CHAPTER VII.
Sister Emmerich's Situation from 1820-1824. — The Life of Our Lord — Clement Brentano's Notes. — Father Limberg's Position. — Death of the Abbe Lambert.
第七章
1820-1824年艾曼丽修女的情况;救主的生平;朝圣者的笔记;林堡神父的职责;兰伯特神父的去世
In the spring of 1820, Sister Emmerich was shown in vision the crowd of petty annoyances soon to assail her, chiefly on the part of her devoted and zealous amanuensis, Clement Brentano, or the Pilgrim, as she herself styled him. She saw that they were to last until her death, a period of almost four years.
1820年的春天,艾曼丽修女在异象中看到一大堆即将向他袭击来的琐碎烦恼,这些烦恼主要来自于她忠诚热心的速记员克莱门特.布伦塔诺(艾曼丽称他为 "朝圣者")。 她看到这些烦恼将持续到她去世为止,将近四年之久。
She knew from experience the vexations in store for her, as soon as the recital of the “Life of Jesus" should be commenced ; and yet, this was the task still remaining to be accomplished, the only object for which her life was now prolonged. " My time is up" did she declare to her confessor, March 11, 1820, "and, if I still live, it is only that I may fulfil a task for which but a short time is granted!"
她从自已的经验中知道,一旦开始叙述《耶稣的生平》,等着她的将是怎样的烦恼;然而,这是一件尚待完成的任务,也是她唯一要完成的任务,是她现在延长生命的唯一目地。「我的时间到了,」她在 1820 年 3 月 11 日向她的告解神父宣布,但是如果我还能活着,那也是天主给的一个短暂的时日,好使我能完成这项任务。
注:艾曼丽修女于 1824/2/9过世。
And the confessor also adds the weight of his testimony to this declaration : “Though none knew it, yet her mission was ended. I know that for a certain fact !" — that is, she could now die, were it not that she was still willing to suffer for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. It is to the Pilgrim's journal, that faithful record of Sister Emmerich's last six years on earth, that we are indebted for the following pages.
告解神父还为这一声明增添了他的证词的分量:「虽然没有人知道(时间是否到了),但她的使命已经结束。我知道这是一个事实!」——也就是说,她现在可以离世了,要不是她仍然愿意为天主的光荣和灵魂的拯救而受苦的话。下面这几页,我们要感谢《朝圣者日记》,它忠实地记录了艾曼丽修女在世上最后六年的生活。
As we read, we cannot but feel impressed by the truth and uprightness of the man, the conscientious fidelity with which he noted down every circumstance in that wonderful life, every word that fell from the invalid's lips, whilst we are sometimes tempted to smile at the little outbursts of vexation that meet us at almost every page, for Brentano was accustomed freely to intersperse his records with the passing emotions of his own soul.
当我们阅读时,我们不禁被朝圣者这个人的诚实和正直所打动,他认真忠实地记录了艾曼丽奇妙生命中的每一个情况,从病人嘴里说的每一句话,而我们有时不禁对几乎每一页都会遇到的小小的烦恼而微笑,因为朝圣者习惯于在他的记录中自由地穿插他自己灵魂中转瞬即逝的情感。
And, truly, his share in Sister Emmerich's task was neither light nor easy. Though devoting to it his time and his talents; though sacrificing for it his friends, his home, the legitimate pursuits of a life passed in the refined circles of the best society ; he was at the invalid's bedside to all but the invalid herself an object of dislike and suspicion, an importunate intruder.
说真的,朝圣者在分担艾曼丽修女的任务中所承担的责任既不轻松也不容易。尽管他为这任务奉献了他的时间和才华,尽管为此牺牲了他的朋友,他的家庭,牺牲了在上流社会的上流圈子里过着合理的生活消遣;他在病人的床边,除了病人自己以外,他对所有人来说都是一个讨厌的和被怀疑的对象,一个固执的闯入者。
He had to be willing to be pushed aside for very insignificant reason, for every trifle that sprang up to engage her attention ; for she was ever ready to discontinue her communications at the call of charity, or for the exercise of patience, humility, or support of the neighbor. Under such circumstances we can better appreciate the fidelity with which he performed the task assigned him, and we can forgive his frequent complaints of endless and vexatious interruptions.
他不得不为一些微不足道的原因而被推到一边,只因为每当有琐事引起艾曼丽修女注意时,她总是随时准备好在爱德的召唤下停止她的叙述,或者为了忍耐、谦卑或对近人的支持而中断她的叙述。在这种情况下,我们可以更好地理解朝圣者在完成分配给他的任务时的忠诚度,我们也可以原谅他经常抱怨无休止的令人烦恼的打扰。
We can admire the extraordinary candor and self-forgetfulness which, years after when revising his notes, made him scorn to change or modify any of those expressions which, though indicative of his own impatience, give us nevertheless so true a picture of the invalid and her surroundings.
我们可以钦佩朝圣者非凡的坦率和忘我精神,多年后,当他修改自已的笔记时,他不屑于改变或修改其中的任何表述,尽管日记中的这些陈述表明了他自己的不耐烦,但却为我们提供了一幅病人及其周围环境的真实写照。
“Daily she becomes weaker, sicker,” he writes, “and she sacrifices all that is shown her by God ! It would seem that her visions are for herself, and not for others! She does nothing but groan and vomit ; she experiences naught but sickness and annoyances ! She does not trouble herself about her visions; consequently, she forgets them ! She allows them to be effaced from her mind by unnecessary concerns, by cares still more unnecessary !
朝圣者写道:「艾曼丽修女一天比一天虚弱、一天比一天病得更重,」她奉献了天主向她启示的一切!看起来好像她的异象是为自己,而不是为他人!她除了呻吟和呕吐,她什么也做不了;除了疾病和烦恼,她一无所有!她不为自己的异象而烦恼,因此,她把异象忘记了!她允许异象从她的脑海中抹去,不再担忧、不再关心!
Did she herself derive strength and consolation from them, one might excuse her! They are given her that she may make them known — and yet, she makes no account of them !" Dr. Wesener came in for his share of the Pilgrim's strictures : “He has fought a good fight with many bodily ills, but he is not humble enough to acknowledge that this patient is very different from any he has hitherto met. He is not willing to own the inefficiency in her case of his treatment and scribbling. "
难道她自己也从她的异象上得到了力量和安慰吗?人们也许可以原谅她忘记了这些异象!然而异象赐予她是为了让她广而告之——可是,她却没有考虑到这些!」韦塞纳医生也被朝圣者严历的批评:「韦塞纳医生曾与许多身体疾病作斗争,但他不够谦卑,不承认这位病人与他迄今为止遇到的其他病人截然不同。他不愿意承认(病人的身体症状并没有因为他的治疗而好转),他的治疗是马虎和没有效果的。」
Now it is Father Limberg, Sister Emmerich's confessor, who falls under the lash: — “As the confessor never wants to acknowledge his mistakes, he can have no true charity; and he never will have it, as long as he holds to such ideas. The Pilgrim is convinced that, if the confessor would only introduce some kind of order into Sister Emmerich's life, none of her visions would be lost.
现在轮到林堡神父,艾曼丽修女的告解神父,受到朝圣者的抨击:「由于告解神父不愿意承认自己的错误,所以他不可能有真正的爱德。只要他不承认自已的错误,他就永远不会拥有爱德。朝圣者坚信,如果告解神父能给艾曼丽修女的生活带来某种秩序,她的任何异象就都不会遗漏。
It could be effected without the slightest inconvenience, and how great would be the peace and tranquility it would procure her ! But it is impossible in the way in which she is directed ! If she begins a communication, the writer is at every moment exposed to the mortification of being forced to yield his place by her to an insignificant visitor, some servant-girl, or gossiping old woman ! Serious, important things are counted for nothing ; they must be pushed aside together with the poor writer who sacrifices to them the last precious years of his life. But it is useless and tiresome to speak of it ! ……
林堡神父本可以在没有丝毫不便的情况下维持这样的秩序,而且会给她带来多大的和平与安宁啊!但艾曼丽修女不可能以这种方式被指导!如果她开始一段谈话,作者随时都有可能被迫把自己的位置让位给一个无关紧要的访客、某个女仆或说长道短的老妇人!严肃的、重要的事情一文不值;它们必须和可怜的作者一起被推到一边,而作者为了记录艾曼丽宝贵的启示而奉献了生命中最后宝贵的时光。然而,提出来既没用,又令人厌烦!……
One thing is certain, no true idea will ever be had of the harmony of her interior life ! — She herself lives in ignorance of it. — The Pilgrim has no power over her and the confessor, who holds the key to the great mystery of her life, does not interest himself in it, nor, indeed, is he capable of understanding it ! — And yet in a certain sense, it is well that it is so ; for, if this abyss of separation existed not between the confessor's involuntary power over her and the supernatural sphere of her visions, we should never know how all these wonders are produced in her. Now the little that she does communicate is reflected from the mirror of her own soul ; we cannot reproach her with having altered the coloring."
有一点是肯定的,艾曼丽的内心生活是多么和谐!——然而她自己生活在对这和谐的无知中。——朝圣者对她没有任何权力,而掌握着她生命中传大奥秘的钥匙的告解神父,对艾曼丽的内心生活不感兴趣,事实上,他也无法理解艾曼丽的内心生活!然而,从某种意义上,这是好事;因为,如果不是告解神父对艾曼丽神視异象的超自然领域是如此的陌生,仿佛隔着深渊,那么我们就永远不会知道所有这些奇迹是如何在艾曼丽身上产生的。现在,艾曼丽所传达的那一点点启示都是从她灵魂的镜子里反射出来的;我们不能因为反射出来的颜色改变了而责备她。」
The very reproaches made against Father Limberg by the Pilgrim furnish conclusive proof that no more suitable director could have been found for Sister Emmerich than that simple-minded, humble priest, whose faith and morals raised him high above suspicion ; in whose eyes, not her visions and extraordinary gifts, but the perfection attained by suffering and the practice of virtue, formed the end toward which he aimed in the conduct of his penitent.
朝圣者对林堡神父的指责本身就提供了确凿的证据,证明没有比这位纯朴的、谦逊的神父更适合做艾曼丽修女的神师了,林堡神父的信德和道德使他无可怀疑。在他的眼里,艾曼丽不是通过她的异象和非凡的天赋,而是通过受苦和圣德的实践来达到完美的,这就构成了林堡神父在告解神父的行为中所追求的目标。
Not from want of intelligence, not from indifference, or lack of sympathy ; but from a deep sense of duty, from a just appreciation of the power imparted to him by his sacerdotal character, was he so laconic, so stern in his words, so prudent, so reserved in his communications with Sister Emmerich.
不是因为缺乏智慧,不是因为漠不关心,也不是因为缺乏同情心;而是因为林堡神父强烈的责任感,因为对他的司铎角色赋予他的权力的正确认识,所以他在与艾曼丽修女的交流中才会如此沉默寡言,言辞那么严厉,那么谨慎,那么保守。
He knew well that by such a course he was grounding her in humility and utter forgetfulness of self Never did he free her from her domestic cares, or the annoyances daily experienced from her insupportable sister Gertrude ; never did he close her door to the poor, the sick, the afflicted, that at all hours she might have some occasion of exercising humility, charity, and patience ; and never did he extol her visions, send her to seek supernatural relief, deny the influence of natural causes in her maladies, or prohibit her the assistance of a physician and his remedies.
他很清楚,这样一来,他就使艾曼丽修女养成了谦卑和完全服从的习惯,他从来没有把她从家务上的烦恼中解脱出来,也没有把她从那令她烦恼的妹妹格特鲁德每天所带给她的烦恼中解脱出来。他从来没有对穷人、病人、受苦的人关上艾曼丽修女的门,好让她能在任何时候都有机会锻炼谦卑、慈善和耐心;他从来没有称赞过她的异象,没有让她去寻求超自然的解脱,也没有否认自然因素对她的疾病的影响,或者禁止她接受医生的帮助和治疗。
Far from glorying in his charge of so wonderful a soul, gladly would he have resigned it if such had been the will of God, as he testifies in these words let fall one day before the Pilgrim : “I would I were back in my convent! Were I not obliged to do so, I would never visit Sister Emmerich."
他非但不为自已照管了一个如此美妙的灵魂而感到自豪,反而很乐意辞职,如果这是天主的旨意,正如有一天他在朝圣者面前用这些话作证说:「我真希望回到我的修道院!如果不是出于迫不得已,我永远不会去探访艾曼丽修女。」
In 1813, he had proposed to the Vicar-General to supply his place at the invalid's bedside by another priest ; but he had been reinstated in his office of confessor at the close of the first inquiry. For eight long years he trod, in consequence of his spiritual relations with Sister Emmerich, the bitter road of suffering, an object of calumny to the ignorant public, and of distrust even to his Ecclesiastical Superiors.
1813年,他向副主教提议,由另一位神父在病人床边取代他照顾病人;但在第一次调查结束时,他已经恢复了他的告解神父的职务。八年来,由于他与艾曼丽修女的属灵关系,他踏上了苦涩的痛苦之路,成为无知公众诽谤的对象,甚至连他的教会长上也不信任他。
It was only in August, 1820, that he received marks of confidence in the shape of letters from the Vicar-General; then only was his position defined relatively to the pastor, Dean Rensing. As in the last years of Sister Emmerich's life, her sufferings increased and with them her need of spiritual succor, the Pilgrim could not refrain from rendering the following testimony to Father Limberg's zeal and devotedness : — “Truly, the confessor exercises by the invalid, night and day, a most painful spiritual ministry which, along with his other duties performed in all kinds of wind and weather, he discharges with untiring zeal, patience, and sweetness. He cannot be sufficiently praised. "
直到 1820 年 8 月,他才收到副主教的一封信任的信件。那时,他的牧职才被定义为相对于伦辛院长的牧职。正如在艾曼丽修女生命的最后几年,她的痛苦与日俱增,同时她也越来越需要属灵的救助,朝圣者不禁要为林堡神父的热心和奉献做出以下见证:——「诚然,这位告解神父日以继夜地为病人做着一项最痛苦的属灵工作,他在风吹无阻地履行其他职责的同时,还以不倦的热忱、耐心和亲切来履行艾曼丽告解神师这个职责。因而,无论怎么赞扬他都不为过。」
— The above was penned after a little scene between the good Father and Sister Emmerich's impetuous and exacting friend, when even Fr. Niesing, the chaplain, had been appealed to by her to represent to the latter his unreasonableness. In a subsequent conversation with the Pilgrim, Father Limberg expressed himself in the following words which the former, as usual, faithfully recorded : —
——上面那段话是在好心的神父和艾曼丽修女的那位冲动而苛刻的朋友之间发生了一点冲突之后写的,当时,艾曼丽甚至向尼辛司铎求助,向他陈述朝圣者的无理取闹。在随后与朝圣者的一次谈话中,林堡神父用以下的话表达了自己的看法,而朝圣者像往常一样忠实地记录了下来:——
“I am,” said Father Limberg, " ready at any moment to resign my charge; for, without God's help, I could not endure it. I never question Sister Emmerich on her visions. I attend exclusively to what regards her conscience, concerning which she involuntarily, as it were, communicates the least things. I never speak of her. As her confessor, I dare not, nor do I ever write anything about her.
「我准备好了,」林堡神父说,「随时准备辞去我的职务;因为如果没有天主的帮助,我无法承受这工作。我从不向艾曼丽修女询问她的异象。我只关心与她良心有关的事,她会不由自主地把最微不足道的事情告诉我,我从不与别人谈论她。作为她的告解神师,我不敢,也从未写过关于她的任何东西。
Still, I know all that is necessary for me to know ; and if God wills me to render testimony of her, it will all recur to my memory. I never question her on her affairs, though not through indifference. I often think the Pilgrim imagines I do things covertly, give secret orders, etc. ; but it is not so. I have always found Sister Emmerich, whether waking or in ecstasy, most careful and exact in her words, and she has often reproached me when, in spiritual direction, I have spoken shortly to any one or failed to listen patiently.
尽管如此,我还是必须知道我应该知道的一切;如果天主要我为她作见证,我会记得这一切。我从不过问她的事情,虽然不是出于冷漠。我经常认为朝圣者会想象我在暗中做事,下达秘密命令等;但事实并非如此。我一直发现艾曼丽修女,无论是醒着还是在神魂超拔中,她的话语都是非常谨慎和准确的,她还经常责备我,在属灵指导时,对人训导太简短或没有耐心倾听别人的话。
Once she told me my very thoughts, though she begged God not to give her such knowledge any more." The Pilgrim appended the following remark to the above : “May the Lord keep us all in the way of truth and charity, and lead us not into temptation !"
有一次,她把我的想法都告诉了我,尽管她恳求天主不要再让她知道这些了。」朝圣者在上面附加了以下的评论:「愿主保守我们走在真理和爱德的道路上,不要让我们陷于诱惑!」
Dec. 14, 1821. — “The last three days and nights have been one succession of cramps, hemorrhages, nausea, and swoons, though her visions continue and she gently exclaims : ‘I must suffer! I have taken it upon myself, I will endure it all!’ — It is wonderfully affecting to behold her in such a state. Rapt in contemplation, she calls for her confessor, thinking she has something of the highest importance to say to him. But he troubles not himself about such things, he never truly enters into her visions.
1821 年 12 月 14 日——「在过去的三天三夜,她不断地痉挛、出血、恶心和昏厥,不过她的异象仍在继续,她轻轻地说:『我必须受苦!我自愿承担,我要忍受这一切!』——看到她处于这样的状态,真是令人动容。她沉浸在默观中,呼唤她的告解神师,认为她有最重要的事情要对他说。但告解神师并不关心这些事情,他从未真正进入她的神视。
When in ecstasy, however, she seems ignorant of his indifference. She is attracted toward him by a spiritual force quite unknown to him, although in her waking state, she is usually silent before him upon many little domestic incidents for fear of vexatious results. If she falls into vision in his presence, she involuntarily inclines toward him, though he relishes not her narrations and treats them in his usual summary way. Is she worse than usual, her desire for his presence increases, though she seldom experiences relief, unless, when in great need, he imposes upon her his priestly hand."
然而,在神魂超拔中,她似乎对告解神师的冷漠一无所知。她被一种告解神师完全不知道的属灵的力量吸引住了,虽然在她清醒的状态下,她通常在告解神师面前对许多家庭琐事保持沉默,因为害怕引起令人烦恼的结果。如果她在告解神师面前出现神魂超拔中,她就会不由自主地向他叙述,尽管告解神师并不喜欢她的叙述,而是用他惯用的总结方式来处理。如果她的情况比平时更糟,她对告解神师的渴望就会越来越强烈了,尽管她很少得到安慰,除非在非常需要的时候,告解神师会以司铎之手给她覆手。」
Daily experience taught the Pilgrim how great was the distance between Father Limberg and himself in the invalid's estimation a distance which he sought in vain to diminish. He jealously watched every word, every sign, with the hope of reading some trace of her preference for himself over the confessor, or even that she placed him on an equality with the latter ; but he watched in vain, and all illusion vanished on beholding " the immense power of obedience to his priestly word" or when he heard her exclaim in ecstasy : “I must have my confessor. The Pilgrim cannot help me, he cannot tell me. I must ask my confessor!"
日常的经验告诉朝圣者,在病人的心目中,林堡神父和他自己之间的距离是多么遥远,而他却徒劳地试图缩小这种距离。他嫉妒地注视着病人的每一个字,每一个手势,希望从中能看出艾曼丽偏爱他胜过告解神师的蛛丝马迹,哪怕是艾曼丽把他与告解神师平等对待。但他只是徒劳地注视着,当他看到“服从司铎话语的巨大力量”或当他听到艾曼丽神魂超拔的喊道:「我必须请我的告解神师。朝圣者无法帮助我,他无法告诉我。我必须问我的告解神师!」时,朝圣者所有的幻想都消失了。
Sister Emmerich did, indeed, willingly consult the Pilgrim on all her affairs both within and without the house, her alms to the poor and sick, etc. But her interior was open only to the eye of Father Limberg ; he alone was the representative of God for her who, in waking or in ecstasy, knew but one law of action, viz., faith and obedience. As nothing was further removed from her heart than the desire of being treated by her confessor otherwise than as an ordinary Christian, so, too, was it utterly impossible for her to prefer contemplation to the practice of charity or any other virtue.
事实上,艾曼丽修女的确乐意向朝圣者请教她在小木屋里的所有事务、她对穷人和病人的施舍等等。但她的内心只对林堡神父开放。对她来说,只有林堡神父才是天主的代表,无论是在清醒的时候,还是在神魂超拔中,她只知道一个行动法则,即信德和服从。在她的内心深处,除了希望她的告解神师把她当做一名普通的基督徒来对待,她只有这个愿望,再没有别的想法了。因此,她也完全不可能宁愿默想而不去实践爱德或其他美德。
May 9, 1820. — " Sister Emmerich had a vision last night which she distinctly remembered this morning. But, about eight o'clock, in came the mistress of the house with her baby and prattled until it was almost all forgotten. Since her last serious attack, she has suffered from great weakness of the head, which is aggravated by the noise of the workmen.
1820 年 5 月 9 日——「艾曼丽修女昨晚看到了一个异象,今天早上她还记得清清楚楚。但是,大约 8 点钟的时候,房子女主人带着她的孩子进来了,喋喋不休说个不停,直到艾曼丽修女几乎全部忘记了异象。自从她在最后一次严重的发病以来,她的头脑极度虚弱,而工人们的嘈杂声又加重了这一症状。
The fragments preserved in these pages render sad testimony to the graces, the treasures, the richest and most abundant in fruits of salvation of any known for ages, which are here daily, nightly, hourly sacrificed, and that without the least necessity, to annoyances from which even a child studying his lesson would be shielded. They who might prevent it, though conscious of their value, have let these graces go to waste for years, as if sporting with them, burying them. It breaks the writer's heart, but it is so ! Posterity will mourn over a mission so badly seconded."
保存在这几页中的片段悲哀地见证了恩宠、宝藏,和历代极丰富的救恩果实,是千百年来最丰富的救赎果实,在这里每天、每夜、每小时都被牺牲掉,而且是在没有丝毫必要的情况下被牺牲掉,甚至连一个正在学习功课的孩子都会避免受到干扰,而艾曼丽却没有这种保护。那些可能阻止这牺牲的人,虽然意识到其价值,但多年来却让这些丰富的救恩果实白白浪费了。他们仿佛在玩弄它们,埋葬它们。这让作者心碎,但事实就是如此!后代子孙将为这样一个神圣的使命被糟蹋而哀悼的。」
Easter-Sunday, 1821. — " This is the first Easter morn that has brought no real joy to Sister Emmerich ; she was never before so sad on this feast. — ' I received last night,’ she said, 'no hope of relief. After the vision of the Resurrection, I had another of the Way of the Cross, in which Jesus laid a great white cross upon me, saying : Take it up again and carry it on further ! — It was heavy enough to crush me, and I asked : “Am I, then, to have no help?” and He answered me briefly : “Take it ! it is enough that I help thee!" — Still I thought, “It is well that there is only one of them !" and it seemed that I would have to carry it — I am very sad!’— And the Pilgrim, too, is very sad! He is weary of this vexatious life, so full of irritating and absurd events ! He is almost in despair !"
1821年复活节主日。——「这是第一个没有给艾曼丽修女带来真正快乐的复活节早晨;她以前从未在这个瞻礼上如此悲伤过。——『我昨晚收到了,』她说,『没有任何解脱的希望。在复活节的异象之后,我又经历了另一次十字苦路,其中耶稣把一个巨大的白色十字架放在我身上,说:重新拿起它,继续前进!——那十字架太重了,压得我喘不过气来,于是我问道:『那么,我就没有帮手了吗?』祂简短地回答我说:『拿去吧!我帮你就够了!』——我还在想,『幸好只有一个十字架!』看来我必须背着它——我很难过!——而朝圣者也很伤心!他厌倦了这种令人烦恼的生活,充满了令人恼火和荒谬的事件!他几乎绝望了!』
"This morning, the Pilgrim found Sister Emmerich with tear-stained cheeks, the effects of the announcement of a spiritual trial for the interval between the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua and the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, She dreads future trials, though actually present ones she entirely disregards. The Pilgrim is nobody ; he must yield to every old woman, to every trifle ! Nothing seems to cost her so much as her communications to him ! — She complains of importunate visits; and yet, she treats her visitors with marked affability !"
「今天早上,朝圣者发现艾曼丽修女脸颊上满是泪痕,在帕多瓦的圣安东尼和圣母访亲两个瞻礼之间的这段时间里,艾曼丽要接受一次属灵考验,她害怕未来的考验,尽管她完全不理会现在的考验。朝圣者是无足轻重;因他必须让位于每一位来访的老妇人,每一件打扰艾曼丽的琐事!——艾曼丽抱怨不断有人探视,她没有时间对朝圣者叙述自已在神视中的所见,这让她感到难过,然而,她对待来访者却十分和蔼可亲!」
From the foregoing extracts, the reader may readily perceive what a sea of bitterness surrounded the weary, suffering couch of Sister Emmerich's last years. The author of the present biography hesitates not to mention these facts, as they contain a faithful testimony to the ways by which it pleased Divine Providence to raise His servant to so high a degree of perfection.
从前面的摘录中,读者不难看出,在艾曼丽修女最后的岁月里,在她疲倦不堪、饱受煎熬的病床周围是一片怎样的苦海。本传记的作者毫不犹豫地提及这些事实,因为传记忠实地证明了天主上智如何将祂的仆人提升到如此完美的境界。
The habitual presence of the Pilgrim and the occasional sojourn of his brother, Christian Brentano, formed the school in which, in the midst of cruel sufferings, Sister Emmerich practised those eminent virtues that distinguished her: charity, forbearance, resignation. Christian Brentano looked upon her as a phenomenon in which he hoped to discover a confirmation of his pet theory, mesmerism ; whilst to Clement she was a pure mirror whose lustre should be tarnished by no exterior influence, upon which he alone was to gaze.
朝圣者的经常出现和他兄弟克里斯蒂安·布伦塔诺的偶尔逗留,形成了艾曼丽修女的学校,在这所学校里,艾曼丽修女在残酷的苦难中践行着她那卓越的美德:仁爱、宽容、顺从。克里斯蒂安·布伦塔诺将艾曼丽修女视为一种现象,他希望通过这种现象来证实他所钟爱的学说——催眠术;而对朝圣者来说,艾曼丽修女是一面纯净的镜子,她的光泽不会因任何外在的影响而被玷污,也只有朝圣者自己才能凝视这面镜子。
However different the light in which the two brothers regarded her, yet both agreed in this, that she should be withdrawn from every special contact with the outer world arid become inaccessible to all but themselves. It was the working out of this scheme, though with the very best intentions on the part of its authors, that was to put the finishing stroke to Sister Emmerich's sanctification.
尽管兄弟俩对她的看法不同,但他们都一致认为,她应该断绝与外面世界的一切特殊接触,除了他们兄弟俩以外,谁也不能接近她。尽管这个计划的制定者的初衷是非常好的,但正是这个计划的实施,为艾曼丽修女的成圣画上了最后的一笔。