Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, her stigmata and visions of the House of the Virgin

Anna Katharina Emmerich, Catholic Blessed. Portrait by Gabriel von Max. On the strength of the Blessed Anna Katharina's records of her visions, a site was found where the house of the Mother of God is believed to have stood. Raised in a poor family, from childhood Anna Katharina Emmerick dreamed of serving God within monastery walls, but for girls from poor families, entering a convent was no simple matter, so that for her it proved nothing short of a miracle, though not for long, until the convent was dissolved. At about the age of 37 Katharina first discovered the stigmata on her body, which drew the attention of the Church and of the mystics of her day. For many years Anna helped the poor and the sick as best she could, and even in her illness she sewed clothes and received the afflicted for consoling conversation. After Anna Katharina's death many of her visions were published in literary adaptation, and they contain predictions and information of a religious nature.