The Life of Mary as Seen by the Mystics Read online

  “But those persons who were in my house with me when I gave up my spirit fully understood what divine mysteries I was then experiencing, because of the unusual light which they saw.

  “Thereafter those friends of my Son who had been brought together by God buried my body in the Valley of Josaphat. Countless angels accompanied them.

  “My body lay entombed in the ground. Then it was taken up to heaven with infinite honor and rejoicing. There is no other human body in heaven except the glorious Body of my Son and my body.

  “That my Assumption was not known to many persons was the will of God, my Son, in order that faith in His Ascension might first of all be firmly established in the hearts of men, for they were not prepared to believe in His Ascension, especially if my Assumption had been announced in the beginning.”

  Ascension Angels

  Bibliography

  Note: An asterisk (*) indicates an edition used in this compilation.

  I. GENERAL

  Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.D.C., Visions and Revelations in the Spiritual Life (Westminster, Md.: The Newman Press, 1951), 123 pp.

  Garrigou-Lagrange, Reginald, O.P., The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Prelude to Eternal Life (St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1947–1948), 2 vols.

  Parente, Pascal P., The Ascetical Life (St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1944), 271 pp.

  ——. The Mystical Life (St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1946), 272 pp.

  Smith, Msgr. Matthew, The Unspotted Mirror of God, a Compilation of Scriptural, Patristic, and Theological Doctrine about the Virgin Mary (Denver, Colo.: The Register, College of Journalism, 1943), 285 pp.

  II. ST. ELIZABETH OF SCHOENAU

  A. Writings

  * Oliger, P. Livarius, O.F.M., Revelationes B. Elisabeth, Disquisitio Critica Una Cum Textibus Latino et Catalaunensi. In Antonianum, Rome, Vol. I, 1926, pp. 24–83.

  (Before the publication of Fr. Oliger’s research, these revelations had been ascribed to St. Elizabeth of Hungary.)

  B. Biography

  Butler-Thurston, The Lives of the Saints (London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1937), Vol. VI, pp. 233–235.

  III. ST. BRIDGET OF SWEDEN

  A. Writings

  * Revelationes Selectae (Colonia: J.M. Heberle, 1851), 351 pp. (Bibliotheca Mystica et Ascetica, Vol. VI.)

  * Leben und Offenbarungen der Heiligen Brigitta. Ludwig Clarus, ed. and tr. Zweite Auflage (Regensburg: G. I. Manz, 1888), 2 vols.

  * Revelations of St. Bridget, on the Life and Passion of Our Lord, and the Life of His Blessed Mother, translated from the Latin (New York: Henry H. Richardson, 1862), 101 pp.

  The Revelations of St. Bridget, Princess of Sweden (London: Theodore Richardson & Son, and New York: Henry H. Richardson & Co., 1874), 170 pp. (Introductory Note by Cardinal Manning.)

  B. Biography

  Flavigny, Catherine Moitessier, Comtesse de, Sainte Brigitte de Suède, Sa Vie, Ses Révélations et Son Oeuvre (Paris: J. Leday & Cie., 1892), 626 pp.

  Partridge, F.J.M.A., The Life of St. Bridget of Sweden (London: Burns & Oates, Ltd., 1888), 293 pp.

  Redpath, Helen M., Bridgettine of Syon Abbey, God’s Ambassadress, St. Bridget of Sweden (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1947), 216 pp.

  (Johannes Joergensen’s definitive biography, which appeared in Denmark in 1941–1943, will soon be published in England and America by Longmans, Green & Co.)

  IV. VENERABLE MOTHER MARY OF AGREDA

  A. Writings

  * The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Being an Abridgment of the Mystical City of God by Mary of Jesus of Agreda, translated from the French of the Abbé Joseph Boullan (New York: P. J. Kenedy & Sons [1872]), 434 pp.

  * Mystical City of God. . . , translated from the original authorized Spanish edition by Fiscar Marison (Rev. George J. Blatter) (South Chicago: The Theopolitan, 1914), 4 vols. Reprinted by Harry D. Corcoran Co., Wheeling, W. Va., in 1949.

  B. Biography

  Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique (J. Van den Gheyn, S.J.) (Paris: A. Vacant & E. Mangenot, ed., 1903), Vol. I, cols. 627–631.

  Draugelis, Rev. S.J., Madonna of Nazareth (Eden Hill, Stockbridge, Mass.: The Marian Fathers, 1949), 119 pp. (See pp. 14–44.)

  Herders Kirchenlexikon (Ign. Jeiler, O.S.F.) (Freiburg: Herder, 1893), Vol. VIII, pp. 740–751.

  Lais, H., Eusebius Amort und Seine Lehre über die Privatoffenbarung (Freiburg: Herder, 1941), 103 pp. Lexikon fuer Kirche und Theologie, 2 ed. (Freiburg: Herder, 1930), Vol. I, p. 147.

  Pandolfi, Very Rev. Ubaldus de, Life of Venerable Sister Mary of Jesus (Evansville, Ind.: Keller-Crescent Printing & Engraving Co. [for the Monastery of St. Clare], 1910), 193 pp.

  Royo Campos, Z., Agredistas y Antiagredistas, Estudio historico-apologético (Totana, Murcia, Spain, 1929), 470 pp.

  V. SISTER ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH

  A. Writings

  * Vie de N.-S. Jesus-Christ; La Douloureuse Passion; Vie de la Trés Sainte Vierge (Tournai: Vve. H. Casterman, 1878–1881), 8 vols.

  * The Lowly Life and Bitter Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother, Together with the Mysteries of the Old Testament, edited by the Very Rev. C.E. Schmöger, C.SS.R.; translated from the fourth German edition (Paris: Desclée, De Brouwer & Co., and New York: The Sentinel Press, 1914–1915), 4 vols.

  The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Clyde, Mo.: Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration, 1914), 381 pp.

  The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ (London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1942), 352 pp.

  B. Biography

  Anonymous, “The Case of Ann Katherine Emmerick,” in The Fortnightly Review, St. Louis, Nov., 1930, pp. 254–255.

  Danemarie, Jeanne (pseudonym of Mme. Marthe Ponet), The Mystery of the Stigmata (London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1934), 248 pp.

  Lexikon fuer Kirche und Theologie (W. Huempfner, O.S.A., Vice-Postulator) (Freiburg: Herder, 1930), Vol. III, cols. 660–661.

  Schmöger, Very Rev. Charles E., C.SS.R., Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich (New York: Pustet, 1885), 2 vols.

  Seiler, H., Im Banne des Kreuzes; Lebensbild der Stigmatisierten Augustinerin Anna Katharina Emmerich (Wurzburg: Rita Verlag, 1940), 520 pp.

  Thurston, Rev. Herbert, S.J., “The Problem of Anne Catherine Emmerich” and “The Authenticity of the Emmerich Visions,” in The Month, London, Sept.–Dec., 1921, and Jan., 1924.

  Wegener, Rev. Thomas, O.S.A., Sister Anne Katherine Emmerich, translated from the French edition (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1898), 317 pp.

  The Ascension

  About the Book

  “IN ALL PERIODS THE CHURCH has had in her bosom souls to whom it pleases God to communicate extraordinary lights of which He allows some rays to fall onto the community of the faithful,” writes Dom Prosper Guéranger. Generations of devout Catholics, including many learned theologians and writers, have derived great spiritual benefits from a careful reading of the private revelations here compiled, those of Ven. Anne Catherine Emmerich and Ven. Mary of Agreda, primarily, along with those of St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Elizabeth of Schoenau. From the birth of Mary to her Coronation in Heaven, this book provides the reader with remarkable insights into the life of Our Lady, and an unmatched depth of understanding of the Holy Family.

  What is also shown with utmost clarity is that Mary is a model of the interior life, and an example of perfect submission to the will of God. “As we read,” continues Guéranger, “our heart slowly takes fire, our soul feels desires for virtue which it had not hitherto experienced, the mysteries of faith appear more luminous to us, bit by bit the world and its hopes vanish, and the longing for the good things of Heaven, which seemed to have been dozing within us, awakens with new fervor.”

  Endnotes

  1. Poulain, op. cit., p. 320.

  2. Ibid., p. 321.

  3. Ibid., pp. 327–329.

  4. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XIII, p. 5.

  5. Poulain, op. cit., pp. 323–340.

  6. The Month, Dec., 192
1, p. 519.

  7. Le Monde, Apr. 15, 1860, quoted in Emmerich, Lowly Life, Vol. I, p. 136.

  8. Un Moine Bénédictin, Dom Guéranger (Paris, 1910), Vol. II, p. 181.

  9. L’Univers, Aug. 1, 1858.

  10. Butler-Thurston, The Lives of the Saints (London, 1937), Vol. VI, pp. 233–235.

  11. Dictionnaire de Spiritualité Ascétique et Mystique (Paris), Vol. I, col. 1947.

  12. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 782.

  13. Dictionnaire de Spiritualité. . . , Vol. I, cols. 1954–1955.

  14. Bibliography in Rev. S. J. Draugelis’ Madonna of Nazareth, pp. 32–34.

  15. Lexikon für Kirche und Theologie, Vol. I, col. 147.

  16. List of editions in Draugelis, op. cit., pp. 41–43.

  17. Dom Guéranger, “La Cité Mystique de Dieu,” L’Univers, 1859; Abbé Henri Brémond, Histoire du Sentiment Religieux en France (Paris, 1932), Vol. IX, pp. 273–276.

  18. Lexikon. . . , Vol. I, col. 147; D. Francisco Silvela, Cartas de Sor Maria de Agreda y Felipe IV (Madrid, 1885), p. 237.

  19. Lexikon. . . , ibid.

  20. J. de Guibert, S.J., Doctrina Ecclesiastica Christianae Perfectionis Studium Spectantia, Rome, 1931, p. 484; Acta Ordinis Minorum (Rome), Vol. IX, 1890, pp. 42–43, and Vol. LX, 1941, p. 173. (Cf. Analecta Juris Pontificii (Paris, 1886), Table générale des matières des Vols. 1–24.)

  21. La Civiltà Cattòlica, Ser. I, Vol. II, 1850, p. 205.

  22. Ibid., Ser. II, Vol. VI, 1881, pp. 92–93.

  23. Ubaldus de Pandolfi, Life. . . , p. 147.

  24. Lexikon. . . , Vol. X, col. 671.

  25. Dom Guéranger in L’Univers, Sept. 12, May 23, and Dec. 5, 1858.

  26. Le Monde, Jan. 25, 1864, quoted in John E. Bowden, Life & Letters of Frederick William Faber, D.D. (Baltimore, 1869), p. 452.

  27. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. V, p. 741.

  28. Faber, Bethlehem (Baltimore, 1862), p. 317.

  29. Pandolfi, op. cit., p. 148.

  30. Blatter-Marison, Mystical City of God (South Chicago), Vol. I, p. xxii.

  31. J.K. Huysmans, En Route (New York, 1918), p. 90.

  32. Marie d’Agréda, Sublime Doctrine . . . (Rome, 1900), pp. i–iii.

  33. Revue Ecclesiastique de Valleyfield, Vol. IX, 1901, p. 160.

  34. Marie d’Agréda, Cité Mystique de Dieu (Rome, 1915), 3 vols.

  35. Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique (Paris, 1903), Vol. I, cols. 627–631.

  36. Poulain, op. cit., pp. 335–336.

  37. Juan G. Arintero, O.P., The Mystical Evolution in the Development and Vitality of the Church, St. Louis, 1949, pp. v, xii.

  38. Osservatore Romano, Rome, July 24, 1949.

  39. Marian Helpers Bulletin (Stockbridge, Mass.), Jan., 1950, p. 9.

  40. Enciclopedia Cattòlica (Vatican City, 1949), Vol. I, col. 571.

  41. Emmerich, Lowly Life, Vol. I, p. 9.

  42. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. V, p. 407.

  43. Emmerich, op. cit., pp. 135–136, 230.

  44. Ibid., p. 218.

  45. Ibid., p. 219.

  46. Ibid., pp. 219–220.

  47. Ibid., p. 221.

  48. The Note-Books and Papers of Gerard Manley Hopkins (London, 1937), p. 128 (see also pp. 339, 348, 372–373).

  49. Raïssa Maritain, We Have Been Friends Together, New York, 1942, p. 151; see also her Adventures in Grace (New York, 1945), p. 36.

  50. Paul Claudel, “In the Grip of God,” in Through 100 Gates, edited by Severin Lamping, O.F.M. (Milwaukee, 1939), p. 203.

  51. Huysmans, En Route (New York, 1918), pp. 138–139.

  52. Émile Baumann, L’Anneau d’Or des Grands Mystiques (Paris, 1924), pp. 294, 297.

  53. Paul de Jaegher, S.J., ed., An Anthology of Mysticism (London, 1935), p. 231.

  54. Jeanne Danemarie (pseud. of Mme. Marthe Ponet), The Mystery of the Stigmata, London, 1934, pp. 234–235.

  55. Ibid., p. 12.

  56. Enciclopedia Cattòlica (Vatican City, 1951), Vol. V, col. 314.

  57. Emmerich, Lowly Life, Vol. I, p. 228.

  58. Ibid., pp. 149–150.

  59. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XIII, p. 5.

  60. Analecta Bollandiana, Vol. XLIII, 1925, p. 235.