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| {{Infobox saint | |||
| |name=Beata Anne Catherine Emmerich | |||
| |birth_date=8 September 1774 | |||
| |death_date={{death date and age|1824|02|09|1774|09|08|df=y}} | |||
| |feast_day=9 February | |||
| |venerated_in=] | |||
| |image=Anna Katharina Emmerick Saint Visionary.jpg | |||
| |imagesize=250px | |||
| |caption= | |||
| |birth_place=], ], ] | |||
| |death_place=], Westphalia, ] | |||
| |titles=Handicapped, Virgin, Penitent, Marian Visionary and Stigmatist | |||
| |beatified_date=3 October 2004 | |||
| |beatified_place=], ] | |||
| |beatified_by=] | |||
| |canonized_date= | |||
| |canonized_place= | |||
| |canonized_by= | |||
| |attributes=Bedridden with bandaged head and holding a ] | |||
| |patronage= | |||
| |major_shrine= | |||
| |suppressed_date= | |||
| |issues= | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich''' ({{lang-de|Anna Katharina Emmerick}}; 8 September 1774 – 9 February 1824) was a ] ] ] Regular of ], ], ] ], ] and ].<ref name=Vatican ></ref> | |||
| {{Christian mysticism}} | |||
| She was born in ], a farming community at ], in the ], ], Germany, and died at age 49 in ], where she had been a nun, and later became bedridden. Emmerich is notable for her visions on the life and ], reputed to be revealed to her by the ] under ].<ref>Emmerich, Anna Catherine: ''The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ'' ISBN 978-0-89555-210-5 page viii</ref> | |||
| During her bedridden years, a number of well-known figures were inspired to visit her.<ref name=Vatican /> The poet ] interviewed her at length and wrote two books based on his notes of her visions.<ref name=Stahl /> The authenticity of Brentano's writings has been questioned and critics have characterized the books as "conscious elaborations by a poet" and a "well-intentioned fraud" by Brentano.<ref name=America /><ref name=Anvil /> | |||
| Emmerich was ] on 3 October 2004, by ].<ref name=Vatican /> However, the Vatican focused on her own personal piety rather than the religious writings associated to her by Clemens Brentano. Emmerich has a widespread devotion among ]s{{cn|date=May 2015}}. Her documents of postulation towards canonization is handled by the ]. | |||
| ==Early life== | |||
| She was born as ''Anna Katharina'' into a family of poor farmers and had nine brothers and sisters. From an early age, she had to help with the house and farm work. Her schooling was rather brief, but all those who knew her noticed that she felt drawn to prayer from an early age.<ref name=Vatican /> At twelve, she started to work at a large farm in the vicinity for three years and later learned to be a seamstress and worked as such for several years.<ref name=CathEnc></ref> | |||
| She applied for admission to various convents, but she was rejected because she could not afford a ]. Eventually, the ] in ] agreed to accept her, provided she would learn to play the organ. She went to the organist Söntgen in ] to study music and learn to play the organ, but she never got around to it because the poverty of the Söntgen family prompted her to work there to help them, and she sacrificed her small savings for that.<ref name=CathEnc /> Later, one of the Söntgen daughters entered the convent with her.<ref name=Vatican /> | |||
| ==Religious life== | |||
| In 1802, at the age of 28, Anne Catherine and her friend Klara Söntgen finally managed to join the ]s at the convent of Agnetenberg in ]. The following year, Anne Catherine took her ].<ref name=Vatican /> In the convent, she became known for her strict observance of the order's rule; but, from the beginning to 1811, she was often quite ill and had to endure great pain. At times, her zeal and strict adherence to rules disturbed some of the more tepid sisters, who were puzzled by her weak health and religious ecstasies.<ref name=CathEnc /> | |||
| When ], ], ] in 1812, she found refuge in a widow's house. | |||
| ==Stigmata== | |||
| ] | |||
| In early 1813, marks of the ] were reported on Emmerich's body. The parish priest called in two doctors to examine her. When word of the phenomenon spread three months later, he notified the vicar general. With the news causing considerable talk in the town, the ecclesiastical authorities conducted a lengthy investigation. Many doctors wished to examine the case, and although efforts were made to discourage the curious, there were visitors whose rank or status gained them entry.<ref name=Thurston></ref> During this time, the poet and romanticist Clement Bretano first visited. | |||
| At the end of 1818, the periodic bleeding of Emmerich's hands and feet had stopped and the wounds had closed. While many in the community viewed the stigmata as real, others considered Emmerich an impostor conspiring with her associates to perpetrate a fraud. In August 1819, the civil authorities intervened and moved Emmerich to a different house, where she was kept under observation for three weeks. The members of the commission could find no evidence of fraud and were divided in their opinions.<ref name=Thurston/> | |||
| As the cross on her breastbone had the unusual shape of a "Y", similar to a cross in the local church of Coesfeld, English priest ] surmised that "the subjective impressions of the stigmatic exercise a preponderating influence upon the manifestations which appear exteriorly."<ref name=Thurston/> | |||
| ==Visions and inspirations== | |||
| Anne Catherine Emmerich said that as a child she had ] in which she talked with Jesus, saw the souls in ] and witnessed the core of the ] in the form of three concentric interpenetrating full spheres. The largest but dimmest of the spheres represented the Father core, the medium sphere the Son core and the smallest and brightest sphere the Holy Spirit core. Each sphere of omnipresent God is extended toward infinity beyond God's core placed in ]. The Brentano compilation tells that during an illness in Emmerich's childhood, she was visited by a child (suggested as being Jesus), who told her of plants she should ingest in order to heal; among these was ], a plant containing LSA, a weaker analog of LSD, which can induce visions of ]s and cause delusions or hallucinations. | |||
| Based on Emmerich's growing reputation, a number of figures who were influential in the renewal movement of the church early in the 19th century came to visit her, among them ], the ]; ], the ], ] and authors ] and ].<ref name=Vatican /> Clemens von Vischering, who was the vicar‑general at that time, called Emmerich "a special friend of God" in a letter he wrote to Stolberg.<ref name=Vatican /> | |||
| ===Clemens Brentano's visits=== | |||
| ], Germany]] | |||
| At the time of Emmerich's second examination in 1819, Brentano visited her and she immediately recognized him. He claimed that she told him he was sent to help her fulfill God's command, to express in writing the revelations made to her. Brentano became one of Emmerich's many supporters at the time, believing her to be a "chosen Bride of Christ". Professor Andrew Weeks claims that Brentano's own ] were a factor in substituting Emmerich as a maternal figure in his own life.<ref name=Stahl /> | |||
| From 1819 until Emmerich's death in 1824, Brentano filled many notebooks with accounts of her visions involving scenes from the ] and the life of the ]. Because Emmerich only spoke the ], Brentano could not transcribe her words directly, and often could not even take notes in her presence.<ref name=Corl /> Brentano would quickly write a set of notes based on what he remembered of the conversations he had with Emmerich in ] when he returned to his own apartment.<ref name=Corl /> Brentano edited the notes later, years after the death of Emmerich.<ref name=Corl /> | |||
| About ten years after Emmerich had recounted her visions, Brentano completed editing his records for publication.<ref name=Corl /> In 1833, he published his first volume, ''The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to the Meditations of Anne Catherine Emmerich''. Brentano then prepared ''The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the Visions of Anna Catherine Emmerich'' for publication, but he died in 1842. The book was published posthumously in 1852 in ]. | |||
| Catholic priest Father Karl Schmoger edited Brentano's manuscripts and from 1858 to 1880 published the three volumes of ''The Life of Our Lord''. In 1881, a large illustrated edition followed. Schmoger also penned a biography of Anne Catherine Emmerich in two volumes that has been republished in English language editions. | |||
| The Vatican does not endorse the authenticity of the books written by Brentano.<ref name=CNSFeb2004 /><ref name=CNSOct2004 /> However, it views their general message as "an outstanding proclamation of the gospel in service to salvation".<ref>"Her words, which have reached innumerable people in many languages from her modest room in Dülmen through the writings of Clemens Brentano, are an outstanding proclamation of the gospel in service to salvation right up to the present day". </ref> Other critics have been less sympathetic and have characterized the books Brentano produced from his notes as "conscious elaborations of an overwrought romantic poet".<ref name=Stahl>Andrew Weeks, "Between God and Gibson: German Mystical and Romantic Sources of ''The Passion of the Christ''", '']'' Vol. 78, No. 4, Fall, 2005 </ref> | |||
| Brentano wrote that Emmerich said she believed that ]'s son ] was the progenitor of "the black, idolatrous, stupid nations" of the world. The "Dolorous Passion" is claimed to reveal a "clear antisemitic strain throughout",<ref>Melissa Croteau, ''Apocalyptic Shakespeare: Essays of Vision and Chaos in Recent Film Adaptations'', McFarland, 2009</ref> with Brentano writing that Emmerich believed that "Jews ... strangled Christian children and ] for all sorts of suspicious and diabolical practices"<ref>Paula Frederiksen, ''On the Passion of the Christ'', California, 2006, p. 203</ref> | |||
| ===Allegations of partial fabrication by Brentano=== | |||
| ], Germany]] | |||
| When the case for Anne Catherine's beatification was submitted to the Vatican in 1892, a number of experts in Germany began to compare and analyze Brentano's original notes from his personal library with the books he had written.<ref name=America /> The analysis revealed various apocryphal biblical sources, maps and travel guides among his papers, which could have been used to enhance Emmerich's narrations.<ref name=America /> | |||
| In his 1923 theological thesis, German priest Winfried Hümpfner, who had compared Brentano's original notes to the published books, wrote that Brentano had fabricated much of the material he had attributed to Emmerich.<ref name=Anvil >Emmerich, Anne Catherine, and Clemens Brentano. ''The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ''. Anvil Publishers, Georgia, 2005 pages 49-56 (Note: the hard copy of this book has a wrong ISBN printed within its frontmatter, but the text (and the wrong ISBN) show up on Google books as published by Anvil Press)</ref><ref name=winfrid >Winfried Hümpfner, ''Clemens Brentanos Glaubwürdigkeit in seinen Emmerick-Aufzeichnungen; Untersuchung über die Brentano-Emmerick-frage unter erstmaliger Benutzung der tagebücher Brentanos'' Würzburg, St. Rita-verlag und -druckerei, 1923 (in German)</ref> | |||
| By 1928, the experts had come to the conclusion that only a small portion of Brentano's books could be safely attributed to Emmerich.<ref name=America >Father John O' Malley ''A Movie, a Mystic, a Spiritual Tradition'' '']'', 15 March 2004 </ref><ref name=Anvil /> | |||
| At the time of the Emmerich's beatification in 2004, the Vatican position on the authenticity of the Brentano books was elucidated by Father Peter Gumpel, who was involved in the study of the issues for the ]: "It is absolutely not certain that she ever wrote this. There is a serious problem of authenticity".<ref name=Anvil /><ref name=CNSFeb2004 >John Thavis, ''Catholic News Service'' 4 February 2004: "Vatican confirms papal plans to beatify nun who inspired Gibson film" </ref><ref name=CNSOct2004 /> According to Gumpel, the writings attributed to Emmerich were "absolutely discarded" by the Vatican as part of her beatification process.<ref name=America /> | |||
| ==Death and burial== | |||
| Anne Catherine began to grow ever weaker during the summer of 1823. She died on 9 February 1824 in ] and was buried in the graveyard outside the town, with a large number of people attending her funeral.<ref name=Vatican /> Her grave was reopened twice in the weeks following the funeral, due to a rumor that her body had been stolen, but the coffin and the body were found to be intact.<ref name=Vatican /><ref name=CathEnc /> In February 1975, Emmerich's remains were moved to the Holy Cross Church in ], where they rest today. | |||
| ==House of the Virgin Mary== | |||
| ]'' now a chapel in ], Turkey]] | |||
| Neither Brentano nor Emmerich had ever been to ], and indeed the city had not yet been excavated; but visions contained in ''The Life of The Blessed Virgin Mary'' were used during the discovery of the ], the Blessed Virgin's supposed home before her ], located on a hill near ], as described in the book ''Mary's House''.<ref>Mary's House by Donald Carroll (20 April 2000) Veritas, ISBN 0-9538188-0-2</ref> | |||
| In 1881, a French priest, the Abbé ] used Emmerich's book to search for the house in Ephesus and found it based on the descriptions. He was not taken seriously at first, but sister ] persisted until two other priests followed the same path and confirmed the finding.<ref>''The Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary's Dormition and Assumption'' by Stephen J. Shoemaker 2006 ISBN 0-19-921074-8 page 76</ref><ref>''Chronicle of the living Christ: the life and ministry of Jesus Christ'' by Robert A. Powell 1996 ISBN 0-88010-407-4 page 12</ref> | |||
| The ] has taken no official position on the authenticity of the location yet, but in 1896 ] visited it and in 1951 ] initially declared the house a Holy Place. ] later made the declaration permanent. ] in 1967, ] in 1979 and ] in 2006 visited the house and treated it as a shrine.<ref></ref> | |||
| ==Beatification== | |||
| ] | |||
| {{cquote|Her example opened the hearts of poor and rich alike, of simple and cultured persons, whom she instructed in loving dedication to Jesus Christ.|30px|30px|], .}} | |||
| The process of Anne Catherine's ] was started in 1892 by the Bishop of ]. However, in 1928 the Vatican suspended the process when it was suspected that Clemens Brentano had fabricated some of the material that appeared in the books he wrote, and had attributed to Ann Catherine.<ref name=EWEM ></ref> | |||
| In 1973 the ] allowed the case for her beatification to be re-opened, provided it only focused on the issue of her life, without any reference to the possibly doctored material produced by Clemens Brentano.<ref name=EWEM /> | |||
| In July 2003 the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints promulgated a decree of a miracle attributed to her, and that paved the way for her beatification.<ref name=EWEM /><ref>'']'' N. 29, 16 July 2003, 2.</ref> | |||
| On 3 October 2004 Anne Catherine Emmerich was beatified by Pope John Paul II.<ref> ] article of 3 October 2004.</ref> However, the books produced by Brentano were set aside, and her cause adjudicated solely on the basis of her own personal sanctity and virtue.<ref name=Anvil /> Father Peter Gumpel who was involved in the analysis of the matter at the Vatican told Catholic News Service: "Since it was impossible to distinguish what derives from Sister Emmerich and what is embroidery or additions, we could not take these writings as a criteria. Therefore, they were simply discarded completely from all the work for the cause".<ref name=CNSFeb2004 /><ref name=CNSOct2004 >John Thavis, ''Catholic News Service'' 4 October 2004: "Pope beatifies five, including German nun who inspired Gibson film" .</ref> | |||
| ==Cinematic portrayals== | |||
| In 2003 actor ] brought Anne Catherine Emmerich's vision to prominence as he used her book ''The Dolorous Passion'' as a key source for his movie '']''.<ref name=Corl >''Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ'' by Kathleen E. Corley, Robert Leslie Webb 2004 ISBN 0-8264-7781-X pages 160-161</ref><ref name=Garcia >''Mel Gibson's Passion and philosophy'' by Jorge J. E. Gracia 2004 ISBN 0-8126-9571-2 page 145</ref><ref>''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia'' edited by Philip C. DiMare 2011 ISBN 1-59884-296-X page 909</ref> Gibson stated that Scripture and "accepted visions" were the only sources he drew on, and a careful reading of Emmerich's book shows the film's high level of dependence on it.<ref name=Corl /><ref name=Garcia /> In his review of the movie in the Catholic publication '']'', Jesuit priest John O' Malley used the terms "devout fiction" and "well-intentioned fraud" to refer to the writings of Clemens Brentano.<ref name=America /><ref name=Anvil /> | |||
| In 2007 German director Dominik Graf made the movie ''The Pledge'' as a dramatization of the encounters between Anne Catherine (portrayed by actress ]) and ], based on a novel by Kai Meyer.<ref></ref><ref></ref> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| == Notes == | |||
| {{Reflist|30em}} | |||
| ==Bibliography== | |||
| ===English editions of Emmerich's visions=== | |||
| * Emmerich, Anna Catherine. Burns & Oates, 1899. | |||
| * Emmerich, Anna Catherine. Sentinel, 1915 . | |||
| * Emmerich, Anna Catherine. ''The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ''. ], NC: ], 2009. ISBN 978-0-89555-210-5 | |||
| * Emmerich, Anna Catherine. ''The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary: From the Visions of Anna Catherine Emmerich'': ], NC: ], 2009. ISBN 978-0-89555-048-4 | |||
| * Emmerich, Anna Catherine. ''Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations''. ], NC: ], 2008. ISBN 978-0-89555-791-9 | |||
| * Emmerich, Anna Catherine. ''The Bitter Passion and the Life of Mary: From the Visions of Anna Catherine Emmerich: As Recorded in the Journals of Clemens Brentano''. Fresno, California: Academy Library Guild, 1954. | |||
| ===Literature=== | |||
| * Corcoran, Rev. Mgr. The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Vol. X, 1885. | |||
| * Frederickson, Paula. ed. ''On the Passion of the Christ.'' Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006. | |||
| * Kathleen Corley and Robert Webb. ed. ''Jesus and Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ. The Film, the Gospel and the Claims of History.'' London: Continuum, 2004. ISBN 0-8264-7781-X | |||
| * Ram, Helen. Burns and Oates, 1874. | |||
| * Schmoger, Karl. ''Life of Anna Katherina Emmerich''. Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publications, 1974. ISBN 0-89555-061-X (set); ISBN 0-89555-059-8 (volume 1); ISBN 0-89555-060-1 (volume 2) | |||
| * Wegener, Thomas. ''Life of Sister Anna Katherina Emmerich'': New York: Benziger Brothers: 1898. | |||
| == External links == | |||
| {{Commons category|Anna Katharina Emmerick|Anne Catherine Emmerich}} | |||
| * {{Gutenberg author |id=Emmerich,+Anna+Katharina | name=Anna Katharina Emmerich}} | |||
| * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Anne Catherine Emmerich}} | |||
| * {{Librivox author |id=1232}} | |||
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| {{Authority control}} | |||
| {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2012}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Emmerich, Anne Catherine}} | |||
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