Chapter 81
- We have a continuation of Kempe's spiritual vision of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.
- Kempe opens with Christ's burial and her desire to remain by the graveside to mourn. Meanwhile, in real time, people in Lynn are trying to figure out why Kempe is so distraught.
- In spirit, Kempe follows Christ's mother, Mary, as she leaves the tomb.
- Kempe's visions are very "homely," meaning that they have a familiar, everyday style to them. For instance, she hears women telling Mary how sorry they are for her son's death.
- Kempe now sees things that are not in the scriptural accounts of the time after Christ's death. She imagines the first meeting of Mary and St. Peter, who denied knowing Jesus when he was arrested. That's awkward.
- Kempe sees Jesus appear before Mary in the Chapel of the Apparition, which she saw with her own eyes when she was in Jerusalem.
- When Jesus visits Mary Magdalene, Kempe feels that fire of love is in her heart again—most likely because she identifies herself with the sinful Mary, who is redeemed by Christ.
- When Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to touch him ("Noli me tangere"), Kempe is kind of devastated. It means that Jesus doesn't want to be as "familiar" with her as he once was.
Chapter 82
- More revelations, this time on Candlemas Day.
- Kempe sees the moment when Mary brings her son to the temple, and God's promise to the priest Simeon is fulfilled (Luke 2:22).
- This experience is so intense for Kempe that she can't participate properly in the Mass and rituals.
- This kind of thing happens to Kempe continually, for example whenever she sees a mother being purified after childbirth.
- Kempe relates everything in daily life to an episode in Christ's life. So when she sees a wedding, she calls to mind the joining of Mary and Joseph, and she thinks about how Christ is the "bridegroom" of each soul.
- All such revelations come with lots of tears and screaming, of course. When she doesn't have them, Kempe feels lost.
Chapter 83
- Kempe's authenticity is tested by two priests who normally put great faith in her tears. They take her to a church way out of town to see if she will still cry without an audience. She does.
- This time, Kempe sees children and is immediately taken up with holy thoughts about Christ's infancy.
- Kempe explains that it doesn't matter if she is in town, or in the fields, or if it is day or night. Christ gives her tears whenever it suits him best.
- Whenever Kempe doubts that her tears are divine gifts, she feels less "grace" and devotion. But when she finally accepts that they are from God, she has many holy thoughts.
- Sometimes, Kempe's revelations are so divine and wonderful that she couldn't relate them in words, and she often forgets the substance of them entirely in a short period of time.
Chapter 84
- The Abbess of Denny calls for Kempe to come and visit with the nuns, but Kempe doesn't really want to go, because the Plague is making a visit in Lynn.
- Also, an important man in Lynn is on the verge of dying, and his wife really wants Kempe to stay around. But Jesus tells Kempe that the man won't die while she's gone, so off Kempe goes.
- On her way there, Kempe imagines that she is a servant to Jesus's mother, Mary. Jesus tells Kempe that even though she only imagined it, he will reward her for her good thoughts in heaven.
- In fact, Jesus tells Kempe that all her good thoughts, even if they haven't been put into action, will be rewarded as if they were deeds.
- Jesus praises for Kempe her actual good deeds, saying that her behavior "magnifies" his name and is an example to everyone. However, he doesn't want Kempe to get a big head. All this good stuff, he says, is his doing. He's the one putting the desire to do good things into her head.
- Jesus reassures Kempe that her crying and devotion are not hypocrisy and that he loves her very much for those efforts of the spirit.
- Jesus also tells Kempe that he loves her a lot, that he will never stop loving her, and that she is an example to all sinners that Jesus's love is always there if they want it.
Chapter 85
- Now Kempe shares some of the revelations she has had while nearly asleep. Even a truly devout person can't help feeling sleepy while praying sometimes, it seems.
- In the first instance, Kempe sees a little angel carrying the Book of Life. Kempe asks him to point out her name (remember that she can't read).
- The angel explains that Kempe's name is written at the foot of the Trinity, which Kempe describes as being "all in gold" (check out Masaccio's painting to see what Kempe might have been seeing in this revelation).
- Kempe also sees Christ suffering on the cross, and it is so real to her mind that she feels she can reach out and touch his wounds.
- The suffering feels so intense that Kempe wonders why Christ would ever have become human.
- Jesus takes the opportunity to remind Kempe how much he loves her—but also to make sure she keeps her own sinfulness and his goodness in mind.
- In another sleepy moment, Kempe sees the body of Christ lying before her. Someone approaches and slices him across the chest—and Kempe is inconsolable.
- The next sleep-induced revelation brings Jesus even closer to Kempe physically. He stands above her (she is kneeling on the ground at his feet), and Kempe grabs at his toes.
- The point here: Kempe feels that Jesus is flesh and blood; he's not just her spiritual companion. This helps her focus on Jesus as man and on how much he suffered when he was crucified.
- Kempe clarifies that these visions came to her after she had dedicated her life to contemplation, but before she went to Jerusalem.
- Kempe was still a spiritual newbie at this time and needed the physicality of God to keep her on the right track.
- After she returns from pilgrimage, Kempe tells us that she was attracted more to the Godhead—that is, to the more spiritual, unseen, divine aspect of the Christian Trinity.
- Kempe ends with another sleepy-time revelation: Mary asks her if she would like to see her infant son. Kempe tells us that this gave her great comfort.