First Beginnings is the initial volume of the long-awaited "New Light on the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich" series. The first part begins with the visionary's account of Creation, moves through the Fall of the Angels and the formation of the Earth and Paradise, and ends with the mysterious Mountain of the Prophets. The second part presents Adam and Eve, the Trees of Life and Knowledge, the Fall, the Promise of the Redeemer, Cain and Abel, the Children of God, the Giants, Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel, as well as other ancient figures (Hom, Jamshid, Nimrod, Derketo, Semiramis, Melchizedek), concluding with Job. In the third part fascinating new insights are given into the lives and missions of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their families.
Anne Catherine Emmerich was born on September 8, 1774, at Flamske, Germany. From early childhood she was blessed with the gift of spiritual sight and lived almost constantly in inner vision of scenes of the Old and New Testaments. Later, her visions became concerned primarily with the life of Jesus Christ, although they encompassed also the lives of many saints and other personages (some unknown to history) as well as far-reaching insights into many other mysteries. In 2004 she was beatified by Pope John Paul II.
This series supplements an earlier Angelico publication: The Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich, Books I-III. In 2009 the original notes of Anne Catherine's visions (in 38 notebooks) became for the first time available for reference, and the present series incorporates much new material translated therefrom. With regard to both individuals and themes, every reference thus far located in the notes and in prior translations have been woven together, so the reader can find in one place almost all of what Anne Catherine had to say on each topic.
As regards the series as a whole, virtually every individual in the biblical visions (approximately 250 in total) is referenced in the five People of the New Testament volumes. The Life of the Virgin Mary is dedicated to Mary (and her Essene ancestry), and Scenes from the Lives of the Saints treats of fifty-nine saints. The present volume forms a set with Mysteries of the Old Testament and two further volumes cover a multitude of separate themes: Inner Life and Worlds of Soul & Spirit and Spiritual Works and Journeys. The final volume is The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich.