Contents:
- Introduction
- Dramatis Personæ
- Holy Men
- Holy Women
- Enemies and Adversaries
- Creation
- Antiquity
- Old Testament Times
- Youth of Mary
- Birth and Early Years of Jesus
- First Journeys of Jesus
- A Day-by-Day Chronicle: April AD 29–August AD 30
- 261 Illustrations, 21 Maps, Gazetteer
Anne Catherine Emmerich (Sept. 8, 1774–Feb. 9, 1824) lived from early
childhood in almost constant inner vision of scenes of the Old and New
Testaments. Her early visions were mostly of pre-Christian events, but
by the time she had become (at 29) an Augustinian nun, they were
concerned primarily with the life of Jesus. In November, 1812, Anne
Catherine was permanently confined to bed, shortly thereafter received
the stigmata, and was for the rest of her life sustained almost
exclusively by water and the Eucharist. Many came to visit her, among
them the poet Clemens Brentano, who was so impressed by her radiance
that he moved nearby to record her visions. On July 29, 1820, Anne
Catherine began to communicate to Brentano scenes of the day-to-day life
of Jesus, which in due course encompassed 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. 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 Personæ that provides summaries of the primary holy men and
women. Anne Catherine was so attuned to the life of Jesus that her
visions encompassed minute details of time and place. Along with other
supplements, this edition incorporates a day-by-day chronology
and — during the days of the Passion — a nearly hour-by-hour itinerary.
It contains also 40 detailed maps depicting Jesus’s journeys. Many
chronologies of the life of Jesus have been put forward, but the dates
given in the current work differ from all previous efforts in that they
derive from the application of modern chronological science (described
in 5 appendices) to the whole of Anne Catherine’s visions. In addition,
all 350 of the paintings of scenes from the life of Jesus executed by
the French painter J. James Tissot (1836–1902), largely under the
influence of Anne Catherine’s visions, are included in this edition,
along with many other illustrations. Over the years many have attested
to the transformative power of these visions, and Anne Catherine was
beatified on Oct. 3, 2004 by Pope John Paul II. It is the editor’s hope
that these visions—so engaging as an historical narrative, so
illustrative of the gospel stories, so replete with inspired spiritual
insight — may open a gateway, for the many who have in modern times
fallen away from any connection with the life and teaching of Jesus, to
the earthly garden where the Spirit bloomed, and blossoms still.