Reflections on the Visions.
Whenever, during my meditations on the Passion of our Lord, I
imagine I hear that frightful cry of the Jews, 'His blood be upon us, and
upon our children,' visions of a wonderful and terrible description
display before my eyes at the same moment the effect of that solemn
curse. I fancy I see a gloomy sky covered with clouds, of the colour of
blood, from which issue fiery swords and darts, lowering over the
vociferating multitude; and this curse, which they have entailed upon
themselves, appears to me to penetrate even to the very marrow of their
bones,--even to the unborn infants. They appear to me encompassed on all
sides by darkness; the words they utter take, in my eyes, the form of
black flames, which recoil upon them, penetrating the bodies of some,
and only playing around others.
The last-mentioned were those who were converted after the death of
Jesus, and who were in considerable numbers, for neither Jesus nor Mary
ever ceased praying, in the midst of their sufferings, for the
salvation of these miserable beings.
When, during visions of this kind, I turn my thoughts to the holy
souls of Jesus and Mary, and to those of the enemies of Christ, all
that takes place within them is shown me under various forms. I see
numerous devils among the crowd, exciting and encouraging the Jews,
whispering in their ears, entering their mouths, inciting them still
more against Jesus, but nevertheless trembling at the sight of his
ineffable love and heavenly patience. Innumerable angels surrounded
Jesus, Mary, and the small number of saints who were there. The
exterior of these angels denotes the office they fill; some represent
consolation, others prayer, or some of the works of mercy.
I likewise often see consolatory, and at other times menacing
voices, under the appearance of bright or coloured gleams of light,
issuing from the mouths of these different apparitions; and I see the
feelings of their souls, their interior sufferings, and in a word,
their every thought, under the appearance of dark or bright rays. I
then understand everything perfectly, but it is impossible for me to
give an explanation to others; besides which, I am so ill, and so
totally overcome by the grief which I feel for my own sins and for
those of the world, I am so overpowered by the sight of the sufferings
of our Lord, that I can hardly imagine how it is possible for me to
relate events with the slightest coherency. Many of these things, but
more especially the apparitions of devils and of angels, which are
related by other persons who have had visions of the Passion of Jesus
Christ, are fragments of symbolical interior perceptions of this
species, which vary according to the state of the soul of the
spectator. Hence the numerous contradictions, because many things are
naturally forgotten or omitted.
Sister Emmerich sometimes spoke on these subjects, either during the
time of her visions on the Passion, or before they commenced; but she
more often refused to speak at all concerning them, for fear of causing
confusion in the visions. It is easy to see how difficult it must have
been for her, in the midst of such a variety of apparitions, to
preserve any degree of connection in her narrations. Who can therefore
be surprised at finding some omissions and confusion in her
descriptions?