Visions of Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich

All visions are take from the book “The Life and Revelations of Bl. Anne Catherine Emmeirch” by Carl E. Schmoger.

An amazing vision about relics and the state of the Church:

“I again visited innumerable places where lie relics under buildings buried and forgotten.  I went through cellars in mud and dust, into old church crypts, sacristies, tombs, and I venerated the holy things lying there, scattered and unknown.  I saw how they once shone with light, how they shed around like benediction, but their veneration ceased with the decline of the Church.  The churches erected over them are dark and desolate, the Saints under them are no longer honored.  I saw that their veneration and that of their relics had decreased in the same measure as the adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and then I was shone how evil a thing it is to receive the Holy Eucharist through mere habit.  Grievous sufferings were imposed upon me for this contempt.  In the spiritual Church I saw the value and efficacy of the holy relics now so little regarded on earth.  

I saw an octangular church arising like a lily from a stalk and surrounded by a vine.  It had no altar; but in the center, on a many-branched candlestick, reposed the richest treasures of the Church like bunches of opening flowers.  I saw the holy things collected and honorably placed by the Saints on this candlestick, this ornamental stand, which seemed constantly to increase in size.  While thus engaged, the Saints very often saw their own relics brought in by those who lived after them.  I saw the disciples of St. John bringing in his head and other relics of him and the Blessed Virgin with little crystal phials of the Blood of Jesus.  In one of them the blood was still clear and shiny.  All were in the costly reliquaries in which the Church preserves them.  I saw saintly men and women of Mary’s time depositing in precious vases, holy things that once belonged to her; they were given the place of honor on the right.  There was a crystal vase in which there was pieces of her clothing, and another vase with some of her hair.  I saw a tree before the church, and I was shown how it had fallen and been fashioned into the Saviour’s Cross.  I saw it now in the form in which I always see it, brought in by a woman wearing a crown.  It hovered in the air over Mary’s relics.  The three nails were stuck in it, the little foot ledge was in its place, as also the inscription, and, skillfully arranged around, were the instruments of the Passion; the ladder, the lance, the sponge, the rods, the whips, the crowbars, the pillar, the cords, the hammers, etc., while the Crown of Thorns hung from the center.  As the sacred objects were brought in and arranged, I had successive visions of the places in which these relics of the Passion were found, and I felt certain that of all I saw some particles are still preserved and honored.  There must be many relics of the Crown of Thorns in different places.  I discovered that my particle of the lance is from the haft.

 I saw in all directions on altars, in chambers, churches, vaults, in walls, in rubbish, under the earth and on the earth, portions of the relics and bones which were brought into the church.  Many consecrated Hosts in chalices and ciboriums were brought thither by Bishops, and corporals stained with the Precious Blood.  They were placed on high over the cross.  Then came the relics of the Apostles and the early martyrs followed by those of whole bands of martyrs, Popes, priests, confessors, hermits, virgins, religious, etc.  They were deposited at the foot of the cross, in costly vases, ornamented caskets, towers, and shrines wonderfully wrought in precious metal.  A mountain of treasures arose under the cross which gradually ascended as the mound increased and, finally, rested upon what might be termed a transfigured Calvary.  The relics were brought by those who had themselves honored them and exposed them to the veneration of the faithful; they were, for the most part, holy personages whose own relics are now held in benediction.  All the Saints whose relics were present ranged in choirs, according to their rank and profession; the church became more and more crowded; the heavens opened and the splendor of glory gleamed around.  It was like the Heavenly Jerusalem!  The relics were surrounded by the aureolas of the Saints to whom they belonged, while the Saints themselves sent forth rays of the same colors, thus establishing a visible and marvelous connection between them and their remains.  

After this I saw multitudes of well-dressed people thronging around the church with marks of deep veneration.  They wore the various costumes of their times; of the present day, I saw but a few. They were people who honored the Saints and the relics as they ought to be honored, as members of the Body of Jesus Christ, as holy vessels of divine grace through Jesus, in Jesus.  On them I saw falling like a celestial dew the beneficent influence of those saints; prosperity crowned all their undertakings.  I rejoiced to see here and there, in these our days, some good souls (some of whom I
know) still honoring relics in all simplicity.  They belong chiefly to the peasantry.  They salute simply and earnestly the relics in the church as they enter.  To my great joy, I saw my brother among them.  As he enters the church, he devoutly invokes the holy relics it contains, and I see that the Saints give fertility to the fields.  The veneration paid the Saints and their relics in the present day, I saw symbolized by a ruined church in which they lay scattered, neglected, covered with dust, yes, even thrown among filth and dirt; and yet they still shed light around, still draw down a blessing.  The church itself was in as pitiable a state as the relics.  The faithful still frequented it, but they looked like grim shadows; only occasionally was a simple, devout soul to be seen who was clear and luminous.  The worst of all was the priests themselves who seemed to be buried in mist, unable to take one step forward.  They would not have been able to find the church door were it not that, in spite of their neglect, a few fine rays from the forgotten relics still reached them through the mist.  Then I had distinct visions of the origin of the veneration of relics.  I saw altars erected over the remains of the Saints which, by the blessing of God, afterward became chapels and churches, but which were now in ruins owing to the neglect of their sacred treasures.  I saw in the time in which all was misty and dark, the beautiful reliquaries broken up to make money and their contents scattered around, which later desecration gave rise to greater evils than did even the selling of the caskets. The churches in which these sacrilege happened have fallen to decay, and many have wholly disappeared.  I have been to Rome, Cologne, and Aix-la-Chapelle, where I saw treasures of relics to which certain honors are paid.”   ~Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich – Feast of Holy Relics – 1820

Her vision of St. Longinus:

“I saw the Lord dead on the cross.  I saw all the people standing around in just the same position as on Good Friday.  It was at the instant in which the legs of the crucified were to be broken. Longinus rode a horse or mule, but it was not like our horses; it had a thick neck.  He dismounted outside the circle of soldiers, and went in on foot, his lance in his hand.  He stepped upon the little mound at the foot of the Cross, and drove the lance into the right side of Our Lord.  When he saw the stream of blood and water, he was most powerfully affected.  He hastily descended the mountain, rode quickly to the city, and went to tell Pilate that he looked upon Jesus as the Son of God, and that he resigned his appointment in the army.  He laid down his lance at Pilate’s feet and left him.  I think it was Nicodemus whom he next met and to him he made the same declaration, after which he joined the other disciples.  Pilate esteemed the lance dishonored, inasmuch as it had been used as an instrument of punishment, and I think he gave it to Nicodemus.”  ~ Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich – July 1820

Her vision on the current Passion of the Church and priests’ sacrilegious Masses:

“I see priests in mortal sin saying Mass; the Hosts like a little live child on the altar before them. They cut It and gashed It horribly with the patena!  Their sacrifice was murder.  I saw in many places at the present day numbers of good people oppressed, tormented, persecuted – It is to Jesus Christ Himself such injuries are offered.  This is an evil age.  I see no refuge anywhere.  A dense cloud of sin hangs over the whole world, tepidity and indifference everywhere!  Even in Rome, I see wicked priests murdering the Child Jesus in their Mass.“  ~Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich – January 1, 1821

The last Prophecy has simply been the reality in the Church for the past century.  Unfaithful clergy are everywhere, even in Rome.  Very few have the True Faith anymore.  Sacrilege is everywhere and Rome even wants it to be sanctioned by permitting those in mortal sin to receive the Blessed Sacrament.

Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich must be rolling in her grave seeing the reality of her visions coming to pass right now.  Kyrie Eleison!

~Damsel of the Faith