Anne Catherine Emmerich was born in 1774 to poor but pious German parents. She was of frail health from her youth, but she was a steadfast worker on her parents’ farm and as a seamstress. She didn’t receive much of an education, but she was drawn to prayer at an early age and began receiving visions and prophecies so frequently that she thought everyone had them. She attended Mass daily and prayed almost continuously. She entered an Augustinian convent at 28, but nine years later she was forced to leave when Napoleon forced it to close. She spent the last 13 years of her short life bedridden, receiving many private revelations and the marks of the stigmata, and she lived only on the Eucharist.
CHALLENGE
Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich’s enthusiasm for the religious life was so great that she either motivated her sisters or repulsed them. Sometimes we’re put off by people who are more holy than we are. That is a failure of our pride. Think of who puts you off by their holiness, and make a resolution to embrace them… and imitate them.
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