The Life and Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich

Book 1

Very Rev. K. E. Schmoger

• Publisher: TAN Books
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9781618902658
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Definitive life of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824); a German Augustinian nun-mystic; stigmatist; visionary; prophet; victim soul. Prophecies and amazing revelations on every aspect of the Faith. Extremely edifying; makes the Gospels come alive with details you never knew before! 2 Volume Set. Impr. 2 vol set- 1, 297 pgs;

Chapter 1

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF WESTPHALIA AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE PRESENT CENTURY

THE baptismal register, St. James, Coesfeld, contains the following record: “On September 8, 1774, was baptized Anne Catherine, daughter of Bernard Emmerich and Anne Hillers his wife. Godparents, Henry Hüning and Anne Catherine Heynick, née Mertins.” The day of little Anne Catherine’s baptism was also that of her birth. She was the fifth of nine children, six sons and three daughters. Gerard, the youngest brother, never married. He was still living in September, 1859, when the author visited the little hamlet of Flamske, near Coesfeld, the birthplace of the subject of this biography. Gerard had little to say of his sister, excepting that she was of a remarkably sweet disposition, that she had been a lifelong sufferer, and that he had often gone to see her at Dülmen after she became a religious. “She was so kind and affectionate to us,” he added, “that it was a great pleasure to her family to visit her.”

The venerable pastor of the church of St. James, Rev. F. Hilswitte, was also alive and remembered having seen Anne Catherine for the last time in 1812. He testified to her reputation for piety, but the particulars of her life were unknown to him. “The period in which she lived,” he remarked, “was not capable of either understanding or appreciating such a case as hers, and few, even among the clergy, interested themselves in her; consequently, she was more quickly forgotten in her native place than elsewhere. In distant cities she was better known through Bishop Wittmann and Clement Brentano. The latter, after his visits to Dülmen, excited public interest in her by the account of the marvels he had seen.”

Long before her death, Sister Emmerich had uttered the following words: “What the Pilgrim¹ gleans, he will bear away, far, far away, for there is no disposition to make use of it here; but it will bring forth fruit in other lands, whence its effects will return and be felt even here.”

The humble abode in which she was born was yet standing, in 1859, in the same condition in which Clement Brentano had found it forty years before. It was a little old farmhouse, or rather a barn in which man and beast dwelt peaceably together. The worm-eaten door opened into a small room whose only floor was the well-trodden ground; this was the common room of the family. To the left were spaces cut off from the main room by rough board partitions, and strewn with the hay and grain scattered by the cattle; these were the sleeping apartments. The chimney-place, rude and primitive, consisted of a stone slab or iron plate cemented into the ground; on it glowed the fire, and above it hung the kettle from an iron bar. The smoke, after depositing its soot upon the rough beams and dingy chairs and table, the handiwork of preceding generations, escaped as best it could by any chink in the roof or walls. The rest of the dwelling was given up to the cows, which were separated from their owners only by a few stakes driven into the ground. At a later period a small addition of two bedrooms was annexed to the principal building. In front of this humble abode stood some aged oaks, beneath whose shade the wonderful little girl of whom we write often sported with her village companions.

Clement Brentano paid a visit to Sister Emmerich’s birthplace during her lifetime. And the following are his impressions of the customs of that period in the country of Münster:

“I went three leagues from Dülmen to the hamlet of Flamske, to visit Anne Catherine’s early home, then occupied by her eldest brother Bernard and his family. Dülmen belongs to the parish of St. James, Coesfeld, a city about half a league distant. I longed to see the place of her birth, the cradle of her infancy. I found it an old barn, with mud walls and a moss-covered thatched roof. The rickety door stood invitingly open, and I entered to find myself in a cloud of smoke through which I could scarcely distinguish a step ahead. A look of surprise from Bernard Emmerich and his wife greeted my unceremonious entrance. But when I introduced myself as the bearer of messages and compliments from their sister, they received me most cordially, and the little ones, shy at first, came forward on a sign from their father and kissed their tiny hands in welcome. I saw no other room than the one I had entered, a corner of which was partly partitioned off. In it stood a rude loom belonging to one of the brothers. Several old chests blackened by smoke displayed when opened the novel sight of straw beds furnished with feather pillows. Opposite this room was the still more novel spectacle of the cows behind their stacks.

“The furniture was scanty enough. Cooking utensils garnished the walls and from the rafters hung straw, hay, and tow black with soot. Here in this dingy atmosphere, in this disorder and poverty, was born and reared that favored child, so pure, so enlightened, so surpassingly rich in intellectual gifts; here was her baptismal innocence preserved untarnished. It recalled to my mind Our Saviour’s crib at Bethlehem. From a wooden block before the door, which served as a table, I ate a slice of brown bread and drank a mug of milk while conversing with Bernard Emmerich, whose genuine piety shone forth in his words, his favorite expression being, ‘With God’s help!’

“An old discolored picture of Our Lady hung over the spot in which Anne Catherine used to take her rest. With the owner’s leave I replaced it by another, and took it with me along with some acorns from the old oaks before the door as a memento of my visit. On bidding farewell to these good people, they told me that I was the first who had ever taken so much interest in their sister’s birthplace. Thence I went half a league further to Coesfeld, to visit the church in which she had received the marks of the Crown of Thorns. It was here, in the parish church of St. James, that she had received holy Baptism, September 8, 1774, which day, the Feast of Mary’s Nativity, was also that of her birth.² My visit to this beautiful old church filled me with the sweetest impressions. From it I went to see the old pastor, Father Hartbaum, whom I found still quite vigorous, despite his years. He did not seem fully to appreciate his former parishioner, and he expressed surprise at the interest manifested in her. He struck me as one of those who would willingly see things remain always the same, who care not to deviate from their daily routine, whose horizon extends not beyond the range of their own intellectual vision.

“I next visited St. Lambert’s, the principle church, wherein is preserved the miraculous crucifix, known as the ‘Crucifix of Coesfeld,’ before which when a child Sister Emmerich used to spend long hours in fervent prayer, receiving in return abundant graces. It is forked like that which, at a later period, was imprinted upon her own breast. Tradition says it was brought from Palestine in the eighth century. Here it was that Sister Emmerich received the Sacrament of Confirmation. I afterward went to the Jesuit church in which, at the age of twenty-four, probably in 1798, the Crown of Thorns was laid upon her brow by her Heavenly Spouse, as she prayed toward midday before a crucifix in the organ-loft. It saddened me to think that this beautiful church had partly fallen into Protestant hands since the Count von Salm’s residence here. The so-called communion-table stood in front of that altar from whose tabernacle had issued the apparition of the Saviour to Anne Catherine; the feast of the Reformation, that triumph of apostasy, is here annually announced from the pulpit; and the grand old organ, near which she prayed at the time of the miraculous favor, has been replaced by one of more recent make. At present, the church is used by both Catholics and Protestants, and I was told that the Countess von Salm, as if she were sole mistress, had tried to deprive the former of their right to worship in it. She also arrogated to herself the privilege of quartering her people on the Capuchins whose monastery is not far off, and she loudly complained of the annoyance caused her by the sound of the morning bells calling the faithful to Holy Mass. This church, capable of seating two thousand, is one of the most devotional I have ever seen. The whole interior is in perfect harmony, the carving of the altar, the communion rail, and the furniture most elegant and elaborate. Some might wish it a little more lofty, but that is its only defect. The beautiful floor looks as if covered with a rich carpet. As soon as it shall have passed entirely into the hands of the Protestants, they will destroy its richly carved altars as too suggestive, perhaps, of the honor once paid the God of the Eucharist.

“Coesfeld was little Anne Catherine’s Jerusalem. Here she daily visited her God in the Blessed Sacrament. Thither she lovingly turned while working in the fields, tending her flocks, or praying by night in the open air; and from Coesfeld it was that the bells of the little convent of the Annonciades struck upon her ear, awakening in her soul a longing desire for the cloistered life. This same convent now stands dismantled and deserted.

“For several years, Sister Emmerich lived at Coesfeld with a pious mantua-maker, and for three more in a choirmaster’s family with a view of learning to play on the organ, hoping by this means to facilitate her entrance into some convent; finally, it was from Coesfeld that she went to accomplish her pious design. It is not surprising, therefore, that she took a lively interest in the little city, and that she was deeply afflicted at the decay of Catholic piety, even among its clergy, owing to Protestant influence and the diffusion of the so-called enlightenment of the age. Piety and morality still prevail, however, throughout the country of Münster, preserved among the youth less by the education they receive than by the frequent use of the Sacraments. The Holy Scriptures are not, indeed, found in every family, nor are quotations from them common, but the practice of their sacred lessons is plainly visible. Instruction for the people adapted to the wants of the age, began with the present generation, the teachers both male and female having been formed in the school of Dean Overberg,³ who is everywhere honored as a saint and the common father of all. His praises are heard on all sides and his zeal and simplicity shed a blessing over all his undertakings; yet none dare affirm that his efforts have rendered them more pious and faithful than their forefathers. Though Sister Emmerich entertained the greatest veneration for him, yet she often declared her opinion, corroborated by her visions, that the poor old village schoolmasters, sometimes obliged to follow also the trade of tailoring to gain a sufficient support, received more abundant helps from God as pious instructors of youth than their modern co-laborers puffed up by successful examinations. Every work bears its own fruit. When the teacher takes complacency in his labors, when he finds therein a certain personal gratification, he consumes, so to say, the best part of the blessing accorded him for his task. This is the case nowadays when teachers say: ‘We teach well’; pupils, ‘We learn well’; and parents glory in their children’s talent and education, while in all is engendered a seeking for empty show. Our people do, indeed, read and write much better than their forefathers; but with their improvement the devil daily sows bad seed in the way which springs up to choke piety and virtue. I feel convinced that the real source of the morality and piety still to be seen among the people of Münster lies more in their firm adherence to the traditions of faith and the customs of their religious forefathers, in the great respect for the priest and his benediction, in their fidelity to the Sacraments, than in the rapid spread of modern education. Early one morning, as I was passing along by a hedge, I heard a child’s voice. I drew near softly and peeping over I saw a ragged little girl about seven years old driving a flock of geese before her, a willow switch in her hand. With an inimitable accent of piety and innocence she exclaimed: ‘Good morning, dear Lord God! Praise be to Jesus Christ! Good Father, who art in heaven! Hail Mary, full of grace! I want to be good! I want to be pious! Dear saints of paradise, dear angels, I want to be good! I have a nice little piece of bread to eat, and I thank you for it. O watch over me! Let not my geese run into the wheat! Let no bad boy throw a stone and kill one! Watch over me, for I want to be a good girl, dear Father in heaven!’ Doubtless, the innocent little one composed her prayer from some old family traditions, but our modern school-mistresses would scarcely tolerate it. When I reflect on the scanty education, the rusticity of many among the clergy; when I behold so little attention given to order and neatness in many of the sacred edifices, even in what directly appertains to the service of the altar; when I recall the fact, that the people all speak the Low German, while sermons and instructions have been for years delivered in the language of upper Germany; and when, notwithstanding, I daily perceive the purity, the piety, the good sense of even the humblest of these people, their aptitude for the truths of religion, I am forced to exclaim that the grace of Our Lord is more active in His living members than in speech or in writing. It dwells with creative force in the divine Sacraments, perpetuated from age to age by the marvelous power attached to the sacerdotal consecration. The Church herself is there with her benediction, her salutary influence, her authority, and her miracles. She has existed from all ages and she will continue to exist to the end, for she is the work of God Himself, and all that believe in Jesus and His Church share in her sublime gifts.

“The population of this district is scattered over a wide extent of country, a fact which greatly contributes to the preservation of morality, as well as of national character; for the people do not mutually entice one another to sin as happens in crowded cities. Each family, of which the cattle always form a part, has a house surrounded by clustering oaks which shelter it from the storms, and broad fields enclosed by hedges or embankments. Distant about a quarter of a league is another homestead similar in its surroundings, though perhaps of greater or less size. A certain number of these farms constitutes a hamlet, and several hamlets, a parish. Charming clumps of trees, verdant hedges, shady nooks lie scattered all around. As I journeyed from house to house through the green meadows, I could not restrain the exclamation: What sweet scenes for childhood’s innocent years! What solitary nooks! What lovely bushes and luscious berries! The household of the peasants and indeed that of the gentry also, in some degree, presents a character altogether patriarchal. It centers, so to say, around the fire in which quarter the very best arrangements in the house are to be found. The outer door opens directly into the kitchen, which serves also as the family sitting-room, in which is passed the greater part of their life. The beds occupy recesses in the walls, the doors of which are kept closed during the day. Sometimes in the kitchen itself, but oftener in an adjoining area, are seen to the right and left the cows and horses upon a ground floor, a few feet lower than that of the main building, their mangers being on a level with it; in feeding their heads often protrude beyond the stakes of their enclosure into the family room. A movable iron or wooden trough conducts water from the pump to the huge kettle over the fire, in which the food is prepared. In one house I saw a child turning round and round in a hole cut in one end of a board, the other being fastened to a post by a transverse rod—a primitive arrangement to prevent the little one’s falling into the fire. At the further end of the apartment, shut off by a gate, is a large open space in which the wheat is threshed or the flax hatchelled; overhead are stored hay, straw, and grain. The good wife can attend to her culinary duties at the fireplace, and at the same time command a view of the whole establishment.

“The narrow window panes are adorned with pictures of events of olden times, pictures of the saints, of heraldry, and other devices. Goffine’s ‘Familiar Instructions,’ Over-berg’s Catechism, and a volume of sacred history are either displayed to advantage on a wooden shelf, or carefully stowed away in a chest with the Sunday clothes, to which a couple of mellow apples are added for the sake of their sweet perfume. The cottage is guarded without by stately old oaks, through whose boughs the wintry winds whistle unheeded by the pious, simple-hearted occupants within, who are ever ready to extend hospitality to the wayfaring stranger.

“A degree of what one might call elegance is noticeable in the household arrangements of the rich. In summer an enormous bouquet replaces the blazing fire on the hearth, and little porcelain plates are ranged around as an additional ornament. Among the poor all is plainer and simpler, yet stamped with the seal of domestic life and local custom. One feature in their homes, which is however gradually dying out, is the absence of a chimney. In rainy weather the smoke fills the dwelling like a dense vapor.”

Such is Clement Brentano’s account of his visit to Flamske and the surrounding district.

Chapter 2

ANNE CATHERINE’S BAPTISM AND INFANCY

BERNARD Emmerich’s little girl could like St. Hildegarde say: “From the dawn of existence when God awoke me in my mother’s womb, breathing into me the breath of life, He infused into my soul the gift of contemplation. Before my frame with its nerves and fibers was knit together, my soul enjoyed uninterrupted visions”—for she, too, had been endowed with gifts so sublime that from her very infancy she had the use of her intellectual faculties. A few hours after her birth she was taken to Coesfeld to receive holy Baptism in the Church of St. James, and the various impressions made upon her by the persons and objects met on the way never faded from her mind. Besides the gift of sanctifying grace and the theological virtues, the light of prophecy was so abundantly infused into her soul by Baptism as to find a precedent in the Church’s calendar only in a very small number of privileged souls. Toward the close of her life she alluded to it in the following words:

“I was born on the 8th of September and today (September 8, 1821) being the anniversary of my birth, I had a vision of the same, as also of my Baptism. It produced upon me a most singular sensation. I felt myself a newborn babe in the arms of my godmother going to Coesfeld to be baptized, and I was covered with confusion at beholding myself so small, so weak, and at the same time so old! All the impressions I had experienced as an infant I now again felt, yet mingled with something of the intelligence of my present age. I felt shy and embarrassed. The three old women present, so also the nurse, were displeasing to me. My mother inspired very different sentiments, and I willingly took her breast. I was fully conscious of all that passed around me. I saw the old farmhouse in which we dwelt with all its appurtenances, and some years later I could recognize the changes that had been made in it. I saw how the various ceremonies of Baptism enriched my soul with the graces which they symbolized, and my eyes and heart were miraculously enlightened and touched. The Mother of God was present with the little Infant Jesus, to whom I was espoused with a ring. I saw also my angel-guardian, and my holy patronesses Sts. Anne and Catherine.

“All that is holy, all that is blessed, all that appertains to the Church, was as perfectly intelligible to me then as now, and I saw marvelous things of the Church’s essence. I felt the presence of God in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I saw the relics shining with light, and I recognized the saints who hovered above them. I saw all my ancestors back to the first one that had receive...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Approbation
• Dedication
• Contents Page
• Preface to the English Edition
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Introduction
• 1. Manners and Customs of Westphalia at the Commencement of the Present Century
• 2. Anne Catherine’s Baptism and Infancy
• 3. Anne Catherine Is Led by the Way of Visions
• 4. Early Training and Education
• 5. Anne Catherine Makes Her First Communion
• 6. Snares of the Evil Spirit
• 7. Her Communications with Her Angel
• 8. Anne Catherine’s Vocation to the Religious State. She Is Prepared for it by Special Direction
• 9. Anne Catherine from Her Seventeenth to Her Twentieth Year at Coesfeld
• 10. Anne Catherine’s Attempt to Learn the Organ. Three Years at the House of the Choir-Leader.
• 11. Anne Catherine Receives the Crown of Thorns. Her Entrance among the Augustinians of Dülmen.
• 12. Anne Catherine’s Novitiate
• 13. Anne Catherine Makes Her Vows, November 13, 1803
• 14. Corporal Sufferings
• 15. Sister Emmerich’s Ecstasies and Prayer
• 16. Suppression of the Convent. Sister Emmerich Receives the Stigmata
• 17. Ecclesiastical Investigation. Dean Rensing’s Report
• 18. First Visit of the Vicar-General to Dülmen
• 19. Measures Adopted by the Vicar-General
• 20. Sister Emmerich’s Wounds Are Bandaged
• 21. Second Visit of the Vicar-General to Dülmen
• 22. Visits. A Protestant Physician’s Testimony
• 23. Last Days of Holy Week. Feast of Easter
• 24. Dean Rensing and Dr. Krauthausen Grow Impatient
• 25. Dean Rensing’s Testimony
• 26. From Easter to Pentecost, 1813
• 27. The Vicar-General’s Fourth Visit to Dülmen
• 28. Dean Overberg’s, Dean Rensing’s and Dr. Wesener’s Testimony Regarding the Stigmata
• 29. The Surveillance of Ten Days. End of the Ecclesiastical Investigation.
• 30. The Vicar-General’s Last Visit to Dülmen. He Desires to Remove Sister Emmerich to Darfeld.
• 31. Sister Emmerich’s Life after the Investigation. Her Surroundings. The Abbé Lambert. Her Sister Gertrude.
• 32. Dr. William Wesener. Mesmerism.
• 33. Attempts to Remove Sister Emmerich to Münster. Death of Her Aged Mother
• 34. Clement Brentano. Sister Emmerich’s Influence On His Spiritual Life
• 35. The Pilgrim’s Return. Rumors of a New Investigation
• 36. Sister Emmerich Is Placed under Arrest. Her Presentiment of This Event. Its Results
• 37. Measures Taken by the Vicar-General
• 38. The Captivity
• 39. Close of the Ecclesiastical Year
• 40. Miraculous Effects of the Crusts that Fell From Sister Emmerich’s Stigmata. December 28, 1818
• 41. Advent and Christmas, 1819. Journeys in Vision to a Jewish City in Abyssinia, and To the Mountain of the Prophets, via Thibet. Labors for Poor Children. Mystical Sufferings
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