm so glad to know that.
Both are trailblazers and both were speakers and doers of the Word. Julian got my vote because a woman writing spiritual matters in the fourteenth century had to be exceedingly bold. A man of privilege devoting himself to social justice is also laudable, but Julian had more obstacles to overcome.
Action beats contemplation. This is a man who put his "money where is mouth" is. I vote for Wilberforce.
Read the book, visited the shrine. agree with Donna. Wilberforce addressed the problem of the Slave Trade many years before our own Civil War. Americans seem to believe that slavery was an American phenomenon but reading about Wilberforce's work should get them to realize that slavery has been with us since anyone can remember. As it still is today, more's the pity. Did Wilberforce discriminate by freeing only male slaves? No way.
Mother Julian for me. While in England at Christmas I made a pilgrimage to her church behind a group of soccer supporters making their way to nearby Norwich Football Ground. Their shouts could be heard while I meditated, with a white cat, in the otherwise peaceful churchyard.
I have not read ALL the comments, so if this has already been said, my apologies. I admire people of action and it was hard not to vote for Wilberforce. But I had to go with Julian. It is truly wonderful that she understood so long ago that God is love. Period. If more people today could grasp that, there would be far less racism and other forms of hate. And if more people could grasp the truth she apparently did -- that God loves all people and not just Christians-- even more hate might vanish. She was not "just " a mystic because all writers are in a way, doers, Her words remain for anyone to be inspired.
This was a tough vote. I am a proponent of civil rights but Julian's revelations were about love. Love of all our brothers and sisters propels us to fight for civil rights. My vote goes to Julian.
Very tough choice. I went with Wilburforce. Love Julian but went with the person who had the greatest impact on the largest number of people.
I voted for Julian of Norwich. In my father's last few months, as he was dying from a terminal brain tumor, he took great comfort in her writings and philosophy. She helped him to face death with dignity, looking to the world beyond.
One reason I enjoy Lent Madness so much is that, while some people occasionally get intense about their choices, everyone remains civil and even generous. Have we found an exception to Godwin's law?
But my burning question for today is, What was the "Reformation of Manners" that Wilberforce thought was his other God-appointed task?
For a woman like Julian to be a writer in the medieval period was unusual. For her to imagine Jesus as a mother, a woman, was extraordinary.
Two people who would have each gotten my vote if paired with others from the early rounds, but up against each other it wasn't a hard decision for me. We need a saint like Wilberforce before us in these days to encourage people whose faith opens their eyes to situations of injustice: To take action. To not give up. To work tirelessly. To be the faith and hands and voice and energy which help make the "all shall be well" of God's love a physical reality for those who are oppressed.
I see Wilberforce as an example of Julian's "All shall be well". She internalized the power of God to make "All things well" and God's grace moved Wilberforce to be God's agent to work to make "All things well".
Having just finished reading The Invention of Wings, my vote is for William Wilberforce.
I have long been a fan of Dame Julian, and the modern contemplative movement owes her a debt of gratitude. But that said I voted for William--this was an excellent write up and I am impressed with the good he was able to do in the world. If Julian wins (and it is close!) I would not hesitate to vote for her under the right circumstances in a later round.
An almost impossible choice. However, I am not contemplative at all and am a firm believer in boots on the ground. My youth group's t-shirts had a labyrinth on them but the larger image was a pair of walking shoes. Julian, I love you but my vote went to William Wilberforce.
Wilberforce- for using his career as a politician to live out his Christian convictions in a way that effected positive, lasting change in the world.
Another difficult decision, but I went with the mystic--this time.
But I'm very glad it's such a close race.
This seemed a difficult choice at first, but then I reasoned that I wanted to consider the work of each in the context of the time they lived. I voted for Julian because as a caregiver, I know the desperation that can come with sickness, and in Juliana time there were no medical remedies for the plagues that were taking so many lives. It can take great faith and courage to profess that all will be well in that context.
lean on "being" or writings from Julian of Norwich over the "doing" of WW, obviously for importance of prayer & contemplation....yes, doings of WW moved slave trade out of fashion but question the wealthy politicians "saintliness" when more of his story reveals his hand in colony in Sierra Leone with "slave" to "apprentice" treatment rather than return enslaved back to their homes/families with restitution.
thank you for putting this matchup together...worthy of contemplation & study!
This seemed a difficult choice at first, but then I reasoned that I wanted to consider the work of each in the context of the time they lived. I voted for Julian because as a caregiver, I know the desperation that can come with sickness, and in Julian's time there were no medical remedies for the plagues that were taking so many lives. It can take great faith and courage to profess that all will be well in that context.
I am a fan of both, but my girls and I were again in one accord today in selecting one of our heroes, WW, for whom we are profoundly grateful that he poured his energies into the former of his "two great objects" from the Almighty ("the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners”). I wonder what he did about the latter? May God raise up more reformers like him to persevere in the fight for justice in our day!
Julia (age 10) hijacked my computer to vote for Wilberforce. She likes what he did, and in the proper "Madness" spirit, she wants to be able to say "May the Wilberforce be with you!"
Go, Julia! (for voting -- the SEC remains neutral, of course).
Of course!
In a time when politicians seldom lead because unpopular opinions would make them unelectable, it is SO important to hold up models of political leaders who devoted themselves to change that recognized the equal dignity and worth of all human beings. Julian's value as a spiritual leader is unquestionable, but then, we have a number of saints whose spirituality is a model for us. How many politicians do we have? Wilberforce!
I couldn't think of a better reason to give Wilberforce the nod in this contest, hard though it may be not to reaffirm the blessedness of Julian. One just has to flash back to comments made in presidential primary debates and other inhumane opinions uttered by conservative politicians and would-be politicians over the last 18 months to know this is what the world needs right now.
No brainer. I was ordained a deacon on Julian's feast.... she gets my vote.
As a CE director, I am impressed and delighted at the number of people who are
sharing Lent Madness with their children. The parents of Oliver and Martin and unnamed daughters and unknown sons are Saints in my hagiography. We know they are saints right here and now. But please no smackdowns pitting them against each other.
Agreed!!
I went with Mr. W. of whom I knew little and now know a little bit more. I do tend to go with the "doers", and agree that writing is indeed work. But I like quantifiable results. I would like to know more about his 2nd great goal--Reformation of Manners.