Therese Neumann
Encyclopedia
Therese Neumann was a German
Catholic mystic
and stigmatic.
She was born in the village of Konnersreuth in Bavaria
, Germany
, where she lived all her life. She was born into a large family with little income. She was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis
.
completely. Bedridden, she reportedly developed horrible bed sores that sometimes exposed bone.
Therese reported that her eyesight was restored on 29 April 1923—the day Therese of Lisieux was beatified
in Rome
. Therese Neumann had been praying novena
s in advance of this day. On 17 May 1925 Therese of Lisieux was fully canonized
as a saint in the Catholic Church. Therese Neumann said the saint called to her and then cured her of her paralysis and bed sores.
On 7 November 1925 Neumann took to her bed again, and on 13 November was diagnosed with appendicitis
. While prepared for surgery, she convulsed
violently and stared at the ceiling finally saying, "Yes." She asked her family to take her to the church to pray immediately. She then announced that she had been cured of all traces of appendicitis.
. She said that on 5 March 1926, the first Friday of Lent
, a wound had appeared slightly above her heart, but that she had kept this secret. However, she did report a vision of Jesus at Mount Olivet with three Apostles.
On 12 March, she said she had another vision of Christ at Mt. Olivet, along with the crowning of thorns
. She also claimed that the wound above her heart reappeared on this day, and she spoke to her sister about it. She claimed the wound also reappeared on Friday of the following week. By 26 March, she was claiming the same wound accompanied by a vision of Christ bearing the cross and a similar wound on her left hand. Blood was observed on her clothing, and she no longer attempted to keep the information to herself.
On Good Friday, Neumann according to her own testimony witnessed the entire Passion of Christ
in her visions. She displayed wounds on her hands and feet accompanied by blood apparently coming from her eyes. Blood poured from the wounds, however - according to Neumann-critic Josef Hanauer's book The Swindle of Konnersreuth - onlookers did not actually see the bleeding in action, only the blood itself. However, according to author Albert Paul Schimberg, many persons observed her wounds bleeding and these witnesses were by no means limited to her immediate family and Fr. Josef Naber. By 3 p.m. that day, her parish priest Fr. Josef Naber was summoned to give Neumann the Last Rites
. By 4 o'clock, her condition improved. The wounds on her feet and hands were observed when she was bathed.
On Easter Sunday, she claimed a vision of the resurrection of Christ
. For several consecutive Fridays after that, she stated she was experiencing the Passion of Christ, apparently suffering in her own body along with all his historic agonies. She especially suffered the Passion on Good Friday each year.
By 5 November 1926, she displayed nine wounds on her head as well as wounds on her back and shoulders. According to several sources these wounds never healed or became infected and were found on her body at death.
, and claimed to have drunk no water from 1926 until her death.
In July 1927 a medical doctor and four Franciscan nurses kept a watch on her 24 hours a day for a two-week period. They confirmed that she had consumed nothing except for one consecrated sacred Host a day, and had suffered no ill effects, loss of weight, or dehydration. Montague Summers
in the "Physical Phenomenon of Mysticism" speaks of her supernatural ability to survive for long periods without food or water. He supported this claim by citing an article about Therese Neumann in the 5 January 1940 "The Universe", which said the peasant woman refused German ration cards saying she had no need of food and drink.
During some of her Friday trances, she would utter phrases identified by witnesses (including priest
s) as ancient Aramaic. She was also said to have been able to understand Hebrew
, Greek
, and Latin.
. She was never physically harmed, though her family home, parish church and priest's house all received direct attacks. She encouraged Fritz Gerlich
to continue his opposition to Hitler and his national-socialist party. Gerlich was subsequently killed for his opposition.
Paramahansa Yogananda
visited her and wrote about her case in his book Autobiography of a Yogi, published in 1946. He wrote an entire chapter, Therese Neumann, The Catholic Stigmatist of Bavaria, which reverently gives a vivid first-hand description of one of her Friday Passion trances.
On 18 September 1962, Therese Neumann died from cardiac arrest
, after having suffered from Angina pectoris for some time.
The Roman Catholic Church
has neither confirmed nor denied the inedia
(from which she suffered according to her critics), nor her stigmata. The "Resl", as she is colloquially known, nonetheless attained a place in popular piety — a petition asking for her beatification
was signed by 40,000 people. In 2005, Gerhard Ludwig Müller
, Bishop of Regensburg, formally opened the Vatican proceedings for her beatification.
, Therese Neumann said during his visit: "One of the reasons I am here on earth today is to prove that man can live by God's invisible light, and not by food only." His judgement was: "I realized at once that her strange life is intended by God to reassure all Christians of the historical authenticity of Jesus' life and crucifixion as recorded in the New Testament, and to dramatically display the ever-living bond between the Galilean
Master and his devotees." When Paramahansa Yogananda questions the notion that Therese Neumann had lived eating only a daily eucharistic wafer for the past 12 years, she states that she lives by God's light. The renowned yogi then suggests, "I see you realize that energy flows to your body from the ether, sun, and air." Therese then smiles and expresses her happiness that he understands the way she lives.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Catholic mystic
Christian mysticism
Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often been connected to mystical theology, especially in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions...
and stigmatic.
She was born in the village of Konnersreuth in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where she lived all her life. She was born into a large family with little income. She was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis
Third Order of St. Francis
The Third Order of St. Francis is a third order within the Franciscan movement of the Roman Catholic Church. It includes both congregations of vowed men and women and fraternities of men and women living standard lives in the world, usually married...
.
Ailments
On 10 March 1918, Therese Neumann was partially paralyzed after falling off a stool while attending to a fire in her uncle's barn. She sustained more falls and injuries during this period. After one particular fall she claimed to have lost much of her eyesight. In 1919, she was blindedBlindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
completely. Bedridden, she reportedly developed horrible bed sores that sometimes exposed bone.
Therese reported that her eyesight was restored on 29 April 1923—the day Therese of Lisieux was beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. Therese Neumann had been praying novena
Novena
In the Catholic Church, a novena is a devotion consisting of a prayer repeated on nine successive days, asking to obtain special graces. The prayers may come from prayer books, or consist of the recitation of the Rosary , or of short prayers through the day...
s in advance of this day. On 17 May 1925 Therese of Lisieux was fully canonized
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
as a saint in the Catholic Church. Therese Neumann said the saint called to her and then cured her of her paralysis and bed sores.
On 7 November 1925 Neumann took to her bed again, and on 13 November was diagnosed with appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
. While prepared for surgery, she convulsed
Convulsion
A convulsion is a medical condition where body muscles contract and relax rapidly and repeatedly, resulting in an uncontrolled shaking of the body. Because a convulsion is often a symptom of an epileptic seizure, the term convulsion is sometimes used as a synonym for seizure...
violently and stared at the ceiling finally saying, "Yes." She asked her family to take her to the church to pray immediately. She then announced that she had been cured of all traces of appendicitis.
Stigmata
Therese would later apparently develop the stigmataStigmata
Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus, such as the hands and feet...
. She said that on 5 March 1926, the first Friday of Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
, a wound had appeared slightly above her heart, but that she had kept this secret. However, she did report a vision of Jesus at Mount Olivet with three Apostles.
On 12 March, she said she had another vision of Christ at Mt. Olivet, along with the crowning of thorns
Crown of Thorns
In Christianity, the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was woven of thorn branches and placed on Jesus Christ before his crucifixion...
. She also claimed that the wound above her heart reappeared on this day, and she spoke to her sister about it. She claimed the wound also reappeared on Friday of the following week. By 26 March, she was claiming the same wound accompanied by a vision of Christ bearing the cross and a similar wound on her left hand. Blood was observed on her clothing, and she no longer attempted to keep the information to herself.
On Good Friday, Neumann according to her own testimony witnessed the entire Passion of Christ
Passion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
in her visions. She displayed wounds on her hands and feet accompanied by blood apparently coming from her eyes. Blood poured from the wounds, however - according to Neumann-critic Josef Hanauer's book The Swindle of Konnersreuth - onlookers did not actually see the bleeding in action, only the blood itself. However, according to author Albert Paul Schimberg, many persons observed her wounds bleeding and these witnesses were by no means limited to her immediate family and Fr. Josef Naber. By 3 p.m. that day, her parish priest Fr. Josef Naber was summoned to give Neumann the Last Rites
Last Rites
The Last Rites are the very last prayers and ministrations given to many Christians before death. The last rites go by various names and include different practices in different Christian traditions...
. By 4 o'clock, her condition improved. The wounds on her feet and hands were observed when she was bathed.
On Easter Sunday, she claimed a vision of the resurrection of Christ
Death and Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
. For several consecutive Fridays after that, she stated she was experiencing the Passion of Christ, apparently suffering in her own body along with all his historic agonies. She especially suffered the Passion on Good Friday each year.
By 5 November 1926, she displayed nine wounds on her head as well as wounds on her back and shoulders. According to several sources these wounds never healed or became infected and were found on her body at death.
Inedia
From the years of 1922 until her death in 1962, Therese Neumann apparently consumed no food other than The Holy EucharistEucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
, and claimed to have drunk no water from 1926 until her death.
In July 1927 a medical doctor and four Franciscan nurses kept a watch on her 24 hours a day for a two-week period. They confirmed that she had consumed nothing except for one consecrated sacred Host a day, and had suffered no ill effects, loss of weight, or dehydration. Montague Summers
Montague Summers
Augustus Montague Summers was an eccentric English author and clergyman. He is known primarily for his scholarly work on the English drama of the 17th century, as well as for his idiosyncratic studies on witches, vampires, and werewolves, in all of which he professed to believe...
in the "Physical Phenomenon of Mysticism" speaks of her supernatural ability to survive for long periods without food or water. He supported this claim by citing an article about Therese Neumann in the 5 January 1940 "The Universe", which said the peasant woman refused German ration cards saying she had no need of food and drink.
During some of her Friday trances, she would utter phrases identified by witnesses (including priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
s) as ancient Aramaic. She was also said to have been able to understand Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, and Latin.
Miscellaneous
During the Third Reich, Therese Neumann was the target of ridicule and defamation, as the Nazis knew about her dissenting views and feared her growing popularity. She was observed by the GestapoGestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
. She was never physically harmed, though her family home, parish church and priest's house all received direct attacks. She encouraged Fritz Gerlich
Fritz Gerlich
Carl Albert Fritz Gerlich was a German journalist and historian, and one of the main journalistic resisters to Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
to continue his opposition to Hitler and his national-socialist party. Gerlich was subsequently killed for his opposition.
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda , born Mukunda Lal Ghosh , was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a...
visited her and wrote about her case in his book Autobiography of a Yogi, published in 1946. He wrote an entire chapter, Therese Neumann, The Catholic Stigmatist of Bavaria, which reverently gives a vivid first-hand description of one of her Friday Passion trances.
On 18 September 1962, Therese Neumann died from cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
, after having suffered from Angina pectoris for some time.
The Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
has neither confirmed nor denied the inedia
Inedia
Inedia is the alleged ability to live without food. The word was first used to describe a fast-based lifestyle within Catholic tradition, which holds that certain saints were able to survive for extended periods of time without food or drink other than the Eucharist.Breatharianism is a related...
(from which she suffered according to her critics), nor her stigmata. The "Resl", as she is colloquially known, nonetheless attained a place in popular piety — a petition asking for her beatification
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
was signed by 40,000 people. In 2005, Gerhard Ludwig Müller
Gerhard Ludwig Müller
Gerhard Ludwig Müller has served as the Bishop of Regensburg since his appointment by Pope John Paul II on 1 October 2002.-Early life:...
, Bishop of Regensburg, formally opened the Vatican proceedings for her beatification.
Her task in life
According to Paramahansa YoganandaParamahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda , born Mukunda Lal Ghosh , was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a...
, Therese Neumann said during his visit: "One of the reasons I am here on earth today is to prove that man can live by God's invisible light, and not by food only." His judgement was: "I realized at once that her strange life is intended by God to reassure all Christians of the historical authenticity of Jesus' life and crucifixion as recorded in the New Testament, and to dramatically display the ever-living bond between the Galilean
Galilean
Generically, a Galilean is an inhabitant of Galilee. Galileans were also the members of a fanatical sect , followers of Judas of Galilee, who fiercely resented the taxation of the Romans, and whose violence contributed to induce the latter to vow the extermination of the whole race...
Master and his devotees." When Paramahansa Yogananda questions the notion that Therese Neumann had lived eating only a daily eucharistic wafer for the past 12 years, she states that she lives by God's light. The renowned yogi then suggests, "I see you realize that energy flows to your body from the ether, sun, and air." Therese then smiles and expresses her happiness that he understands the way she lives.
Further reading
- Therese Neumann A Stigmatist of Our Days, by Friedrich Ritter von Lama
- Further Chronicles of Therese Neumann, by Friedrich Ritter von Lama
- Life and Death of Therese Neumann, Mystic and Stigmatist, by Albert Vogl, ISBN 0533033799
- Mystical Phenomena in the Life of Threresa Neumann, by Most Reverend Josef Teodorowicz translated by Rev. Rudolph Kraus, Ph.D., S.T.D.
- The Story of Theresa Neumann, by Albert Paul Schimberg
- The Case of Therese Neumann, by Hilda C. Graef
- The Visions of Therese Neumann, by Johannes Steiner
- Theresa Neumann: A Portrait Based on Authentic Accounts, Journals and Documents, by Johannes Steiner
- What about Therese Neumann: A concise background for and analysis of the critical reception accorded Hilda C. Graef's the case of Therese Neumann, by Leonard J. FickLeonard J. FickLeonard J. Fick was an American Roman Catholic priest, scholar and educator, college president, author in Ohio whose educational career spanned for over fifty years...