Chapter 16
- Kempe moves on to London with her husband, where the two of them find the Archbishop of Canterbury in residence at Lambeth Palace.
- While Kempe waits for an audience with the archbishop, she hears many members of his household cursing. She schools them about the evils of cursing (because it often involved blasphemy). As you can imagine, her words are not received well.
- When Kempe speaks with the archbishop himself, things go well.
- Kempe asks for permission to choose her own confessor and to take communion every Sunday (this practice was rare at the time). The archbishop agrees.
- The archbishop also approves of Kempe's conversations with God, her tears, and her way of living. Win!
- Kempe feels comfortable enough to tell the archbishop about the cussing members of his household, and she tells him that he really should fix that.
- Back in London proper, Kempe and her husband are welcomed by "worthy men" and are treated well.
- When Kempe returns to Lynn, she visits an anchorite there to check in. He tells her that people have been dissing her in her absence. He also says that they asked him to break off his acquaintance with Kempe, but he refuses to do so.
- Our editor steps in here to tell us that we should read Chapter 21 and then this chapter again. Try it.
Chapter 17
- Kempe skips back in time to the birth of her last child. Christ chats with her and tells her that she will have no more children. This is #14, so whew!
- Christ also tells Kempe to get straight up and go to the Vicar of St. Stephen's (that's Richard of Caister) in Norwich, about 40 miles away from Kempe's home in King's Lynn.
- Though she's weak from childbirth, Kempe gets herself up and out to Norwich, where she meets with Richard of Caister.
- Kempe asks to speak with Richard for an hour or two about the love of God, and he's kind of freaked out that an unlearned woman could talk so long on that subject.
- While Kempe's chatting with Richard, she hears the melody of Paradise in her ears and can't stand it (it's too overwhelming for her). She falls to the ground. But somehow this gives her more courage to speak to the vicar about her experiences.
- Kempe explains the kinds of conversations she has with God: friendly, "homely," like one friend to another.
- Kempe also emphasizes that she speaks with all persons of the Trinity in her soul—not just Christ.
- Kempe compares her direct spiritual experiences with God to the second-hand accounts she has had read to her (some very heavy stuff—check out our "Shout Outs" section for details).
- We also learn that Kempe has conversations with some of the biggest names in Christianity: St. Catherine, St. Paul, and St. Peter.
- Unfortunately for Kempe, such conversations often leave her writhing on the ground or behaving bizarrely. Her neighbors are not sympathetic, and they speak badly of her.
- But Richard of Caister always takes her side. Kempe reminds us of that he was an extremely holy person who worked many miracles in later days, after his death.
- Richard becomes Kempe's confessor and gives her Communion himself.
- When Kempe is called before the bishop to answer for her behavior, way of life, and beliefs, Richard appears with her to be her support.
Chapter 18
- Kempe continues to seek out learned clerics so that she can prove that her supernatural experiences are not evil. This time, she seeks out William Southfield—a friar who also has visions.
- Southfield is very pleased with Kempe and tells her not to fear her experiences. He says Kempe must remain meek and free of sin, though, because God only dwells where there is purity.
- Kempe is also commanded by God to seek out "Dame Julian" while she is in Norwich.
- When she meets Julian, Kempe finds another source of encouragement. Julian tells Kempe that the Holy Spirit only moves in charity and would never ask her to do anything evil.
- Julian tells Kempe that tears and weeping are gifts of the Holy Spirit, since God would not give the feeling of compunction to someone who was hardhearted.
- Julian knows that Kempe will need a lot of courage and perseverance to deal with the slander and persecution she will face because of that gift, and she spends days speaking with her.
- Kempe plows ahead, speaking with many learned religious people and telling them about her life and experiences. She receives encouragement from most of them.
- But others are not so nice. They speak badly of Kempe and make her life hell.
- Kempe's confessor back home prophesies that she will have all kinds of trouble on her trip to Jerusalem but says that she must persevere.
- Kempe is not happy about this—after all, she has to go in white clothes already, which will automatically make her the target of evil tongues.
- But Kempe's confessor tells her that the Lord will comfort her on her journey.
- While Kempe is in a complaining mood, she tells her confessor of another confessor who is not kind to her. But the current confessor doesn't care: he says she just has to suck it up for the good of her soul.
- Red alert! There is an episode in Chapter 18 that really belongs at the end of Chapter 19. It's the story of an encounter with a widow that begins in the middle and continues. This is likely a mistake in the only copy of the manuscript, so you'll have to read around it and double back after you read the beginning of the episode in Chapter 19. Sorry.
Chapter 19
- This chapter is a bit odd, so hang in there. Kempe wants to tell us about her interactions with the general public.
- Before she hits the road for Jerusalem, Kempe gets a request from a local lady to meet with her and the lady's confessor.
- Kempe agrees. She has a message for the lady from Christ: the soul of the lady's dead husband is stuck in purgatory and needs the efforts of his wife to move on to heaven.
- The lady doesn't respond well. Her husband was a good man, and she doesn't believe Kempe.
- In fact, the lady is so displeased with Kempe that she sends word to Kempe's confessor that he ought to part ways with the crazy visionary.
- But Kempe's confessor will not "break up" with Kempe. He encourages Kempe by telling her that God will always love her, even if she doesn't have the gift of tears in the future.
- Kempe now moves on to the story of the widow (the one that began in the middle back in Chapter 18).
- The widow asks Kempe to tell her about the state of her dead husband's soul (sound familiar?).
- Kempe tells it like it is: the husband's soul will be in purgatory for 30 years, unless the widow offers up some prayers and masses to spring him out.
- But after going to her own confessor, the widow decides to do nothing. Kempe asks her own confessor to speak to the widow, to encourage her.
- Kempe later finds out, in one of her chats with Christ, that the widow never did anything for her husband's soul. Her confessor confirms the truth of this.
Chapter 20
- Kempe recalls a miracle of the sacrament that she witnessed one day. When the host and chalice were raised at the moment of consecration, Kempe perceived them shaking as though they would fall out of the priest's hands.
- Kempe's hoping to see such a thing happen again, so she attends a lot of Masses—but no such luck.
- Christ tells Kempe that she will observe this strange stuff happening again, and that it was meant as a sign of vengeance. He says that there will be an earthquake soon, and that she should tell people.
- Christ then goes on to say that his love for Kempe is complete and that he speaks to her in the same way he spoke to St. Bridget of Sweden. That's a pretty big deal for Kempe.
- Christ encourages Kempe by saying that he knows her better than anyone—and that she's pretty amazing spiritually.
- Kempe wants to know what she can do to help the people—supposedly so that they won't have to suffer divine vengeance.
- Christ says Kempe already does enough, but if she really wants to know: pray for them, have compassion, and don't let them die in sin.
- In the end, Christ says, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. People have all the resources to live good lives, but they persist in their wicked ways.