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

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VI. MARRIAGE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN TO JOSEPH

Section III. OUR LADY’S WEDDING-RING

[On July 29th, 1821, Catherine Emmerich had a vision of the separate grave-clothes of Our Lord Jesus and of images of Our Lord which had been miraculously imprinted on cloths. Her visions led her through various places in which these holy relics were sometimes preserved with great honour and sometimes forgotten by men and venerated only by the angels and by devout souls. In the course of these visions she thought that she saw the Blessed Virgin’s wedding-ring preserved in one of these places, and spoke of it as follows:]

I saw the Blessed Virgin’s wedding-ring; it is neither of silver nor of gold, nor of any other metal; it is dark in colour and iridescent; it is not a thin narrow ring, but rather thick and at least a finger broad. I saw it smooth and yet as if covered with little regular triangles in which were letters. On the inside was a flat surface. The ring is engraved with something. I saw it kept behind many locks in a beautiful church. Devout people about to be married take their wedding-rings to touch it.

[On August 3rd, 1821, she said:] In the last few days I have seen much of the story of Mary’s wedding-ring, but as the result of disturbances and pain I can no longer give a connected account of it. Today I saw a festival in a church in Italy where the wedding-ring is to be found. It seemed to me to be hung up in a kind of monstrance which stood above the Tabernacle. There was a large altar there, magnificently decorated, one saw deep into it through much silverwork. I saw many rings being held against the monstrance. During the festival I saw Mary and Joseph appearing in their wedding garments on each side of the ring, as if Joseph were placing the ring on the Blessed Virgin’s finger. At the same time I saw the ring shining and as if in movement.91

To the right and left of this altar I saw two other altars, which were probably not in the same church, but were only shown to me in my vision as being together. In the altar to the right was an Ecce Homo picture of Our Lord, which a devout Roman senator, a friend of St. Peter’s, had received in a miraculous manner. In the altar to the left was one of the grave-clothes of Our Lord.

When the wedding festivities were over, Anna went back to Nazareth with her relations, and Mary also went there, accompanied by several of her playmates who had been discharged from the Temple at the same time as her. They left the city in a festal procession. I do not know how far the maidens accompanied her. They once more spent the first night in the Levites’ school at Bethoron. Mary made the return journey on foot. Joseph went to Bethlehem after the wedding in order to settle some family affairs there. He did not come to Nazareth until later.


91. When the writer copied down these words of Catherine Emmerich on Aug. 4th, 1821, he could not think of any reason why she should have seen this picture on Aug. 3rd. He was therefore greatly surprised at reading, several years after Catherine Emmerich’s death, in a Latin document about the Blessed Virgin’s wedding-ring (which is preserved in Perugia), that it is shown to the public on Aug. 3rd (III nonas Augusti). Of this probably
neither of us knew anything. (CB)

Our Lady’s wedding-ring is preserved at the Cathedral of Perugia in a chapel which also has a fine tabernacle (mentioned by AC) by Cesarino del Roscetto, of 1519. Cf. Baedeker. (SB)

Perugia is located in Umbria, Italy. The Cattedrale di San Loranzo, also called the Duomo (the Dome), houses the wedding ring of the Virgin Mary. It is said that 15 people keep 15 separate keys to open the box containing the ring. It is only shown on one day of the year and on that day the town is overrun with visitors. The ring had been kept in the Italian town of Chiusi, until the middle ages. (RC)