"prepared for death, she received a series of sixteen visions on the Passion of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Saved from the brink of death, Julian of Norwich dedicated her life to solitary prayer and the contemplation of the visions she had received. She wrote a short account of her visions probably soon after the event. About twenty or thirty years after her illness, near the end of the fourteenth century, she wrote down her visions and her understanding of them. Whereas Latin was the language of religion in her day, Julian of Norwich wrote in a straightforward Middle English,"
"in the streets"". Seeing these images may have affected Julian, who was just six years old when the plague first hit Norwich. Although she does not speak of the plague directly, her book shows a deep sensitivity to suffering and dying. There are many resources both in Norwich, the UK and Worldwide. Julian's writings have been translated into many languages including modern English, French and Catalan. Revelations of Divine Love The Revelations of Divine Love (which also bears the title A Revelation of Love — in Sixteen Shewings above the first chapter) is a 14th-century book of Christian mystical devotions"
"crucifix she saw the figure of Jesus begin to bleed. Over the next several hours, she had a series of sixteen visions of Jesus Christ, which ended by the time she recovered from her illness on 13May 1373. Julian wrote about her visions immediately after they had happened (although the text may not have been finished for some years), in a version of the ""Revelations of Divine Love"" often known as the ""Short Text""; this narrative of 25 chapters is about 11,000 words long. Twenty to thirty years later, perhaps in the early 1390s, Julian began to write a theological"
"contemplation. One association of contemplative prayer groups, The Julian Meetings, is named after her. Editions: Translations: Julian of Norwich Julian of Norwich (c. 8 November 1342 – c. 1416), also called Juliana of Norwich, was an English anchoress and an important Christian mystic and theologian. Her ""Revelations of Divine Love"", written around 1395, is the first book in the English language known to have been written by a woman. She is formally commemorated with a feast on 8 May in the Anglican Church, Episcopal Church, and Evangelical Lutheran Church. She has not yet been formally beatified or canonised in the"
"Constance's visions started in 1384 as her husband faced death. Her first vision was a crowd of dead people accompanied by the voice with great mortality and her husband died shortly afterwards. Constance is called as ""a sinful woman"" by Christ but despite the sinfulness and her inability to read, she interpreted the scriptures to learned men as she received divine interventions. Most of Constance's visions were Christ appearing and encouraging her to preach and to urge the French nobility to stand against the English. Overall, Constance's visions cover her personal experience of Christ and intimate identification with Christ’s pain."
"the years 1147 to 1152 Elisabeth suffered recurrent disease, anxiety and depression as a result of her strict asceticism. St. Hildegard of Bingen admonished Elisabeth in letters to be prudent in the ascetic life. In 1152, Elisabeth began to experience ecstatic visions of various kinds. These generally occurred on Sundays and Holy Days at Mass or Divine Office or after hearing or reading the lives of saints. Christ, the Virgin Mary, an angel, or the special saint of the day would appear to her and instruct her; or she would see quite realistic representations of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension,"
"Julian of Norwich Julian of Norwich (c. 8 November 1342 – c. 1416), also called Juliana of Norwich, was an English anchoress and an important Christian mystic and theologian. Her ""Revelations of Divine Love"", written around 1395, is the first book in the English language known to have been written by a woman. She is formally commemorated with a feast on 8 May in the Anglican Church, Episcopal Church, and Evangelical Lutheran Church. She has not yet been formally beatified or canonised in the Roman Catholic Church, so she is not currently in the ""Roman Martyrology"" or on the liturgical"
"in her later ""Revelations"" described how she had ""no control over herself"" and often would laugh or weep on a constant level with sometimes little reprieve. This illness was the stimulus for her conversion to a deeper spiritual life of devotion to God. This illness seemed to even put her at the point of death on occasion and even when she seemed to recover she still remained in bed for well over a decade. It was from 1311 that she began to experience her visions of Jesus Christ who graced her with messages. Ebner became prone to further bouts of"
"the Catholic Church eventually being recognized as one of only three female Doctors of the Church. One of her visions is the subject of Bernini's famous work ""The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa"" in the basilica of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. In the early 17th century, Venerable María de Jesús de Ágreda reported a number of mystical experiences, visions and conversations with the Blessed Virgin Mary. She stated that the Blessed Virgin had inspired and dictated passages in the book ""Mystical City of God"" as a biography of the Virgin Mary. The book Mystical City of God is still frequently"
"same time hiding her heart within His breast. During this time she is known to have shown gifts of healing and prophecy, and was an adept at teaching the Gospels. She was blind for the last eleven years of her life, and died of natural causes at Aywières. According to tradition, she experienced a vision in which Christ informed her of her death. She died on June 16, 1246, the day after the Feast of the Holy Trinity, at the age of 64. St Lutgardis is considered one of the leading mystics of the 13th century. A life of Lutgardis,"
"of the Christian West, she was a notable early devotee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Book 2 of the ""Herald of Divine Love"" is notable within the history of Christian devotion because its vivid descriptions of Gertrude's visions show a considerable elaboration on the long-standing but ill-defined veneration of Christ's heart. This veneration was present in the belief that Christ's heart poured forth a redemptive fountain through the wound in His side; an image culminating in its most famous articulation by St Bernard in his commentary on the Song of Songs. The women of Helfta—Gertrude foremost, who surely knew"
"Faustina Kowalska Saint Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament (born Helena Kowalska; 1905–1938), popularly spelled Faustina, was a Polish Roman Catholic nun and mystic. Her apparitions of Jesus Christ inspired the Roman Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy and earned her the title of ""Apostle of Divine Mercy"". Throughout her life, Faustina reported having visions of Jesus and conversations with him, of which she wrote in her diary, later published as """". Her biography, submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, quoted some of these conversations with Jesus regarding the Divine Mercy devotion. At the age of"
"Margareta Ebner Blessed Margareta Ebner (1291 – 20 June 1351) was a German professed religious from the Dominican Nuns. Ebner – from 1311 – experienced a series of spiritual visions in which Jesus Christ gave her messages which she recorded in letters and a journal at the behest of her spiritual director; she was ill for well over a decade as she experienced these visions. Ebner's religious life was at the time of infighting due to the Western Schism though she remained dedicated to serving the Roman pontiff who was the true claimant to the papal see. Ebner's beatification cause"
"Jacques de Vitry’s work describes her gift of tears as prolonged and profound. She especially weeps at the image of Christ and the sorrowful thought of the Passion. She also weeps over the sins of the secular townspeople. Similarly, Margery Kempe was another medieval mystic woman who also wept uncontrollably. Jacques de Vitry records seven specific virtues as revealed to Marie of Oignies. These are examples of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit she encountered in her visions. Marie of Oignies Marie of Oignies (""Maria Ogniacensis"", born Nivelles, now Belgium, 1177, died 1213) was a Beguine, known from the ""Life"""
"She claimed that Jesus had given her 'three fragrant spring lilies': an intense hatred of the world, a heart-felt humility and a burning desire to endure evil. She composed her first written work in this time, a ""Lauda"" (""Praises""), which was about the joy she felt in knowing that Christ loved her. She claimed that she once saw Christ (in answer to her desire to see Him), but she saw only His back as He was walking away. She also experienced seven months of severe physical illness and depression. On 14 November 1481, Camilla entered the monastery of the Poor"
"strong suppression lest it spread even and especially among clergy. Hildegard of Bingen, born seven years after the death of St. Peter Damian, reported seeing visions and recorded them in ""Scivias"" (short for ""Scito vias Domini"", ""Know the Ways of the Lord""). In Book II Vision Six, she quotes God as condemning same-sex intercourse, including lesbianism; ""a woman who takes up devilish ways and plays a male role in coupling with another woman is most vile in My sight, and so is she who subjects herself to such a one in this evil deed"". In the 13th century A.D., the"
"of years. She reported a vision of Christ bearing his cross and of the chalice symbolizing the Passion of Christ. On Good Friday 1697 she received the five wounds of Christ as stigmata. Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich was a German Augustinian nun who lived from 1774 to 1824. She was bedridden as of 1813 and is said to have had visible stigmata which would reopen on Good Friday. She reported that since childhood she had visions in which she talked with Jesus. In 1819 the poet Clemens Brentano was inspired to visit her and began to write her visions in"
"who for six months was Acarie's spiritual director. She is reputed to have had the gift of healing, the gift of prophecy, of predicting certain events in the future, of reading hearts and of discerning spirits. At the age of twenty-seven, she received the stigmata, the grace of physical conformity to the Suffering Christ. She is the first Frenchwoman the authenticity of whose stigmata (although invisible) have been attested by eminent persons. In 1601 she was introduced to the Life of St Teresa of Avila and was greatly moved by her life. A few days later St. Teresa, appeared to"
"members. During her life she received a vision of Jesus Christ as He carried the Cross in addition to a vision of the Sacred Heart and she also experienced a vision in which Christ was a pilgrim. For a period of five years the spiritual director and Bishop of Spoleto (and future cardinal) Ignazio Giovanni Cadolini guided her in discerning the truth of her visions and being able to differentiate between visions and the work of Satan. On the pain of the Passion of Christ that she felt Prosperi said: ""Oh God, what pain!"" Her health took on a rapid"
"she had a vision of two cherubim holding her at the bleeding feet of Christ (described below), which lasted two months. She had another vision following this of God's love, which afterwards convinced her of her unworthiness, and she asked God to always remain prostrate at Christ's feet. The next five years she recorded as being filled with inner suffering that gave her a desire to leave the body and be with Christ. In 1488, Camilla wrote ""I dolori mentali di Gesu nella sua Passione"" (""The mental sorrows of Christ during his Passion""), which followed from her long meditations on"
"after that many individuals, healthy and ill alike, would travel great distances to be blessed by her. Modern historians of medicine along with the people of the Middle Ages both possess no straightforward answer as to where her abilities derived from; however, many of these historians argue or speculate that they are related to mental visions of which recorded documents, such as her three volumes of visionary theology, depict. The volumes include: Scivias, (""Know the Ways""), Liber Vitae Meritorum, (""Book of Life's Merits""), and Liber Divinorum Operum (""Book of Divine Works""). Diversified instruments or rituals used in medieval magic include,"
"any potential heterodoxical thought and dissenting behaviour. Because of this, later scholars believed that she was a vowed religious holy woman like Julian of Norwich. They were surprised to encounter the psychologically and spiritually complex woman revealed in the original text of the ""Book."" During the fourteenth century, the task of interpreting the Bible and God through the written word was restricted to men, specifically ordained priests; to interpret God through the senses and the body became the domain of women, primarily women mystics, especially in the late Middle Ages. Mystics directly experienced God in three classical ways: first, bodily"
"made in Sixteen Shewings, or Revelations particular"". This is followed by a sentence or two describing each of the sixteen visions in turn. The second chapter is partly autobiographical. Julian mentions her illness, but in a spiritual manner. She reflects on three 'gifts' from God: meditation on the Passion of Christ, meditation on her own suffering and the gift of greater piety (which she calls 'wounds'). In the third chapter, which concludes the introduction, Julian writes more concretely about the events of her illness and her preparation for death by receiving the last rites. The introduction ends with Julian's recounting"
"case of demonic possession. It is therefore likely that the church performed an exorcism upon her. The visions of Margareta i Kumla was famous in Sweden in the 17th century. Her visions and alleged meetings with demons and angels were described by Bishop Laurentius Paulinus Gothus in a meeting of the Swedish clergy in 1629, and published in 1642. Margareta i Kumla Margareta i Kumla ('Margareta of Kumla') also known as the ""Sibylla of Kumla"" ('Prophetess of Kumla'), or ""Kumlapigan"" ('Maid of Kumla'), (died after 1628), was a Swedish visionary, who claimed to be possessed. She became the target for"
"to salvation and the only way in which the Kingdom of God could be established on the earth. She was frequently imprisoned for breaking the Sabbath by dancing and shouting, and for blasphemy. She claimed to have had many miraculous escapes from death. She told of being examined by four clergymen of the Established Church, claiming that she spoke to them for four hours in 72 tongues. While in prison in Manchester for 14 days, she said she had a revelation that ""a complete cross against the lusts of generation, added to a full and explicit confession, before witnesses, of"
"her life was outwardly conventional. She was married happily to a distant cousin, a merchant, and had four daughters by him. Their 27-year marriage was extremely stable, but when he died she was left utterly bereft and penniless in London. It was at this time, however, that she had her first vision of the ""Virgin Sophia"", the Feminine Aspect of God which is described in the Book of Proverbs in the Bible, who promised to unfold the secrets of the universe to her. Leade declared herself a 'Bride of Christ' and proceeded to transcribe her subsequent visions in much the"
"her stigmata. The Franciscan Italian priest Saint Pio of Pietrelcina reported visions of both Jesus and Mary as early as 1910. For a number of years he claimed to have experienced deep ecstasy along with his visions. In 1918, while praying in the Church of Our Lady of Grace he reported ecstasy and visions which this time left him with permanent and visible stigmata, the five wounds of Christ. The stigmata remained visible on his hands and feet for the next fifty years. In 1916, during World War I, Claire Ferchaud — a religious Sister Claire of Jesus Crucified —"
"advanced in a life of contemplation. Her visions often assumed the form of drama enacted for her by heavenly personages. She had the gift of miracles and ecstasy, as well as the bodily vision of her guardian angel, had revelations concerning Purgatory and Hell, and foretold the ending of the Western Schism. She could read the secrets of consciences and detect plots of diabolical origin. She was remarkable for her humility and detachment, her obedience and patience"". On August 15, 1425, the feast of the Assumption of Mary, she founded the Olivetan Oblates of Mary, a confraternity of pious women,"
"based on legends of the Virgin Mary appearing to different people in the Lichen area in the early 19th century. In 1876, a French domestic servant, Estelle Faguette, reported seeing a series of 15 apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the bedroom where she was staying near Pellevoisin, France. When her visions allegedly began, Faguette was terminally ill with tuberculosis and near death. However, in the second apparition, she heard Mary tell her that she would be healed, and she recovered and lived until 1929. In 1983, following a medical and theological inquiry, Archbishop Paul Vignancour of Bourges recognized her"
"her apparition. On November 4, 1995, during one of Emma's trances to which she allegedly claims to experience the Passion of Jesus Christ, Emma drew out five small, thornless, rose buds out of her chest, filled with blood and bodily mucus. Later accounts of the videotaped event claims a hole on her chest, which later closed. Followers of Emma also attest to her various letters written in Ancient Greek, containing scriptural passages of the Gospel of Saint John, written under trance. In 2006, Witnesses claim that while Emma was being dictated to write on paper, her eyeline sight was elevated"
"lived in the Convent of the ‘Rinfilières’ at Loublande, France. At that time, she claimed to have been given a vision of Christ himself showing his heart ""slashed by the sins of mankind"" and crossed by a deeper wound still, atheism. On 12 March 1920, however, a decree of the Holy Office disavowed her revelations and stated that belief in the visions of Loublande could not be approved. The Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Léon-Adolphe Amette declared that regretfully he was unable to discover a supernatural inspiration in her statements. The visions of the Virgin Mary appearing to three shepherd children"
"Catherine of Ricci Saint Catherine de' Ricci, O.S.D. () (23 April 1522 – 2 February 1590), was an Italian Dominican Tertiary sister. She is believed to have had miraculous visions and corporeal encounters with Jesus, both with the infant Jesus and with the adult Jesus. She is said to have spontaneously bled with the wounds of the crucified Christ. She is venerated for her mystic visions and is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. She was born Alessandra Lucrezia Romola de' Ricci in Florence to Pier Francesco de' Ricci, of a patrician family, and his wife, Caterina Bonza,"
"recorded in the ""Revelations"" (or """"Offenbarungen"""") which she composed in 1344–48 with the encouragement of her spiritual advisor Heinrich; it was in this that she recounted the spiritual graces she had received between 1312 and 1348. There are about seven manuscripts which have survived. There also remain 56 letters that Heinrich had written to Ebner which survive in a single late manuscript though one of her letters to him still survives. Margareta Ebner Blessed Margareta Ebner (1291 – 20 June 1351) was a German professed religious from the Dominican Nuns. Ebner – from 1311 – experienced a series of spiritual"