Anne Catherine Emmerich
Anne Catherine Emmerich (also Anna Katharina Emmerick; 8 September 1774 – 9 February 1824) was a Roman Catholic Augustinian canoness of the Congregation of Windesheim. During her lifetime, she was a purported mystic, Marian visionary, ecstatic and stigmatist.
Anne Catherine Emmerich | |
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| Born | 8 September 1774 Flamschen, Coesfeld, Prince-Bishopric of Münster, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 9 February 1824 (aged 49) Dülmen, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 3 October 2004, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | 9 February |
| Attributes | Bedridden with bandaged head and holding a crucifix |
She was born in Flamschen, a farming community at Coesfeld, in the Diocese of Münster, Westphalia, Germany, and died at age 49 in Dülmen, where she had been a nun, and later became bedridden. Emmerich purportedly experienced visions on the life and passion of Jesus Christ, as revealed to her by the Blessed Virgin Mary under religious ecstasy.
During her bedridden years, a number of well-known figures were inspired to visit her. The poet Clemens Brentano interviewed her at length and wrote two books based on his notes of her visions. The authenticity of Brentano's writings has been questioned and critics have characterized the books as "conscious elaborations by a poet".
Pope John Paul II beatified Emmerich on 3 October 2004. However, the Vatican focused on her own personal piety rather than the religious writings associated to her by Clemens Brentano.