Light on Light: Illuminations of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Mystical Visions of the Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich

by Hurd Baruch, Esq.

Amazon.com review excerpt: "Light on Light" fulfills the promise of its title by using the visions of an extraordinary mystic, a stigmatic nun who lived in Germany around 1800, to illuminate many aspects of the gospels and enable us to see for the first time scenes from the life of Christ which the Evangelists did not record at all in their brief accounts.

The Church has not passed judgment on the authenticity of these visions, but it has placed its stamp of approval on the sanctity of her life... [For more on her vocation of redemptive suffering by grace in Christ, see here ]

While suffering in a sick bed in rented lodgings, after her convent was closed, at times she was taken in spirit wherever her labors were needed by the Church, while at other times she was left to view the events of Salvation's history as they unrolled before her inward eye. What she saw was so detailed that the edition of only part of her visions, published under the title, "The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations," runs to four volumes and 2,000 pages. That would appear to be the only explanation why they have languished unknown to most Catholics in this country, for they are truly a spiritual treasure trove. By selecting key visions and commenting upon them, Mr. Baruch has done a service in acquainting us with them and showing that they conform to the gospels and to Magisterial teachings set forth in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Papal encyclicals, Apostolic Letters, and similar orthodox pronouncements.

The book embodies both chronological and thematic approaches to the material. The former runs from the teaching of Jesus in the Temple as a 12-year-old, to the beginning of His public ministry upon the death of St. Joseph--even before His baptism--through baptism and His desert experience, to the great miracle of the Wedding at Canaa. At that point, the author deals topically with visions on all the major events and themes of His day-to-day ministry, from His healings and resurrections (yes there were more than the three recorded in the gospels!) to His pardoning of sinners, and from his calling and commissioning of the Apostles, to His teachings on marriage and divorce, on the exploitation of the poor, and on the power of the word "Amen!"

Mr. Baruch switches back to a chronological mode for the culminating events of Jesus' life on earth, beginning with His teachings in the Temple (when the voice of God was heard once again), and His triumphant entry into Jerusalem as Messiah. The event we refer to as "the Last Supper" is broken down into three separate phases: the traditional Seder meal, the foot washing ceremony, and the institution of the Holy Eucharist-which Sister Emmerich saw taking place as a separate ceremony and not as part of the Passover meal. Her description of these events, which Baruch quotes in key parts, is convincing and it is heartening to note that the way the bread and wine is consecrated today is truly the same as it was then.

The last 100 pages are devoted to Christ's Passion, Death and Resurrection. Anyone reading those chapters will understand why Mel Gibson felt compelled to make a movie of the Passion after reading Sister Emmerich's visions. None of us has ever seen a person crucified, and even the movies we have seen showing such scenes-think of Spartacus-have not dwelled sufficiently on the horrors of that form of death to really have penetrated this reviewer, at least, on an emotional level. These visions do capture the ultimate barbarity which man is capable of, capping the agonies which Jesus went through in the Garden of Olives when He took our sins upon Himself, with cruel tortures right from the moment of His arrest, through scouring, to the racking of His body with ropes so that the nails would go through the too-widely spaced nail holes in the Cross.

Fortunately for us, Sister Emmerich's visions didn't stop with the Passion, and Baruch's summary goes right through Christ's descent into Hell, His Resurrection, appearances to His followers, His Ascension, Pentecost, the early days of Christianity, and finally the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The latter is, of course an event not found in the gospels, and it is a bonus for the reader to see in Sister Emmerich's visions a possible explanation of the earliest basis for believing in Mary's assumption into heaven in body as well as soul.

Post Script: This is a most remarkable book, I have just learned for myself, which lifts the soul to heaven (Sister Emmerich!) even as it enlightens the intellect through Mr. Baruch's perceptive and very learned commentary throughout. Emmerich's visions amazingly reconcile, supplement (in perfect harmony), and reinforce the Gospel accounts. Drop everything and buy the book.
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Serial divorce in the egalitarian West dovetails nicely with this: "[Karl Marx in his Communist Manifesto] also portrays communism as advocating a "community of women," the women of society being shared by the men. Apparently, this was part of the abolition of the family, since wives were exploited for labor at the time...A "community of men," however, is not considered.

...it seems that Marx is responding to burgeoisie charges of a "community of women" with the abolishment of the family, to which Marx responds that the bourgeoisie have "a reality a system of wives in common" but that communists "desire to introduce, in substitution for a hypocritically concealed [system], an openly legalized community of women," which does not really seem to dispute the charges. He goes further and claims that communism would abolish "the community of women springing from that system, i.e., of prostitution both public and private" (72).

"How can a community of women abolish prostitution unless this community of women, like capital, is treated as a commodity to be distributed equally against their will? If the women were to have a choice in the matter, this would reintroduce inequalities (i.e. likes/dislikes) that would be exploited by the payment of capital: prostitution. His solution therefore seems to be incompatible with free choice of the women involved." ---Garret Wilson

Note: As I said at the top, serial divorce facilitates this "community of women" nicely, but we have advanced beyond Marx in the nihilist West by introducing what he rejected, i.e., the "community of men" and increasingly legalized prostitution [today referred to on campus as "sex workers"]. No doubt tomorrow we shall catch up to the ancients and "liberate" children as well.
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A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,
We bid be quiet when we hear it cry;
But were we burdened with like weight of pain,
As much or more we should ourselves complain.
---William Shakespeare