The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Anne Catherine Emmerich
374 page book (5.5" x 8.25"),
The Dolorous Passion has been inspiring thousands since it first appeared in 1833–being based on the detailed visions of Our Lord's Passion and Death as seen by Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824), a German Augustinian nun, and recorded by Clemens Brentano, a prominent literary figure of the day. A saintly person from her youth and a great mystic and victim soul, Sister Emmerich was privileged by God during almost a lifetime of ecstatic visions to see all the events of Our Lord's suffering and death, which visions we can now understand in hindsight were a great gift from God to the world. Her account of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, while faithful to the Bible, is heart-rending, edifying and surprising–and filled with intimate detail. The Dolorous Passion recounts with incredible precision the horrendous sufferings undergone by our Saviour in His superhumanly heroic act of Redemption. Also illuminating is its description of Mary's participation in the sufferings of her Son, so that this book gives the reader a poignant understanding of why Our Lady is often called our "CoRedemptrix" and "Queen of Martyrs." The Dolorous Passion is a singular book that conveys a lasting impression of the terrible Agony of Our Lord, of His infinite love for us that motivated His Agony, and how His Passion and Death were brought on by each person's sins. Here is a book that gives one a holy feeling just to read it. Here is a book that will melt a heart of stone!
"He who desires to go on advancing from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace, should meditate continually on the Passion of Jesus . . . . There is no practice more profitable for the entire sanctification of the soul than the frequent meditation on the sufferings of Jesus Christ.”
Who Was Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich?
Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) was a German Augustinian nun, a mystic, stigmatist and victim soul, whose visions were copied down by Clemens Brentano (1778-1842), a poet and prominent literary figure of that time. He had paid her a visit in 1818 out of curiosity, and he remained at her beside till she died in 1824, recording in notebooks her many, remarkable visions of the past, present and future. From 1802 until her death, she bore the wounds of the Crown of Thorns, and from 1812 the full stigmata of Our Lord, including a cross over her heart and the wound from the lance. During the last 12 years of her life, she could eat no food except Holy Communion, nor take any drink save water. She remained bed-ridden during her last 12 years, during which time she actually experienced the sufferings of Our Lord on Good Fridays and saw in vision many of the events in Biblical history. It is from these transcribed visions that Clemens Brentano himself compiled The Dolorous Passion, a book that has been in print almost continually since it first appeared in 1833. From his association with Sister Emmerich, Brentano returned whole-heartedly to the Catholic Faith, along with his entire family. A man of extensive learning and experience, he could nonetheless say of Anne Catherine Emmerich, "All that I have ever beheld in art or in life representative of piety, peace and innocence, sinks into insignificance compared with her." (Life, Vol. I, p. 397). Brentano's fascinating 54-page sketch of her life is included in The Dolorous Passion. The cause for her beatification is in process as of 3/12/01.
Published by Saint Benedict Press through TAN Books