Secrets of the Old Testament

The visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774–1824), preserved thanks to Clemens Brentano, bear the hallmark of her pure simplicity. She earnestly wished for them to be recorded, collected and shared with others. She realised that the images and scenes from the history of salvation she witnessed lead to Christ who, in the words of the Apostle Paul, is the image of the invisible God.

The secrets of the Old Testament are among the very first visions that young Anne Catherine received. She says: "When I was about five or six years old and was thinking about the first article of the Catholic Creed, 'I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth', I received various visions of how heaven and earth were created. I saw the fall of the angels, the creation of the Earth and Paradise, the creation of Adam and Eve, and the fall of man. I never needed to memorise specific passages from the Gospels or the Old Testament, because I saw them with my own eyes throughout my life."

The visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich bring us closer to some of the often incomprehensible and foreign-sounding messages from the Holy Scriptures. The visionary does not want to persuade anyone; she simply wants to bear witness. She shares and shows us living images, constantly emphasising the words: "And I saw."

The book was granted an Imprimatur in its original German edition.