BLESSED ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICHGERMANY, 1774-1824

Sustained For More Than 10 Years Solely By The Eucharist

Anne Catherine Emmerichwas forced to abandon the monastery in which she lived because it was being appropriated by thegovernment. In that period,her health declined and the mystical experiencesincreased: she received thestigmata and had numerousvisions. One of these allowedthe finding of the house of Our Lady in Ephesus. In fact, according to antiquetraditions, it seems that Mary settled, together withJohn the Apostle, in this city. The miraculous aspect of the life of Anne Catherine isthat for years she fed only on the Eucharist.

nne Catherine Emmerich was born inGermany on September 8, 1774 into afamily of farmers and began to work very

early. Later on, a religious vocation matured andshe asked to be admitted in several monasteries,but she was always rejected because she was verypoor and had no dowry. Only when she wastwenty-eight years old she was accepted in themonastery of Agnetenberg, where she joined themonastic life with fervor, always ready to take themost difficult tasks. One night while she waspraying, Jesus appeared and offered her a crown ofroses and a crown of thorns. She chose the crownof thorns and Jesus put the crown on her head. Suddenly, around her forehead appeared the firststigmata. Later on, after another apparition ofJesus, the wounds also appeared in the hands, feetand side. In 1811, the monastery of Agnetenberg,

was suppressed. Anne Catherine found hospitality,as a housekeeper for a priest; but soon she becameill and was bedridden.

Dr. Wesner, a young doctor,visited her and remained very impressed by thestigmata. During the eleven years that followed,he became her friend and faithful assistant,having also a diary in which he would transcribeher visions. Meanwhile the nun had practicallystopped eating: a little bit of water and theConsecrated Host were enough to keep her alivefor years. She was very devoted to, and wrotemany pages about, the Holy Eucharist: “My desire for the Holy Eucharist was so vehementand irresistible that, at night, I would often leavemy cell to enter the Church... Often I wouldgenuflect and prostrate towards the Blessed

Sacrament with extended arms, and sometimes Iwould enter into ecstasy”. Anne Catherine alwaysjoined her suffering with that of Jesus, and offeredit for the redemption of men. The most famousbiographer of Anne Catherine was the Germanwriter, Clemens von Brentano, who wrote all hervisions. Brentano compiled thousands of pagesabout the Blessed, many of which must still bepublished. In one of his most famous passages hewrote: “Anne Catherine stands like a cross at theside of the street, to indicate the right direction tothe faithful. That which she says is brief butsimple, full of depth, warmth and life. I understoodeverything. Always happy, affectionate, dignified,marvelous; always ill, agonizing, but at the sametime delicate and fresh, chaste, tried, lucid. To beseated at her side meant to occupy the most beautiful place in the world”.

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© 2006, Istituto San Clemente I Papa e Martire / Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association

House where Our Lady lived in Ephesus, found thanks to the visions of Anne Catherine

House where Catherine was born

Portrait of Anne Catherine Emmerich

Portrait of Clemens Brentano Drawing by Clemens Brentano