ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY
Saints celebrated on the 9th of February
Prayer to the Angels and the Saints
Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.
In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.
Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.
Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.
BL. ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH, VIRGIN, VISIONARY, AND STIGMATIST
Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (Anna Katharina Emmerich) was born September 18, 1774 as the fifth of nine children into a farming family in Flamschen near Coesfeld, Germany.
She was sent to Coesfeld to train as a seamstress. From 1794 to 1799 she worked as a self-employed seamstress.
SHE FELT CALLED TO RELIGIOUS LIFE
Anne Catherine asked to be admitted to various monasteries. However, she was turned away as she could not bring a special dowry. The Poor Clares in Münster finally agreed to take her in, on condition that she would learn to play the church organ and become the organist.
Shortly after entering the monastery, she fell ill and remained sickly for the rest of her life.
A DEEP BOND WITH CHRIST
The life of Bl. Anne Catherine is characterised by a deep bond with Christ. She loved to pray in front of the famous Coesfeld Cross. She often walked the Way of the Cross. She personally shared in the suffering of the Lord so much that it is no exaggeration to say: she lived, suffered and died with Christ. An external sign of this, which is at the same time more than a mere sign, are the stigmata that she wore.
HER VISIONS
Between 1819 and 1824 the poet Clemens Brentano wrote down the visions of Bl. Anne Catherine (who since lived in a holy private household, as Napoleon had dissolved the monasteries). She had become very weak. In the Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich, Brentano mixed her statements with his own additions, making it difficult to assess the accuracy of his records.
Mel Gibson used her visions of Jesus' Way of the Cross in his film The Passion of the Christ.
HER HOLY DEATH
She united her suffering with the suffering of Jesus and offered it up for the salvation of mankind. Bl. Anne Catherine died February 9, 1824.
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