4th September 2024

Often at this time of the year we go and house-sit for our son and daughter-in-law while they are away on holiday. One of our main responsibilities is to look after (i.e. feed) their three cats. It was only recently that I discovered that cats have a patron saint – Julian of Norwich (she is not strictly a ‘saint’, as she has not been canonised – but nobody has told the cats that!).

Julian lived in the 14th century and it was after she recovered from the Black Death that she had some divine visions that led to her becoming an anchoress. For the rest of her life – more than 50 years – she lived in a small cell attached to Norwich Cathedral.

Following these visions she wrote about them. Probably the best-known quotation from her writings is: “But all things shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well”. That sentence has given comfort to many down the generations and still does so today. The psalmist put it another way: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46). It does not prevent us from being concerned about all the troubles that we experience or those we learn about – riots, knife crime in Britain, wars in Europe, the Middle East and other places. Nor does it suggest we should not pray about these situations as well as about our own problems. But that promise is always there.

What about the cats – why Julian? The story is that she was allowed to have a cat (presumably a succession of cats) with her in her cell to keep the rats away!

David T Roberts