Ever since I was introduced to her writing I have been intrigued by Mother Julian’s life style as an anchorite and also by the wisdom within her texts. Her most famously quoted saying is of course, ‘All shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well.’ That seems to me to be our modern interpretation on a more difficult theme. One translation gives a more subtle and consequently more difficult offering, she feels that god has told her, ‘I will make all things well, I shall make all things well, I may make all things well; and you shall see for yourself that all things shall be well.’ However we have to stretch for the deeper understanding I feel that there is an optimism in the whole passage that gives comfort through some darker times.

Denny Bradbury