The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

[Stone]

The Life of The Blessed Virgin Mary

From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich

Translated by: Sir Michael Palairet
Translator’s Note: I have omitted some of Clemens Brentano’s notes altogether and have translated only extracts of some of the others; but have included everything that seemed likely to interest the English reader.
Supplementary notes by the translator, Sir Michael Palairet, are indicated with (Tr)
Supplementary notes by Rev. Sebastian Bullough, O.P. are indicated with (SB)
Supplementary notes by Clemens Brentano are indicated with (CB)
Supplementary notes by Ronald L. Conte Jr. are indicated with (RC)



Note: Anne Catherine Emmerich was born on September 8th, 1774, at Flamske, near Koesfeld, Westphalia, West Germany, and became on November 13th, 1803, a nun of the Augustinian Order at the Convent of Agnetenberg at Dülmen (also in Westphalia). She died on February 9th, 1824. Full details of her life and death will be found in the preface to The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.


Extract From The Preface To The German Edition:

Most readers of The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the visions of the devout Anne Catherine Emmerich are no doubt aware that this book contains only a part of those visions. Clemens Brentano spent several years in Dülmen in the endeavour to reproduce with scrupulous care the visionary’s utterances, which were sometimes fragmentary and sometimes formed a connected narrative. This was the origin of his diary, which was begun in January 1820 and contained a great variety of visions regarding the lives of the Saints, the feasts of the Church and other events.

Later, however, in the years 1821 and 1822, these visions became more and more concentrated on the Life of Christ and of the holy persons about Him. The records of these visions, which still exist in their original form, were made by the late Clemens Brentano with almost documentary precision. He extracted from them everything relating to the Life of Christ, and was thus able to present to the reader the public Life of Our Lord day by day according to Catherine Emmerich’s visions. The last portion of these records has been printed under the title of The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord.

Besides this large collection of accounts of the Life of Christ, Clemens Brentano completed another smaller one relating to the life of the Blessed Virgin. After arranging the relevant extracts and choosing wood-cuts to illustrate them, he started printing them in 1841, and had finished a considerable part when a lingering illness put a stop to his work and finally caused his death on July 28th, 1842. After this sad event his papers, including those relating to Catherine Emmerich, came into the hands of his brother Christian Brentano in Aschaffenburg. The latter died on October 27th, 1851, without having carried out his intention of continuing to print the Life of Our Lady; but fortunately his widow was able, with the help of some learned friends, to complete the work. When the Dolorous Passion appeared, Catherine Emmerich’s visions were known only to a few, though very distinguished men. In the meantime the voices of many thousands of readers have swelled the originally very modest applause. However the historical or theological character of the work may be judged, it is acknowledged to be a treasury of holy scenes and pictures which contribute to the edification and inspiration of the faithful. In this respect the Life of Mary is, we consider, a worthy companion to the Dolorous Passion. It does not, however, like the latter, present a complete and comprehensive narrative. The gaps which occur in it are to be explained by its close connection with the Life of Christ. Since the latter was necessarily often concerned with the Virgin Mother, sections of the Life of Mary had to be omitted in order to avoid repetitions when the Life of Christ should be printed (as it was later). The latter work should therefore be read in conjunction with the Life of Mary.1



Observations On The Supplementary Notes:

Those who read or even merely look at this book must perforce ask themselves to what extent the statements of Anne Catherine Emmerich are consonant with what can be known of the persons, places, and events in question through the channels of inspired Scripture, reliable history, legitimate tradition, and established geography. Clemens Brentano set out to meet this inquiry as far as he could with the materials and evidence that were available to him at the time. His notes (as completed by his brother) have been preserved, and are here followed by his initials CB in parentheses. A further series of notes has been prepared for this edition, sometimes annotating the text directly, and sometimes elucidating the notes of Brentano. These are indicated by the initials SB in parentheses.

Attention has been paid throughout to the witness of the four channels of information mentioned above, either to corroborate the statements or to indicate that there is no supporting evidence, or to suggest that there has been some confusion of facts, or occasionally to correct some detail (usually of a chronological, geographical, or philological nature) which appears to be mistaken. These notes have not been concerned with the problem of the immediate provenance of the material and the relationship of the visionary to Brentano and any other sources which he may or may not have used. Nor are they concerned with the nature or origin of the visions. Their only object has been to test the accuracy of the material as it stands.

It is wise to be aware throughout of what Scripture relates about the events described, and to this end the Scriptural reference has been inserted in a note to each chapter-heading. Similarly, when a Biblical character or event appears, a reference is given except in the most obvious cases. Old Testament legislation is also referred to, when a point of ritual is raised, supplemented by Rabbinic rulings which were current at the time of Christ, and which are preserved in the Mishnah. In all these matters, it may be said at once that the statements of Anne Catherine Emmerich (always written AC in the Supplementary Notes) are never found to be counter to the Scriptures, nor mistaken about Jewish ritual at the time, as far as
this is ascertainable, apart from a small point about the calendar. When AC’s statements involve a particular interpretation of a Biblical text, this is noted. The Biblical references of Clemens Brentano (always referred to as CB) have all been checked, and they have always been found correct, though occasionally in need of supplement. His Rabbinic references, similarly, have sometimes required expansion.

The contemporary historian Josephus (A.D. 37-c. 100) is an indispensable source for the period. His main works, The Antiquities of the Jews and The Wars of the Jews, are referred to by their usual abbreviations Ant. and Wars. The Mishnah is quoted by tractate and section. CB’s references to other authors have also been checked, and sometimes more exact references have been provided. His philological observations have usually been simply supplemented by additional notes, confirming or correcting according to more recent studies. It may be said that CB’s findings, especially in the field of Scripture and history, have in most cases been found reliable, and his annotations, especially in view of his confessed lack of training and equipment, deserve the highest commendation.

Many early Christian traditions were preserved in the so-called apocryphal gospels. These documents, while plainly composed not as serious histories but as edifying or even diverting imaginations, usually under the pseudonym of some Biblical person (being more like pious ‘historical novels’ of the time), do in all probability enshrine many historical facts subsequently adorned with fancies of a later age. When a parallel can be traced between AC’s statements and these traditional sources, the matter is duly noted, and it is interesting to observe how rarely AC’s account shares the fanciful elaborations of the apocryphal material. Furthermore, her frequent descriptions of people’s appearance and attire seem usually to be of an entirely independent nature. It is worth remembering in this connection that AC was at one time a professional seamstress, a fact which adds interest to her minute observation of clothes. Most of her intricate genealogical statements, so remarkably consistent throughout, find no parallels in the apocryphal literature. The documents referred to most frequently in the notes are the so-called Protevangelion of James (Protev.), PseudoMatthew (Ps-Matt.), and the Nativity of Mary (Nat. Mar.), with references to chapters. The editions used were The Apocryphal New Testament, translated by M. R. James (1924), and The Apocryphal Gospels, translated by J. Harris Cowper (1897). These editions made use of many texts hardly available to CB.

For exegetical work on the Bible, an invaluable aid has been the large Catholic Commentary published in 1953, where the general findings of modern scholarship have been made readily available and reliably presented. The references are to paragraphs. The geographical side presented many problems, and here the same Catholic Commentary was of great assistance in the identification of Biblical sites, and the maps it includes are the result of the latest geographical surveys of the Holy Land. For the conclusions of modern hagiography The Book of Saints (4th ed.), produced by the monks of Ramsgate in 1947, has been a handy work of reference. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1912) and the Jewish Encyclopedia (1905) have often given valuable assistance and guidance to sources. Lastly, one cannot fail to mention the monumental work of Kaplan Helmut Fahsel, Der Wandel Jesu in der Welt, nach den Visionen der Anna Katharina Emmerich, Basel, 1942, which is by far the most elaborate work on the subject, and whose maps and genealogies have been consistently useful.


SEBASTIAN BULLOUGH, O.P.
Cambridge
In festo SS. Nominis Mariae, 1953


1 Currently these books are titled: The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations. The latter title was published in 1914 as: The Lowly Life and Bitter Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother together with the Mysteries of the Old Testament.