SAINTS OF THE DAY

FRIDAY, 9 FEBRUARY, 2024

1⃣ SAINT APOLLONIA

2⃣ BLESSED ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH
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1⃣ SAINT APOLLONIA

(d. c. 249)

The persecution of Christians began in Alexandria during the reign of the Emperor Philip. The first victim of the pagan mob was an old man named Metrius, who was tortured and then stoned to death. The second person who refused to worship their false idols was a Christian woman named Quinta. Her words infuriated the mob and she was scourged and stoned.

While most of the Christians were fleeing the city, abandoning all their worldly possessions, an old deaconess, Apollonia, was seized. The crowds beat her, knocking out all of her teeth. Then they lit a large fire and threatened to throw her in it if she did not curse her God. She begged them to wait a moment, acting as if she was considering their requests. Instead, she jumped willingly into the flames and so suffered martyrdom.

There were many churches and altars dedicated to her. Apollonia is the patroness of dentists, and people suffering from toothache and other dental diseases often ask her intercession. She is pictured with a pair of pincers holding a tooth or with a golden tooth suspended from her necklace. Saint Augustine explained her voluntary martyrdom as a special inspiration of the Holy Spirit, since no one is allowed to cause his or her own death.

REFLECTION: The Church has quite a sense of humor! Apollonia is honored as the patron saint of dentists, but this woman who had her teeth extracted without anesthetic surely ought to be the patron of those who dread the chair. She might also be the patron of the aging, for she attained glory in her old age, standing firm before her persecutors even as her fellow Christians fled the city. However we choose to honor her, she remains a model of courage for us.

PATRON: Dentists and Toothache.

PRAYER FOR TOOTHACHE TO SAINT APOLLONIA: O Glorious Apollonia, patron saint of dentistry and refuge to all those suffering from diseases of the teeth, I consecrate myself to thee, beseeching thee to number me among thy clients. Assist me by thy intercession with God in my daily work and intercede with Him to obtain for me a happy death. Pray that my heart like thine may be inflamed with the love of Jesus and Mary, through Christ our Lord. Amen. O My God, bring me safe through temptation and strengthen me as thou didst our own patron Apollonia, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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2⃣ BLESSED ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH (ANNA KATHARINA EMMERICK)

(September 8, 1774 - February 9, 1824)

ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH was born at Flamske, a village situated about a mile and a half from Coesfeld, in the bishopric of Munster, on the 8th of September 1774, and was baptised in the church of St. James at Coesfeld. Her parents, Bernard Emmerich and Anne Hiller, were poor peasants, but distinguished for their piety and virtue. As a child, she spent alot of her time as a shepherdess, maid and seamstress until, aged 28, she entered the Augustinian Order, the Convent of Agnetenberg at Dulmen, Westphalia, and one year later, on 13th November 1803, she made her solemn vows.

Even during her earlier youthful years, Anne had been extraordinarily gifted with ecstasies and visions of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, her guardian angel, and many of the saints. The visions with which she was favoured were so like realities, and appeared to her so sweet and delightful, that she supposed all Christian children were favoured with the same; and she concluded that those who never talked on such subjects were only more discreet and modest than herself, so she resolved to keep silence also, to be like them. Although never given an adequate education, Anne seemed to understand Latin beginning in her very early years. Almost from infancy Anne reportedly had the gifts of discerning holy from unholy objects, consecrated objects or locations, and the identification of relics and from which saints they came. During her whole life she had continual intercourse with the souls in purgatory; and all her actions and prayers were offered for the relief of their sufferings. She was frequently called upon to assist them, and even reminded in some miraculous manner, if she chanced to forget them. Often, while yet very young, she used to be awakened out of her sleep by bands of suffering souls, and to follow them on cold winter's nights with bare feet, the whole length of the Way of the Cross to Coesfeld, though the ground was covered with snow.

ANNE RECEIVES THE CROWN OF THORNS

In 1798, whilst Anne was praying in the Jesuits' Church at Coesfeld absorbed in contemplation before the Crucifix, she recounts a sudden burning sensation in her head and beheld the vision of her “Divine Spouse” approaching her from the altar “where the Blessed Sacrament was kept in the tabernacle” with two crowns in His hands: in His left hand was one made up of flowers, and in the right hand one of thorns. Anne chose the crown of thorns, and from that day on was often subjected to excruciating pain and bleeding from the puncture wounds of the thorns. She kept her head permanently covered to hide the swelling and blood stains from being seen by others.

ANNE RECEIVES THE STIGMATA

In 1811, Anne was forced to leave her convent along with all the sisters when King Jerome Bonaparte closed all of the Religious houses during his reign. Four years before the suppression of her convent, Anne made a visit home with her family in Flamske. One day while she was kneeling and praying for hours before the Cross of the Church of St. Lambert at Coesfeld, Anne had asked our Lord for a share in His Passion as a sacrifice for the sake of her convent. From that time on, she began experiencing terrible pains in her hands, feet and side, an indication that God had given her the invisible stigmata.

On August 28,1812 (the Feast of St. Augustine), Jesus appeared to her in a vision and imprinted a cross-shaped wound on her breast directly above the heart. Later that same year, specifically on the 29th December 1812, at about 3pm she was lying on her bed in her little room, extremely ill, but in a state of ecstasy and with her arms extended, meditating on the sufferings of her Lord, and beseeching Him to allow her to suffer with Him. She said five Our Fathers in honour of the Five Wounds, and felt her whole heart burning with love. She then saw a light descending towards her, and distinguished in the midst of it the resplendent form of her crucified Saviour, whose wounds shone like so many furnaces of light. Her heart was overflowing with joy and sorrow, and, at the sight of the sacred wounds, her desire to suffer with her Lord became intensely violent. Then triple rays, pointed like arrows, of the colour of blood, darted forth from the hands, feet, and side of Jesus, and struck her hands, feet, and right side. When she recovered her senses she was astonished when she beheld blood flowing from the palms of her hands, and felt violent pain in her feet and side.

In 1813, Anne was examined by a group of both medical and Church authorities; an inquiry which lasted for five months. The examiners found Anne to be mentally sound, and they could not find any medical or temporal explanation for the wounds of the stigmata.

ANNE LIVES OFF THE EUCHARIST ALONE FOR 12 YEARS

From the moment she received the Sacred Wounds until her death, Anne Catherine Emmerich took no solid food, existing only on the Sacred Host. In fact, when she would try to eat or drink she would have a severe reaction and would vomit violently when attempting to consume food, even broth. She was however able to consume the Holy Eucharist and her diet consisted only of the Eucharist.

In 1819 she was once again investigated by high-ranking secular authorities. She was taken away from all of her acquaintances and moved to a house in the country belonging to one of the authorities. They referred to her as ‘The Imposter'. She was locked up for three weeks with the authorities watching her 24×7 in 6 hour shifts. Much to the aggravation of her captors, she still consumed no food and bled through her Stigmata even though she prayed not to bleed so they would release her. After three weeks, she was finally sent back to her home in Dulmen by her frustrated captors. Two of them became very sympathetic to her cause. During her last few years, she did not sleep at all, a miracle in itself according to the testimonies of many doctors. She was given shelter by various charitable people in the area, and was bedridden for the rest of her life. God had chosen this gifted soul to become His victim, and she voluntarily suffered and sacrificed as a means of atonement and expiation for the souls that were living in sin.

Because of the great trouble caused by her visible stigmata, Anne implored our Lord to remove them, a prayer which was granted – at least partially – starting in 1819. Over the next seven years, her wounds became less visible until finally they disappeared, except for on special occasions or particular feast days of the Church calendar. They would reappear and continue to bleed, however, during each Lenten season, particularly on Good Fridays. There were other occasions when Anne Catherine Emmerich's wounds would manifest and bleed severely, including some Holy Thursdays and a few Fridays outside of Lent. Yet she was never without the stigmata, for the rest of the time they were invisible but equally as painful.

Anne also possessed the gift of many extraordinary visions, known as ecstasies. She was given visions of almost the entire life of Jesus, and most of the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary also. These private revelations of Jesus and Mary's life included the most intimate details and can be considered a complete vision of the Gospel story. Other visions included those of Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, along with intimate details in the lives of many Saints.

Of the many visions and prophesies of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, her accounts concerning the future of the Church and the rising of the false church, are the most poignant in light of the upheavals we are witnessing in the Church, and which could be referring to our times.

DEATH AND BEATIFICATION

Anne Catherine Emmerich died a most holy death on 9th February 1824, aged 49. At her beatification ceremony, on 3rd October 2004, Pope St. John Paul II said that “her special mystical vocation shows us the value of sacrifice and suffering with the crucified Lord”. She is one of those special victim souls whose complete self-abnegation allows them to be more completely filled with grace.

PRAYER: O, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, devout and pious follower of Christ, who patiently endured the frailty of this mortal condition, who humbly received the honorable marks of Christ Jesus on your hands, feet, side, head, and chest, the marks which you were blessed by the Lord to witness for yourself in His own sufferings; we graciously ask for your intercession with God, that we sinners may be forgiven of our sins and be drawn more completely into spiritual communion with Christ Our Lord and Saviour. We ask this in the Name of the Most Holy Lamb of God and through the intercession of Holy Mary, Our Mother. Amen.

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich: Pray for us!