“Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2)
There is no more beautiful invitation, no nobler exhortation, no higher ideal… It is the voice of Eternal Wisdom that continuously calls out to souls across all places and times. While holiness is an attribute that properly belongs to God alone, ever since He overshadowed the virgin womb of Mary, it has become accessible to all, shining forth in the person of the Word of God made flesh, Jesus, and finding in Mary a secure path—indeed, a shortcut, a preferred way.
Yes, it is She who holds the secret of holiness—the Mother of God, whom the Eastern churches have always called the Panagia, the All-Holy One, because She is the Mother of Him who is Holy. Under Her protection, captivated by Her gentle gaze, enchanted by Her virtues, sustained by Her prayer, and sheltered by Her gentle mantle, the path to holiness is secure because a mother’s love for her children overcomes all weakness. What is holiness if not being filled with God and enjoying His sweet friendship here on earth?
It is the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as a caring Mother and tireless teacher, takes on this arduous task. Taking Her children by the hand, while pointing to Her Son Jesus, She whispers as She did to the servants at Cana: “Do whatever He tells you!”
If the wisdom of righteous Joseph grew through his union and proximity to She who is Full of Grace, how much more do we, poor sinners, need to draw close to this most Venerable Mother? While countless chosen souls have been selected within the Church’s bosom for a particular mission, far greater is the number of hidden souls who have followed an ordinary path—yet all were certainly destined to proclaim the same truth to the world: we are made in God’s image and likeness, thus called to holiness.
The Virgin Mary in the life of blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
In God’s providential designs, certain chosen souls are destined to fulfill a precise mission for God’s glory and the Church’s good. These souls, through no merit of their own, are enriched with special favors and extraordinary graces, thus revealing God’s great mercy toward humanity. Among this elect company is Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, an Augustinian nun who lived between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in a small village near Coesfeld, in western Germany.
A simple, most humble woman blessed with extraordinary heavenly gifts from birth, she was a faithful follower of Christ Crucified, chosen as an extraordinary victim-soul, a bride perfectly conformed to the Divine Spouse. Anne Catherine is certainly one of the most fascinating mystics of our time.
Her fidelity to the inspirations of Grace and her obedience to God’s will certainly flowed from an intimate relationship that the Blessed cultivated from childhood with the saints in Paradise and her guardian angel, and especially through frequent conversations with the Queen of the universe, who often appeared to her holding the Child Jesus in Her arms. It was in this familiar atmosphere, utterly simple yet wholly supernatural, that Anne Catherine built her firm trust in Him who chose her as an extraordinary victim-soul, to make her a participant in His bitter sorrows.
From an early age, those who spoke with her were amazed by her detailed knowledge of Sacred History and the lives of Old Testament figures—details that only an eyewitness could know. It soon became clear that what seemed perfectly normal to this child was incredibly extraordinary to those who listened to her. Her mission became increasingly clear: to be God’s “chosen vessel” to announce to the world many wonders that would move souls to salvation. When the Blessed complained about the difficulty of relating her visions, the Lord had an Angel tell her:
“You shall tell of them what you can. However, you cannot number the souls who will read what you say and find consolation in dedicating themselves to a devout life.”
It’s not easy to encapsulate Emmerich’s rich spirituality in a few words, but if we were to describe it with three images, they would be: the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Cross, and souls—each closely connected to the others.
Her great love for Our Lady, expressed primarily through the imitation of Her virtues, stemmed from a special predilection that the Most Holy Mother showed her from birth. It was September 8, 1774, the feast of Mary’s nativity, when the little one came into the world, and on that same day, receiving Holy Baptism, she was favored by God with the exceptional gift of knowing sensible things, a special gift proper to the Queen of Heaven. Her eyes opened miraculously, and she saw the Divine Infant who, in His Mother’s arms, betrothed her with a precious ring.
Often, in various visions, she saw the Holy Mother in the meadow adjacent to her childhood home, appearing as a Lady of most beautiful aspect, all sweetness and goodness, who lovingly instructed her about Her Son Jesus’s desires, including His wish to have her as His bride forever.
After patiently enduring various trials, made up of pains, humiliations, and sufferings—accepted with gratitude from God’s fatherly hands—she was received into the Augustinian monastery. Upon becoming a religious, those mystical phenomena connected to the special cult of the sorrowful Passion began in her. She experienced Jesus’s crowning with thorns and, subsequently, the painful stigmata in her hands, feet, and chest—phenomena that remained secret only briefly before becoming objects of curiosity and derision for many. These were the years when she received the Lord’s command to recount all her visions so they could be collected and published. Thanks to her revelations, we know many details about Mary’s life, especially the years following Jesus’s death.
Blessed Anne Catherine recounts: «Mary, after Christ’s ascension into heaven, lived three years in Sion, three years in Bethany, and nine years in Ephesus where John took her. Mary didn’t live precisely in Ephesus, but in an area where several women she knew well and who were devoted to her had already settled». (Anna Katharina Emmerick, Vita della Santa Vergine Maria, testo raccolto da Clemens Brentano, ed. San Paolo, 2015, p.199)
After describing Mary’s life in the Ephesus dwelling, highlighting many details about the house, the clothes She wore, how She prayed, she becomes a spectator to the final moments of the Virgin’s earthly life and especially to the grand event of the Assumption into Heaven.
«At the moment She received the Holy Sacrament, I saw a light enter Mary, after which She was as if in ecstasy and spoke no more. The apostles then returned to the altar and continued the divine service near the Holy Virgin. Only a few women remained. Later, I saw the apostles and disciples praying again around the Holy Virgin’s bed. Mary’s face was flourishing and smiling, as when She was young. Her eyes were turned toward heaven and shining with holy joy, and then something moving and wonderful appeared to me. The ceiling above Mary’s room disappeared, and the heavenly Jerusalem descended upon Her. I saw luminous clouds and many angels divided into two choirs, and from the clouds, a ray of light reached Mary. She stretched out Her arms with unspeakable longing, and I observed Her body rise above the bed, completely lifted into the air, and behold, Her soul left Her body, like a most pure figure of light, with arms stretched upward, and ascended to heaven led by the ray of light. My gaze, following Her soul, saw it rise along the luminous path to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the throne of the Most Holy Trinity. When I looked back to earth, I saw the Holy Virgin’s body all resplendent with closed eyes and radiant face resting in peace on Her bed with arms crossed over Her chest. Hi IThe apostles, disciples, and women were all kneeling around Her and praying. I believe the Holy Virgin’s death occurred at the ninth hour, the same as the Lord’s death». (Ivi, p.218 )
The beautiful life testimony of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich demonstrates that docility to God’s will and perfect correspondence to received gifts have impacted not only the universal plan of souls’ salvation but also the course of history, as it was thanks to her revelations that, about a century later, Mary’s house in Ephesus was discovered—today a destination for numerous pilgrims and a treasure of grace for the entire Church in Turkey.
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out”! (Romans 11,33)