The third portrait of Mary is that of a role model for Christians in terms of love, sorrow and sympathy for Christ’s passion, as she represents humanity and their love for Christ. Julian of Norwich first writes “Herein I sawe in partye the compassion of oure ladye, Sainte Marye. For Criste and sho ware so anede in love that the gretnesse of hir love was the cause of the mekillehede of hir paine (Watson and Jenkins 85).” The Virgin Mary has then “compassion” or deep sorrow and sympathy for her Son and this sorrow moves her from the inside to relieve his suffering. The intensity (‘mekillehede’) of the Mary’s pain results from her great love, thanks to her deep union in love with her Son.
Then, Julian writes “For so mekille as sho loved him mare than alle othere, her paine passed alle other (Watson and Jenkins 85)”. Watson and Jenkins say that Mary in this passage is said to represent [at the foot of the cross] “Mary Magdalene and all Christ’s lovers”(see Watson and Jenkins 84). If we are to take into
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We have seen earlier on, that Mary represents all human creatures. That idea is emphasized later in Julian’s A Revelation of Love. “And mans soule is a creature in God, which hath the same propertes made, and evermore it doeth that it was made for: it seeth God, and it beholds God, and it loveth God (Watson and Jenkins 259).” Watson and Jenkins are right when they say that this passage is a development of “the perfect truth, wisdom, and love displayed by Mary at the Annunciation ” and that “...language applied to Mary is reapplied to “creature”, that is, to ‘mans soule’ (Watson and Jenkins 258).” In other words, the Virgin Mary represents human creatures, and the qualities seen in Mary and her soul are transferred to and seen in human souls: the way Mary is born to contemplate and love God, a man’s soul is also created the same