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”
I had to choose Julian. Her prayer "All Shall Be Well" has gotten me through many a rough moment. I even have a rubber stamp with this prayer on it!
No contest for me--JULIAN for the win! A saint I have admired for years.
"All will be well and all will be well and every kind of thing shall be well."
A quote from Julian that any Christian can make their motto. And this from a women who had lived through 3 rounds of the plague.
Aren't we blessed to have such wonderful exemplars of our faith! I love William Wilberforce for his dedication to the abolition of the slave trade. He's a bright shining example of what one can do with great wealth when it's funneled toward improving humanity's lot. There's no question that I would cast my vote for him...
...except you pitted him against one of my favorite saints. Julian - a woman whose very name is lost to the ages, the earliest English language book written by a woman, one who embraced the all-encompassing love of God with her famous quote, “that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Julian of Norwich it is!
My vote went to Dame Julian. She was so comforting, so peaceful. And an author in a time when women didn't write books - her writings show us we are cherished by God. I would have loved to meet her.
It was a difficult choice, but I chose Wilberforce. It is too bad that the United States did not follow the example of our English cousins.
When one votes for a politician. Know his record. The following was one oh his strict religious views:
Wilberforce's views of women and religion were also conservative: he disapproved of women anti-slavery activists such as Elizabeth Heyrick, who organised women's abolitionist groups in the 1820s, protesting: "[F]or ladies to meet, to publish, to go from house to house stirring up petitions – these appear to me proceedings unsuited to the female character as delineated in Scripture."
I love Julian's writings, but William's fight against slavery freed many from bondage, a more direct impact.
Love them both. One quibble. Julian was not an early believer in universal salvation. Origen, for one, beat her by about 1,000 years. And about Wilberforce, no mention of the Wesleys' influence?
John Wesley's last letter was to Wilberforce. Love 'em both.
I wish it weren't this match up. I love Dame Julian with all my heart. But the work Wilberforce did was so important. I appreciate Julian sharing her thoughts and visions with us, but I can't value that over the world changing human rights work done by Wilberforce.
Did the writings of Julian of Norwich inspire William Wilberforce? Each of them, in their day, in their culture, did marvelous things. Today we need politicians who see their election as a call to serve the needs of the world instead of a doorway into power and riches. If it is impossible to remain on one's goal if elected to national office, then we need more anchorites.
Two amazing saints showing us the importance of both contemplation and action--I'm glad there are really many, many halos for the saints of God.
References to writings and even a movie trailer--how we appreciate LM commentators. And we trust that the SEC knows how much we appreciate them too, despite some of our snarky comments about sibling match-ups.
My goal in life has been to be a servant or giver to others and I based my occupation upon this. I'll go with the man whose mission in life was to give slaves their freedom. He remained steadfast in this quest until his death. This is a life truly fullfilled.
I grew up as a cradle Methodist. While Wilberforce wasn't a Methodist in the way I was, he had some close associations with those who did have "Methodist" ties, or what was called "Methodist" back in that day. This, I believe, influenced him in his abolitionism.
Wilberforce all the way for me.
Thinking about "amazing Grace" ... John Newton could have been the saint...a sinner saved, re-turned to God
As much as I love Julian and her commitment to Jesus, I had to vote for Wilberforce for his determination and work to abolish slavery. He experienced first hand the horrendous treatment of humans and made it his life work to stop this.
God was with them both but I can empathize more with Wilberforce .
He certainly already has his reward !
I am more of a doer & boots on the ground person than I am a contemplative. But I have been reading meditations by Richard Rohr for at least a year now and learning more about contemplation. I voted for Julian.
While Julian may have been an inspiration to theologians and clergy of her era, her writing didn't reach the common man, and certainly not the slaves. Wilberforce defied his class and wealth to practice a type of radical Christianity that bore great fruit in the British Empire and eventually America.
She did reach the common person. She had a window open to the street. All were welcome to come.
It was William Wilberforce for me. He certainly put his money where his mouth was, even in failing health. The effects of his actions were far reaching.
Team Wilberforce for sure!
Unfair! Unfair! I wish I could vote for both!
This was one of the toughest choices I've seen/faced in Lent Madness to date. Coming in I thought Julian in a heartbeat... but stepping back and looking at both their stories... differing aspects of the faith life... I found my decision much tougher. These are two genuine saints of the faith... and rather than lobby, I will leave my final choice and others to the tally and to God.
Blessings,
William Wilberforce is essential in Australian Anglican history. He advocated for a chaplin to be with the first fleet that came to the new colony with the convicts and he engaged Richard Johnstone - who went to the same school in Yorkshire - to be that chaplin. For us in the antipodes, we owe a great debt to the dedication of Wilberforce and his care of the souls in those convict ships and in the new colony.
There are many worthy "doers" in this world and Wilberforce was certainly one. But there are also those whose thoughtful words inspire us to all manner of "doing." My doings are small things, but are inspired even or especially in frantic moments by Dame Julian's sure and calming words: that we shall not be overcome; that God loves and cares for even the tiny hazelnut; that all shall be well and every manner of thing shall be well. In the worst of times, we can hear her words and press on in the name of our courteous Lord. As did Wilberforce and Sojourner Truth, and Absalom Jones. So for today, my vote goes to Julian. I have no idea how I'll vote when Absalom and Sojourner meet...
Julian of Norwich, of course. And by the way, the full quote is "Sin is inevitable, but all shall be well." Julian accepted that we are imperfect and that we are the ones who are filled with wrath; the wrath we see in God, is actually our own that we project onto him. But within each person who sins, there is a part that never consented to sin. And God will sort it all out. She was a realist and wrote " God never said you shall not be tempest tossed, you shall not be sore distressed, but God DID say, you shall not be overcome". Such an important distinction.
wealthy, but he understood that it's wrong to own people; Jesus freed us from death; WW freed us from slavery--freed both the slaves and the "owners". Hard choice, I agree; I agree that Julian's life and work shouldn't be dismissed as not "doing". But Wilberforce. Who will free us from poverty and homelessness? free both those suffering from it, and us suffering from having enough and a roof when others do not.
I could argue both ways, but I'm voting for Julian because of the delicious hazelnut bread I made using Maria Noletti Ross's recipe in the Saintly Scorecard. Both the bread and the quote were much appreciated by my coworkers. And she had a cat.
Ah, but Wilberforce started the RSPCA... 😉
I beg to differ in that she was very accessible to the common person, even writing specifically to them in many places, referring to them as "evenchristens."
We do need many many things. We DO NOT need more anchorites. That's as bad as slavery.
One is voluntary.
Julian was put there by her parents. Voluntary?
Actually, she petitioned the bishop to become an anchorite. Sounds voluntary to me.
Here's something about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation_of_Manners
What a choice to have to make. I have always been interested in Julian - have been to Norwich. I have a cat named Wilberforce. I voted for Julian but will not be dismayed by whomever wins.
I voted for Wilberforce, because his work remains incomplete and is still the area where the Church needs to stand in solidarity.
Still Julian speaks to the Church about spirit and nature in wonderful ways.
You DO make it difficult. But I am a doer more than a thinker, and I am grateful for all William did to begin change in hius world.
This was a tough decision, but Wilberforce ultimetely won me over. While it is wonderful that Julian taught us ways in which to deeper our spirituality and get closer to God, Wilberforce did the same but then took it to the next level and made the choice to be a bold and outspoken witness so that we all could freely get closer to God.