About Anne Catherine Emmerich:
Anne Catherine Emmerich (Anna Katharina Emmerick in German) was born on September 8, 1774 at Flamske, Westphalia, West Germany, to a very devout small farming family. Due to not having a dowry, she had difficulty entering some religious orders, but finally in 1802 she entered into the Augustinian Order.
Even during these youthful years, Anne was extraordinarily gifted with ecstasies and visions of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, her guardian angel, and many of the saints. She also bore the Stigmata, the Wounds of Christ.
She was blessed with many gifts, especially visions of Christ. She would go into ecstasy and was shown revelations of the entire life of both Jesus and Mary.
At age 29 she joined the Convent of Agnetenberg at Dulmen, Westphalia. The convent was eventually closed by the government and Anne ended up living with a widow in her home.
She continued to have visions, including those of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory along with intimate details in the lives of many Saints.
In addition to all of this, she also received many prophecies about future events. She foretold of division within the Church, a time of two Popes and much more.
Among the many people who came to visit her was the poet Clemens Brentano. He was so moved and impressed that he decided to record her visions. On July 29, 1820, Anne Catherine began to communicate to Brentano scenes of the day-to-day life of Jesus, including the better part of His ministry. She was able to describe in extraordinary detail the places Jesus visited, His miracles and healings, His teaching activity in the synagogues and elsewhere, and the people around Him. Except for one period of six months, Anne Catherine and Brentano worked together daily until her death on February 9, 1824.
Her vision of the Holy House of Ephesus:
Skeptics could, of course, claim that her revelations were not real….such people are always with us and certainly a dose of caution is always in order. But skeptics cannot dispute another amazing point in her life that relates to how the House of the Blessed Virgin Mary (House of the Dormition) was found, due to Anne Catherine’s descriptions of the location taken from her visions.
At that time it was widely assumed that towards the end of her life, the Blessed Virgin Mary lived in what is now Ephesus, Turkey . But finding the location had proven difficult. Blessed Emmerich had a vision describing where the house could be found. In 1891, a group of Lazzarist priests from the city of Izmir, Turkey set out to try to find the place in Ephesus that Blessed Emmerich had described (even though one of the priests was actually determined to prove her wrong). The priests spent several days looking around Ephesus, but found nothing. Then they asked some local women for water…….and were directed up a hill to what they called “the monastery”.
When reaching the spot, they found a spring next to the ruins of a little chapel that was almost exactly as Blessed Emmerich had described. Today, the Holy House is a shrine sacred to both Christians and Muslims. And, as you can imagine, Ephesus is a popular stop on many cruises and land tours. You can read more about Ephesus & the Holy House here.
It was only during the last five years of her life that she began to write down the history of her visions which you can read in the book seen above.
On July 29, 1820, Anne Catherine began to communicate scenes of the day-to-day life of Jesus, which in due course encompassed the better part of Our Lord’s ministry. Anne was able to describe in extraordinary detail the places Jesus visited, where He taught and where His miracles and healings took place. Anne Catherine and Brentano worked together daily until her death on February 9, 1824, except for one period of six months.
Various editions of the visions have been assembled over the years, but only recently (2009) have Brentano’s complete notebooks (38 volumes) been published, and this new edition benefits greatly from this new resource, particularly in a Dramatis Personae that provides summaries of the primary holy men and women.
Anne Catherine Emmerich was Beatified on October 3, 2004 by Pope John Paul II and so is now Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. Her Feast Day is celebrated February 9th.
Finding the tomb of Anne Catherine Emmerich:
Her tomb is located in the Holy Cross Church in Dülmen, Germany. Visits and guided tours of the memorial site are also available after registration at the Heilig Kreuz parish office.The church is open for visitors most days as is the tomb.
Finding Holy Cross Church in Dülmen, Germany:
There is direct train service from Dusseldorf, taking about 1 1/2 hours (you will need to change trains along the way in Essen or Duisburg) Get train schedules and fares here.
Address: Kreuzkirche 10, 48249, Dülmen
Tel: (+49) 02594 – 2126 Fax: (+49) 02594 – 7169
email: hlkreuz-duelmen@bistum-muenster.de
Click here for the official website of Holy Cross Church in Dulmen.
