Leaders 10/31- Mary and Melissa

 Julian of Norwich

Julian of Norwich was born around 1343.  She was educated by eleven Benedictine nuns.  When she became ill, in the year 1373, she experienced a series of sixteen spiritual revelations or "showings."  The Book of Showing or Revelations of Divine Loe recorded all of Julian's visions.  She could read but she could not write, or that she was not literate in Latin.  Julian acquired a spiritual advisory named Margery Kempe.  She was not the first writer to consider the motherhood of God, her treatment of this theme is more elaborate than that of any predecessor.  Julian presents Christ's motherhood as "a complete and connected cycle of life."  In her narrative she writes about the development of a fetus in the womb, the mother's labor and delivery, nursing the infant, teaching the older child, and loving the adult child until its own demise, when it is reborn on God's womb. She believed that women are defined by their bodies and it is a powerful site of women's spiritual expression.

Questions: from Showing 

1.) "So Jesus Christ, who opposes good to evil, is our true Mother" (page 656). If our mother is symbolically represented by Jesus, the Son of God, then what can that imply for women? 

2.) In the realm of the bible, Jesus' death on the cross is seen as the ultimate sacrifice for his children.  So, if Jesus symbolically represents "our Mother" then does that mean women are expected to sacrifice everything for their children?  Have you ever seen your mom sacrifice anything for you or your siblings?  

3.) Do you think the fact that Julian Norwich was a nun, a woman who will remain abstinent for life, effected the way in which she wrote about motherhood considering she will never experience being a mother? 

Dorothy Leigh

Dorothy Leigh's book "The Mother's Blessing" got published shortly after her death in 1616.  This book was one of the most popular advise manuals of the 1600's.  Between the years 1616 and 1640 "The Mother's Blessing" was reissued 19 times.  Dorothy Leigh bypasses the normal prohibitions on female public speech, due to the fact that she knew she was going to die soon.  At this time, women were only aloud to instruct their children in their husbands house; but in Leigh's circumstance she would not be able to, leading to her to forget about the "usual customs of the women" and to her composing a written legacy of religious advise. 

 Questions: The Mother's Blessing

1.) Dorothy Leigh speaks of motherhood as a career of sorts where your duties are to prepare your children to live a "Godly" future.  Leigh believes that the most important task you can complete for your children is teaching them how to read so that they can read the Bible.  Is there anything in today's society that women feel like they have to teach their children?  Do mothers today try to prepare their children for the future in one way or another?  Do you think the fact that Leigh was dying effected her writing this guide of motherhood?

2.)  Throughout The Mother's Blessing, the majority of advice to children is directed towards young men who are choosing their wives.  Her main point is once you make a decision, you need to stay with that choice.  Is this being taught in today's society or is divorce so prevalent that parent's don't feel the need to teach their children that marriage should be permanent?  Does the high divorce rates for our parent's generations effect the way we think about marriage?  

3.)  Is there a significance that Dorothy Leigh's writing is mainly addressed to her sons and not to her daughters?  Being a feminist writer, do you find it odd that she mainly focuses on what her sons should do?