Paperback : 180 pages

Praise for Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond

"Suppose you had a wise woman friend who was a scholar, and also the survivor of a plague many times longer and more lethal than the one we are going through now. Wouldn't you want to know what she has to say?  Thanks to Matthew Fox, we can find a friend in Julian of Norwich, exactly the mental, emotional and spiritual vaccine we need now."    

                  -- Gloria Steinem

"I think of Matthew Fox as 'God's Talent Scout' for all the pivotal figures and ideas he has reclaimed for the reform of Christianity.  He knows the sources and translates them into modern idiom for the rest of us! What he has done with Hildegard, Eckhart, and Aquinas himself, makes him a major teacher and guide. Now in our parallel time of pandemic, he does it again with Lady Julian of Norwich--as we all ask 'What does it mean to love and believe now?'"

--Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico

If ever there was a time when the presence and the power of a book and the felt need of the moment came together this is surely it. Matthew Fox's "Julian" is the answer to the spiritual and emotional meaning of a pandemic. It turns both the frustration and the fear of Covid-19 into a period of new insight into the spiritual life. It gives us all new understanding of what we must each do to grow in peace and joy and life not only despite this pandemic but because of it. 

Most of all, this book is highly enjoyable to read, totally accessible whatever a person's experience with the period of the Bubonic Plague. Do I recommend this book? Totally.  Give yourself a gift of new spiritual energy. 

--Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB

"What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together. All of Julian's teachings are an expression of the profound truth that All is One with God and Nature. If ever a book was written for this time of pandemic chaos and transformation, it is this one."

--Caroline Myss, author of Intimate Conversations with the Divine: Prayer, Guidance and Grace

Matthew Fox, in this gorgeous, brilliant and beautifully written book, invites us into the heart of one of the greatest Christian mystics, Julian of Norwich. He shows us that Julian is an extraordinarily intense and inspiring guide for our time. She herself lived in a time of plague and social cataclysm, but never lost her hope in humanity or her joy in the divine presence. This inspired book will tune you to timeless truths in the middle of a whirlwind of distress and chaos and will inspire in you the courage to go on deepening your relationship with God and standing up for the glory of the creation. I cannot recommend it highly enough. 

--Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope and Radical Regeneration 

Warrior brother to the Feminine, Rev. Father Mathew Fox, like a tender archaeologist brushes away the sands of time under which lay the remarkable blessings and cogent views of Julian who wrote in the time of plague, so very similar to our times. This work is its own kind of spiritual vaccine to help keep one’s head even if some others are losing theirs. In this, as always, Matthew Fox anoints modern Souls with a medicine he finds in the old and venerable Holy voices.

--Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés Reyés

Poet, Traditional Medicine practitioner, Post-trauma Recovery Specialist, Psychoanalyst, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves and Untie The Strong Woman on La Señora de Guadalupe 

What a book of consolation! Matthew Fox once again brings to the reader Julian’s mystical insights into the oneness of all. Julian lived during a global pandemic and saw through the fear and grief to the nearness of the divine. I found this both comfort and challenge. During our time of social distancing, may we break with the historical culture of power and domination to recover Julian’s awareness of the divine vibrant in love and compassion at the core of all of creation. 

--Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, author of Hunger for Hope.

“I believe that Julian of Norwich is a mystic-prophet for our time who offers us a quiet but profound revolution in consciousness…” states author Matthew Fox. In this book, Fox introduces us to a highly educated, visionary woman who lived as an anchorite and wrote during the Bubonic Plague. Fox’s years of writing and teaching Creation Centered Spirituality and the Wisdom Tradition opens our eyes to Julian’s Feminine aspect of God, goodness and to her wisdom urgently needed during this time of revolution, pandemic, and climate change.

--The Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress, author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice

“A marvelous introduction to the visionary yet grounded world of Julian of Norwich, one of the greatest spiritual writers of the Middle Ages. Her messages about God in nature and the divine feminine are more relevant today than ever. Matthew Fox makes her insights freshly accessible and inspiringly relates her work both to her spiritual ancestors and also to our current crises.”

--Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, biologist and author of Science and Spiritual Practices