Aside from their being near contemporaries, there is little which Margery Kempe and Richard Rolle have in common. Margery, the perpetual pilgrim with a predilection for "divine locutions," details of which she inflicted on all in her company, is a far cry from the solitary Richard. There are varying viewpoints about both – my own being that, recalling Julian of Norwich’s words about "seeking and seeing," Richard and Margery share the common trait of having their wills turned toward union with God, yet falling somewhat short of holiness. Since this is the condition in which most of us find ourselves, exploring these two who definitely sought but whose seeing is questionable has its value in our own lives.

Different though they were, Margery and Richard shared a tendency towards the extreme. They placed a high, often inordinate, value on unusual experiences, and overly stressed these as signs of union with God. The circumstances of their time and place certainly influenced some of the extreme notions, yet neither had the detachment or prudence which involves overcoming rather than overwhelming.

This "pair" (a term inapplicable to anything except this context) leave us with several important reminders:

• Emphasis on experiences leaves all the more room for self-deception – a trait which humanity requires no assistance to develop!

• Where the truly holy speak of God Himself in theological writings, and are wary of mystic experiences, those who fall a bit short of sanctity (however they are of good will) will have their vision obscured by a focus on considering and sharing their own "adventures."
• Theological positions or religious practises which are perfectly valid, even excellent, in themselves can have very negative effects when they are misinterpreted, either in belief or in "application."

One eternal but unfortunate truth of our Church is that doctrine will inevitably be interpreted (in practise) through a filter of whatever crises exist during the particular era. Between the 12^th and 13^th centuries, the Lateran councils had emphasised purgatory (this a brief reference to a long-standing belief that there could be purification of the soul after death .. but which would lead, by the 14^th century, to an extensive and complex judicial system binding on those who were already dead!), the Eucharist, sacramental confession, and the apostolic succession. Devotions to the Passion of Christ and to Jesus in his humanity grew markedly. Acts of penance, pilgrimages in particular, were popular. Much which was solid, even superb, assumed a gloomy air in the wake of the repeated incidences of the Plague!

Twentieth century minds could have no illusions about a lack of horrors in this world, even if none were so widespread as to wipe out a third of the population. The key difference to remember is that the ugliness of which were are intensely aware resulted from human evil. During the middle ages, when illness was seen as a divine punishment for sin, the devastation came to be viewed as chastisement from a God who needed to be appeased. This presented a number of conflicts and dilemmas for the devout.

• Some of the emphases of the Councils and theological works, for all the richness of sacramental theology, led to quite a "judicial" approach to the Church – for example, each sin was seen to have some temporal punishment attached, and only the Church could issue the pardon for same. The "sudden and unprovided death" which was met by those stricken with the Plague had left many with great temporal punishment to face in purgatory – and only those still on earth could do anything to ease the suffering of their deceased family members! Prayer, pilgrimage, fasting, and almsgiving – even the intentions one offered at the Eucharist – had a new and painful dimension. Classic mortification gave way to rather desperate pleading; charity for one’s relatives to a massive burden of being the only one left to relieve suffering (many felt that they could not offer prayers other than those for souls in purgatory); a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to one of appeasement of an angry God.
• The acts of penance, pilgrimages especially, left people with the greater puzzlement. The pilgrimages undertaken to please the punishing God, for example, tended to lead to the Plague’s being spread. There is quite a dilemma when one seems to incur further punishment for doing good.
• Ascetic practises took on the flavour of punishment (now, to avoid having it later) rather than discipline.
• In a largely feudal society, the idea of saints as (critical) intercessors was strong. Concurrently, hagiography presented a picture of the holy as people who had colourful and extreme charismatic gifts. The result could easily be an approach to prayer that was more magic than petition, and an imitation of "holiness" that was less of virtue than of emotional intensity.

Richard Rolle, whose works indeed contain a rich dose of mystic theology, would devout much of his energy towards seeking the sight of heaven while still on earth. His failing was that he looked for this in experiences which were sensually sweet or intense. Margery Kempe, whose "mystic revelations" probably were mainly her own creation, was totally obsessed with finding some way that she could be assured of remission of sin (for herself, but also for those in purgatory.)