A Song of Our True Nature (Canticle S)

Christ revealed our frailty and our falling, * 

    our trespasses and our humiliations.
Christ also revealed his blessed power, *
    his blessed wisdom and love.
He protects us as tenderly and as sweetly 

when we are in greatest need; *
    he raises us in spirit
    and turns everything to glory and joy without ending.
God is the ground and the substance, 

the very essence of nature; *
    God is the true father and mother of natures.
We are all bound to God by nature, *
    and we are all bound to God by grace.
And this grace is for all the world, *
    because it is our precious mother, Christ.
For this fair nature was prepared by Christ
for the honor and nobility of all, *
    and for the joy and bliss of salvation.

--Dame Julian of Norwich (1343-ca 1416), English mystic, visionary, and anchorite