第二章
Anne Catherine's Baptism and Infancy.
安纳·加大利纳的洗礼和婴儿时期。
Bernard Emmerich's little girl could like St. Hildegarde say : "From the dawn of existence when God awoke me in my mother's womb, breathing into me the breath of life, He infused into my soul the gift of contemplation. Before my frame with its nerves and fibres was knit together, my soul enjoyed uninterrupted visions "
伯纳德·艾曼丽的小女儿可以像圣女希德加德说的那样:「从我出生的那一刻起,天主就在我母亲的子宫里唤醒了我,向我注入生命的气息,并将默观的恩宠注入我的灵魂。在我的神经及纤维还没有连接在一起之前,我的灵魂就享有连綿不绝的神视异象。」
— for she, too, had been endowed with gifts so sublime that from her very infancy she had the use of her intellectual faculties.
因为安纳·艾曼丽也被赋予了如此崇高的恩宠,从她的婴儿时期开始,她就运用了她的心智才能。
A few hours after her birth she was taken to Coesfeld to receive holy Baptism in the Church of St. James, and the various impressions made upon her by the persons and objects met on the way never faded from her mind.
她出生后几个小时,就被带到科斯菲尔德的圣雅各伯教堂领受施洗,一路上遇到的人和事,都给她留下的各种印象,不曾从她的脑海中消失。
Besides the gift of sanctifying grace and the theological virtues, the light of prophecy was so abundantly infused into her soul by Baptism as to find a precedent in the Church's calendar only in a very small number of privileged souls.
除了圣化圣宠和超性信、望、爱三德之外,先知之光是如此丰沛地借着施洗注入了她的灵魂,在教会先例中能够享受这种特恩的人,已是凤毛麟角,寥寥无几!
(注:圣化圣宠:sanctifying grace,宠爱,又称:habitual grace:常存圣宠:是恒常的向善倾向,使人依照天主的召唤而生活和行动;是天主赐给没有大罪的善人之超性生命,得以分享天主的生命,成为天主的义子义女,蒙天主锺爱。)
Toward the close of her life she alluded to it in the following words :
在她生命的最后时刻,她用下面的几句话,略微提到这一点:
— "I was born on the 8th of September and to-day (Sept. 8, 1821) being the anniversary of my birth, I had a vision of the same, as also of my Baptism.
「我是九月八日出生的,今天(1821年9月8日)是我的生日,我有我领洗当时的神视异象。
It produced upon me a most singular sensation.
这使我产生了一种非常奇特的感觉。
I felt myself a new-born babe in the arms of my god-mother going to Coesfeld to be baptized, and I was covered with confusion at beholding myself so small, so weak, and at the same time so old !
我觉得自己是一个新生的婴儿,躺在我的代母怀中,要去科斯菲尔德领洗。我看到自己这么小,这么弱,同时又这么老,心里充满了困惑!
All the impressions I had experienced as an infant I now again felt, yet mingled with something of the intelligence of my present age. I felt shy and embarrassed.
当我还是个婴儿的时候,我所经历的一切印象,现在我又感觉到了,但同时也掺杂着我现在这个年龄的智力。我感到害羞和尴尬。
The three old women present, so also the nurse, were displeasing to me.
在场的三个老妇人,还有那个保姆,都使我不高兴。
My mother inspired very different sentiments, and I willingly took her breast.
母亲引起我截然不同的情绪,我欣然投入了她的怀抱。
I was fully conscious of all that passed around me. I saw the old farm-house in which we dwelt with all its appurtenances, and some years later I could recognize the changes that had been made in it.
我完全意识到周围发生的一切。我看到了我们居住的那个古老的农舍,及里面各样的附属物,几年后,我能辨认出其中的改变。
I saw how the various ceremonies of Baptism -enriched my soul with the graces which they symbolized, and my eyes and heart were miraculously enlightened and touched.
我看到圣洗圣事中的每一步礼仪,如何用它们所象征的圣宠充实了我的灵魂,我的眼睛和心灵奇迹般地受到启发和感动。
The Mother of God was present with the little Infant Jesus, to whom I was espoused with a ring. I saw also my angel guardian, and my holy patronesses Sts. Anne and Catherine.
天主之母临在现场抱着圣婴耶稣,我被戴上了戒指许配给祂。我也看见我的护守天使,和我圣洁的主保圣亚纳和圣加大利纳。
"All that is holy, all that is blessed, all that appertains to the Church, was as perfectly intelligible to me then as now, and I saw marvellous things of the Church's essence.
所有神圣的、受祝福的、属于教会的一切,当时的我和现在的我一样明白,我看到了教会本质的神奇之处。
I felt the presence of God in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I saw the relics shining with light, and I recognized the saints who hovered above them.
我在至圣圣体圣事中感受到了天主的临在。我看见那些圣髑闪闪发光,我认出了那些在圣髑上面盘旋的圣人。
I saw all my ancestors back to the first one that had received Baptism ; and, in a series of symbolic pictures, I beheld the dangers that menaced me through life.
我看到我所有的祖先,从第一个领受圣洗的开始。在一系列象征性的画面中,我看到了威胁我一生的危险。
The whole time I had most singular impressions of my god-parents, my relatives present, and above all of those three old women who were always a little repulsive to me.
在整个过程中,我对我的代父母、在场的亲戚,尤其是那三个老妇人最为奇特,这三个老妇人总是使我感到有些厌恶。
I saw how my ancestors had branched off into different countries. The first one baptized lived in the seventh or eighth century.
我看到我的祖先是如何分布到不同的国家。第一个领洗的人生活在七、八世纪。
He built a church. Several others became religious, and there were two who received the stigmata, but lived and died unknown to the world.
他建了一座教堂。还有一些其他人成为了修会会士,其中有两个人身上有与耶稣受难时相似的五伤,但他们的生死却不为世人所知。
Among them was a certain hermit, who had once held a high position and had had several sons. He retired into solitude and lived the life of a saint.
其中有一位隐修士,曾经身居高位,有几个儿子。他退隐幽居,过着圣人般的生活。
On our way home through the cemetery, I had a lively perception of the state of the souls whose bodies lay there, and I was filled with veneration for some which shone with great brilliancy."
在我们穿过墓地回家的路上,我对那些躺在那里的灵魂的状态,有了一个生动的见解,我对其中一些闪耀着巨大光辉的灵魂,充满了恭敬之情。」
As other children experience heat and cold, pain, hunger, and thirst, so did this blessed little child perceive the relations and influences of the superior order into which holy Baptism had admitted her ; that is, the Church, the Communion of Saints, the mystical Body of Jesus. All was realized by her in the most perfect manner and, leaning from the nurse's arras, she dipped her tiny hands into the holy-water font to appropriate to herself its beneficial effects.
就像其他的孩子经历冷热、痛苦、饥渴一样,这个受祝福的小女孩,也这样认识到了神圣的圣洗圣事使她得以进入超自然界的关系和影响:那就是通过圣教会、诸圣的相通、耶稣的奥体,她以最完美的方式体认了这一切。她从保姆的花毯里探出身子,伸出一只小手,把手伸进圣水盘里,使圣水对自己产生有益的效果。
Her dignity as child of the Church was as palpable to her as the existence of her own members and, before she could articulate, she understood the signification of feasts and of the pious customs and practices that regulated the life of her good parents, all which she observed as far as the weakness of infancy would permit.
作为教会儿女的尊严,她就像对自己身体上的肢体的存在一样,那是显而易见。在她能清楚用口齿表达之前,就已经能够清楚理解,那些教会庆节和虔诚风俗习惯指引规范她的好父母生活的意义,在稚嫩的心灵允许的范围内,她观察到了这一切。
Her understanding was developed, her mysterious life regulated by her angel, who taught her to serve the triune God by the practice of the infused virtues, faith, hope, and charity.
她的理解力日益增强,她的护守天使管理她的神秘生活并教导她通过实践注入的美德——信、望、爱三德,来侍奉三位一体的天主。
The first movements of her soul were directed toward its Creator, who took entire possession of her heart before any created good could claim it.
她的灵魂最初的活动是指向她的造物主,在任何受造物能够占有她的灵魂之前,造物主就已经完全占有了她的心。
In the splendor of baptismal innocence she belonged to that Spouse who had chosen her heart to be conformed to His own in purity, charity, and suffering.
在受洗的纯真光辉中,她属于那位选择了她、并让她在纯洁、爱德和受苦上与祂的心相一致的净配。
The Holy Spirit animated all the powers of her soul and directed its rapturous elevations on high. In her second year when able to pronounce a few words, she began the practice of vocal prayer with all the fervor of one long used to the exercise.
圣神激发了她灵魂的所有力量,引导着她的灵魂达到崇高境界。在她能说出几个单词的第二年,她就开始了出声的口祷,她充满虔诚热情,就像一个早已习惯于这种操练的人。
Her pious father eagerly awaited the moment in which his little girl would utter her first words and, thanks to his watchfulness, they were those of the petitions of the Lord's prayer. Even in the last years of her life she gratefully recalled this fact.
她那虔诚的父亲急切地等待着他的小女儿开口说话,多亏了父亲的留心,她说的话正是《天主经》祈祷里的内容。甚至在她生命的最后几年,她也感激地回忆起这件事。
"My father,"she said, " took great pains with me teaching me how to say my prayers and make the sign of the Cross.
「我的父亲,」艾曼丽修女说:「费了好大的劲教我怎样祈祷,怎样画十字圣号。
He used to put me on his knee, close ray hand, and teach me first the small sign of the Cross, then opening it he would guide me in making the large sign. When I was too young to say more than half the Our Father, I used to repeat the little I knew over and over, until I thought I had said the equivalent of the whole prayer."
他常常把我放在他的膝盖上,紧紧握住我的手,教我先画一个小的十字圣号,然后再引导我画一个大的十字圣号。当我还小,说不到《天主经》一半的祷文时,我经常重复我知道的一句,一遍又一遍,直到我认为我说了整遍祈祷文。」
To this interior light belongs the angelic virtue, holy purity, which was bestowed upon little Anne Catherine at Baptism and whose effects were shown forth even at her mother's breast.
小安纳•加大利纳在受洗时就被赋予了天使般的美德和圣洁,这种内在的光辉甚至在她母亲的怀中就已表现出来了。
Never was she heard to cry, never was she seen in a fretful humor, but like Maria Bagnesi of Florence, or Colomba di Rieti, she was ever gentle and amiable.
从来没有人听见她大哭大闹过,也从来没有人看见她发过脾气,而是像弗洛伦萨的玛利亚•巴涅西,或者科伦巴·迪里埃蒂,一样温柔可亲。
St. Catherine of Sienna's friends used to vie with one another for the possession of her when an infant, for the sight of her charmed all hearts ; and Maria Bagnesi was so attractive a child that, when she was taken to see her sisters in the convent, the religious could not bear to let her leave. It was the same with the poor little peasant-girl of Flamske ; she was the joy of all around her.
锡耶纳的圣女加大利纳的朋友们在她还是婴儿的时候就争着要抱她,玛利亚•巴涅西是个迷人的孩子,以至于当她被带到修道院看望她的姐妹们时,修女们都舍不得让她离开。弗拉姆斯克的那个可怜的小农女也是如此;她是周围人的快乐。
Her parents found their delight and consolation in their affectionate little girl, who soon became the darling of the simple-hearted peasants among whom her lot was cast.
艾曼丽的父母从他们那可爱的小女孩身上,找到了快乐和安慰,她很快就成了那些心地善良的农民的宠儿。
The lustre of purity which beamed in her whole person lent an irresistible charm to every glance, to every motion, to every word of the timid child.
她幼小的身上散发出纯洁的光彩,这个羞怯孩子的每一个眼神、每一个动作、每一句话都具有一种不可抗拒的魅力。
As she advanced in age it clothed her with a sacred character which, unknown to herself, exercised a sanctifying influence upon all that came in contact with her.
随着年龄的增长,她被赋予了一种神圣的品格,这种品格在她自己不自觉的情况下,对所有与她接触的人都产生了神圣的影响。
When later she entered upon the most painful portion of her task of expiatory suffering, this purity of soul shone exteriorly in proportion as her pains increased; and the nearer she drew to the end of her mission, the more sensible became the mysterious power that emanated from her.
后来,当她开始进入她的补赎工作中最痛苦的部分时,她那纯洁的灵魂随着她痛苦的增加,在外表上更加闪耀着光芒;她越接近使命的终点,从她身上散发出来的神秘力量,就越发显而易见。
When her stigmata were subjected to investigation, the ecclesiastics and physicians engaged in it rendered this same testimony ; and the strongest impression received by Count Frederic Leopold von Stolberg on his first visit to her, was that of her angelic innocence.
当她的五伤印记受到调查时,参与其中的圣职人士和医生,也提供了同样的证词;弗雷德里克•利奥波德•冯•斯托尔贝格伯爵第一次拜访她时,留下最深刻的印象,就是她天使般的纯真。
One result of this purity was that Anne Catherine preserved till death the naive simplicity of an humble, innocent child knowing nothing of herself or of the world, because her life was wholly absorbed in God.
这种纯真的结果之一是,安纳•加大利纳至死都保持着谦卑的、纯真的孩子的天真淳朴,她对自已和世界一无所知,因为她的生命完全沉浸在天主之中。
This simplicity was so pleasing to Him that it is shown us as the end of the wonderful operations of grace wrought in her soul.
这种纯真深得主心,使我们看到了恩宠在她灵魂内的奇妙运作。
Her Divine Spouse ever treated her as a child and, in His wisdom, so ordered it that in the full light of supernatural knowledge flooding her soul she was always the docile pupil.
她神圣的净配始终待她如小孩,并以自已的智慧如此安排,以至于在超性知识的光照下,她的灵魂总是温顺如小学生。
With the heroism that sighed continually after fresh struggles, she evinced the most attractive timidity ; in a word, her grand and arduous mission in life found her —in its accomplishment as at its commencement — a shrinking, artless child. With eyes still suffused in tears she would in an instant regain the joyousness of that age which knows not sorrow because it knows not sin, as soon as a ray of consolation mitigated the torments which like furious waves were unchained against her.
在不断叹息又不断地再接再厉奋斗之后,她表现出英雄气概,同时也表现出最动人的羞怯;总言之,她生命中伟大而艰巨的使命找到了她,一个羞怯、天真的孩子,完成之时正如同开始之时一样。她的眼睛里还噙着泪水,只要有一丝慰藉减轻了像怒涛一样向她袭来的痛苦,她就会立刻恢复那个因不知罪孽而不知忧愁的童年时的快乐。
These sunbeams were often pictures of her own infancy presented to her soul by the God of all goodness. Then she became once more a little child, a little peasant-girl in her father's house, light hearted and loving. She drew from the sight fresh energy and fortitude to push on in the way of the Cross, at every step more steep and rugged.
这些阳光往往是她自己幼年时代,仁慈的天主呈现给她灵魂的画面。于是她又变成了一个小孩子,一个住在她父亲家里的乡下小姑娘,满心光明和爱。她从这画面中汲取了新的力量和毅力,在十字架的道路上继续前进,路越走越陡峭,越走越崎岖。
Although the gift of purity had been bestowed upon Anne Catherine in Baptism, yet she had to purchase its possession by mortification and penance ; and, as its preservation and increase demanded an unrelenting struggle against self, the practice of patient suffering was the exercise she was destined to undertake even in the first year of her life.
虽然在圣洗中,纯洁的恩宠已经赐予了她,但她却不得不通过刻苦和补赎,来赢得这份恩宠;而且,因为这恩宠需要在与自我不懈的奋斗中保持和增长,所以即使在她生命的初期,也必须要进行忍受痛苦的练习。
" I remember," she said, " a heavy fall that I got in my first year. My mother had gone to Coesfeld to Church; but feeling that something had happened to me, she returned in great haste and anxiety. One of my limbs had to be stretched and bandaged so tightly that it became quite shrunken. I was unable to walk for a long time. It was not till my third year that I was cured."
「我记得,」艾曼丽修女说,「我一岁时摔得很重。我母亲去了科斯菲尔德天主堂;但她感觉我出了什么事,就急急忙忙地赶回来了。我的一条腿被绷得紧紧的,裹得严严实实,萎缩得不成样子。我有很长一段时间不能走路,直到我三岁才痊愈。」
The remembrance of this accident, as well as some of the consequences of it, Anne Catherine preserved all her life, which proves how perfect must have been her mental development at the time it happened. Guided as she was by her angel-guardian, we may presume that it was with her as with Maria Bagnesi whom she closely resembled in many particulars.
对这次意外以及它的一些后果的记忆,安纳•加大利纳在一生中珍藏,这证明了她在事故发生时的心智发展是多么完善。我们可以假定,在她的护守天使的指引下,她和玛丽亚•巴涅西在许多细节上都很相似。
Maria, too, whilst yet a tender infant, began her task of suffering by enduring the cravings of hunger. Entrusted to an unprincipled nurse, who gave her neither milk nor other nourishment, the poor child was often seen picking up with her tiny fingers the scanty crumbs that fell to the floor. She then laid the foundation for that life of wonderful mortification and suffering which rendered her, like our own little child, a source of benediction for innumerable souls.
当玛利亚•巴涅西还是个稚嫩的婴儿时,就开始忍受饥饿的折磨;这个可怜的孩子被托付给一个不道德的保姆,她既不给她牛奶,也不给她其他的食物,人们常常看到她用她的小指头,去捡掉在地上散落的面包屑。于是就为她奠定了一种奇妙的补赎和受苦生活的基础,这就使得她犹如我们自己的孩子一样,成为无数灵魂的祝福之源。
As soon as she was able to refuse a gratification, impose a penance, or gain a'victory over self, Anne Catherine began so to exercise herself as far as her age permitted, following in this the never-failing direction of her angel with astonishing prudence and constancy. She had hung up in a corner a picture of the Blessed Virgin and the Infant Jesus, and put before it a block of wood for an altar.
安纳·加大利纳一旦能够拒绝满足欲望、进行补赎或战胜自我,就开始在她的年龄允许的范围内锻炼自己,并以惊人的谨慎和恒心,遵循她的护守天使从不间断的指引。她在一个角落里挂上了一幅圣母和圣婴耶稣的圣像,并在圣像前放了一块木头做祭坛。
On this she laid the trifles given her from time to time, those little nothings that make children so happy. She firmly believed that these small sacrifices were highly pleasing to the Holy Infant, and she joyfully renounced in His favor every gift she received.
她时不时把她的那些小玩意儿,那些使孩子们非常高兴的小东西,放在上面。她坚信献上这些小的牺牲是非常讨圣婴喜欢的,于是欢欢喜喜地放弃了她所收到的一切礼物。
She did it so simply and quietly that seeing nothing to remark in these apparently childlike actions, no one ever interfered in her little arrangements.
她做得那样简单,那样安静,显然这孩子气的行为中,没有什么可批评的,也没有人来干涉她的小小陈设。
As her offerings frequently disappeared, she had the happy assurance that the Infant Jesus had, indeed, taken them for Himself.
当她献的祭品经常地消失的时候,她很高兴确信,婴儿耶稣自己真的已经把它们拿走了。
The more her sacrifice had cost her, the greater was her joy on such occasions ; for with all her wonderful gifts of grace, she was still a child capable, like others of her age, of being tempted with fruit, cakes, etc.
她的祭献越多她付出的代价也越多,她在这事上就越喜悦;尽管她有那么多奇异的恩宠,但她仍然是个孩子,像她同年龄的孩子一样,会受到水果、蛋糕等诱惑。
Flowers, pictures, ribands, wreaths, rings, toys, and such things of value in the eyes of a child, all had to be immolated to the holy rapture of her heart.
鲜花、图画、丝带、花环、戒指、玩具,以及诸如此类,在孩子眼中有价值的东西,都必须献给她心中神圣着迷的对象。
By such practices of mortification her purity of soul so increased that, in her third year, she offered to God this fervent prayer : "Ah! dear Lord, let me die now, for when children grow up, they offend Thee by great sins ! "
通过这种补赎的锻炼,她的灵魂变得更加纯洁,在她三岁的时候,她向天主献上了虔诚的祈祷:「啊!亲爱的上主啊,让我现在就死去吧,因为孩子们长大以后,他们会犯大罪来得罪你!」
And did she step out of her father's cottage, she earnestly exclaimed :
当她走出她父亲的小屋时,她恳切地大声说道:
" Rather let me fall dead on this threshold than live to offend my God ! "
When she grew older and began to associate with children of her own age, she gave them, for the love of God, all that of which she could dispose ; and, if she showed a preference, it was for the poorest.
当她长大了,开始和同龄的孩子交往时,出于对天主的爱,她把自已能给出的东西都给了同伴;如果她表现出偏爱,那也是为了帮助最贫穷的人。
A child herself of needy parents, she was bountiful in her gifts. She had not completed her fourth year when she was accustomed to deny herself at her meals, taking the worst of everything and eating so sparingly that her family wondered how she lived.
她父母都很贫困,自己还是一个孩子,但她却乐善好施。她还没满四岁,就习惯了在吃饭时克制自己,什么都吃最差的,吃得很少,以至于她的家人都怀疑她是怎么活下来的。
" I give this to Thee, God,"she said in her heart, "that Thou mayst divide it among those poor souls that have the most need of it."
「我把这个给祢,天主,」她在心里说,「祢可以把它分给那些最需要它的可怜人。」
The poor, the suffering, had so strong a hold on her affections that her first sorrows in life sprang from her great compassion for them.
穷人和受苦受难的人牢牢地抓住了她的情感,她生命中最初的痛苦,来自于她对他们的极大同情。
If she heard of any misfortune, she was so overcome that she sank down like one about to faint. Her parents' anxious questions as to the cause of her strange emotion recalled her to herself; but the desire to relieve her neighbor became so ardent that she offered herself to God, earnestly begging Him to lay upon her the miseries of others.
如果她听到任何不幸的消息,她就会像一个快要晕倒的人一样瘫倒在地。她父母急切地问她为什么会有这种奇怪的情绪,这使她回过神来;但是她想要解救近人的愿望变得如此强烈,以至于她把自己献给了天主,恳切地祈求天主把别人的不幸加在她身上。
If a beggar passed, she ran after him, calling out: "Wait, wait, I will run home and get you a piece of bread." And her good mother never refused her an alms for the poor. She even gave away her own clothing. Once she pleaded so earnestly that she obtained permission to bestow her only remaining undergarment on a poor child.
如果有乞丐经过,她就追赶他,一边喊道:「等等,等等,我回家给你拿块面包。」她的好母亲从不拒绝她对穷人的施舍。 她甚至给出自己的衣服。有一次,她恳切请求获准将自己仅存的内衣送给一个可怜的孩子。
She could not see a child crying or sick without begging to suffer in its stead, and her petition was always heard ; she endured the pain, and beheld the little sufferer relieved.
每当她看到一个孩子哭泣或生病,她就会祈求让她代之受苦,她的祈求总是被垂听;她忍受着痛苦,直到看见那个受苦的孩子得到解脱。
Her prayer on such occasions ran thus: "If a poor beggar asks not, he receives not. And Thou, O my good God, Thou dost not help him who prays not and yet is unwilling to suffer ! See, I cry to Thee for those that do it not for themselves ! "
在这种情况下,她会这样祈祷:「可怜的乞丐不求,就得不到。我仁慈的主啊,你不会帮助那些不祈求却又不愿受苦的人!你看,我为那些不会为自己祈祷的人向祢呼求!」
If she knew of a child that committed faults, she prayed for it ; and to insure being heard, she imposed some punishment on herself. Years after, when asked to say how it was that at so tender an age she had thought of such things, she answered :
如果她知道哪个孩子犯了错,她就会为他祈祷;为了确保被垂听,她会对自己施加了一些惩罚。多年以后,当有人问她为什么在这么小的年纪就想到这些事情时,她回答说:
"I cannot say who taught me. Pity prompted it. I have always felt that we are but one single body in Jesus Christ, and my neighbor's pain is as sensible to me as if it were in one of my own fingers.
「我说不出是谁教我的。怜悯促使我这样做。我一直觉得我们在耶稣基督里是一体的,我的邻人的痛苦对我来说,就像在我自己的手指上一样被敏锐感知。
I have always asked for the sufferings of others. I knew that God never sends affliction without a design ; there must be some debt to be paid off by it. And if these afflictions weigh so heavily upon us at times, it is because, as I reasoned with myself, no one is willing to help the poor sufferer to pay off his debt. Then I begged to be allowed to do so. I used to ask the Infant Jesus to help me, and I soon got what I wanted."
我总是求为别人受苦。我知道天主从来不会无缘无故地降祸给人;一定有一些债需要偿还。如果这些痛苦时常如此沉重地压在人们身上,那是因为,正如我自己所推断的那样,没有人愿意帮助这个可怜的受苦的人还债。然后我请求允许我这样做。我总是祈求圣婴耶稣帮助我,很快我就得到了应允。」
"I remember," she said on another occasion, " my mother had erysipelas in her face. She was lying in bed, her face all swollen. "
「我记得,」另一次她说,「我母亲的脸上长了红斑。她躺在床上,脸都肿了。
I was alone with her and greatly distressed at seeing her in such a state. I threw myself on my knees in a corner and prayed with all my heart. Then I bound a piece of linen round her head and prayed again.
我和她单独在一起,看到她这样子我很难过。我跪在角落里,全心全意地祈祷。然后我用一块亚麻布裹住她的头,再次祈祷。
Soon I felt an intense toothache and my face began to swell. When my father and brothers came home, they found my mother entirely relieved, and I also soon got well."
不久,我感到牙痛得厉害,脸开始肿起来。当我的父亲和兄弟们回家时,他们发现我的母亲完全痊愈了,我也很快就好了。」
"Some years later I again endured intolerable pains. My parents were both very ill. I knelt down by their bed near the loom and invoked Almighty God ; then I saw my hands joined over them and still praying, I was impelled to lay them upon them that they might be cured."
「几年后,我再次忍受了难以忍受的痛苦。我的父母都病得很重,我在他们床边的织布机旁跪下,祈求全能的天主,然后我看到我的双手合十还在祈祷,我被迫将我的手放在他们身上,为使他们得治愈。」
If she heard sin mentioned or saw it committed, she burst into tears. When questioned by her parents, she could give no satisfactory reason for her grief; consequently, she was often rebuked for her unaccountable behaviour.
如果她听到或看到有人犯罪,她就会泪流满面。当父母询问她时,她无法为自己的悲伤给出令人满意的理由;因此,她经常因为自己莫名其妙的行为而受到责备。
This did not, however, cool the ardor of her loving heart ; she still continued to pray and do penance for her dear neighbor.
然而,这并没有冷却她的爱心,她仍然继续为她亲爱的邻人祈祷和做补赎。
One day, in her fourth year, she stood by the crib of a sick child, its mother by her side. The father, in a fit of drunken rage, hurled at his wife an axe which would have cleft the child's skull, had not Anne Catherine skilfully intercepted the blow, the axe grazing her own head as it shot by the crib. The child was saved, and the terrible consequences of the furious act prevented.
在她四岁时的一天,她站在一个生病婴儿的床旁,孩子的母亲就在她身边。父亲在一阵酒醉的狂怒中,向他的妻子扔去一把斧头,要不是安纳·加大利纳巧妙地拦截了这一击,那斧头就会劈裂孩子的脑袋。斧头从婴儿床边飞过时,擦伤了安纳自己的头。孩子得救了,这种暴怒行为的可怕后果也避免了。
On another occasion, Anne Catherine saw some children violating modesty in their sports. She was stung to the quick, and threw herself among the nettles, begging God to accept that act in expiation.
在另一个场合,安纳•加大利纳看到一些孩子在运动中不守规矩。她被深深地刺痛了,扑倒在荆棘丛中,祈求天主接纳她的行为做补赎。
She deeply compassionated the Jews.
" When I was a little girl," she said, my father often took me with him to Coesfeld to make his purchases at the store of a Jew.
「当我还是个小女孩的时候,」她说,「我爸爸经常带我去科斯菲尔德的一家犹太人商店买东西。
The poor man always filled me with compassion. The thought of this hardened race, so obstinate in rejecting salvation, often brought the tears to my eyes. Ah ! how much they are to be pitied ! They have no idea of the holy Jews of olden times such as I see.
这个可怜的人总是使我充满同情。一想到这个刚硬的民族,如此顽固地拒绝救恩,我的眼睛里就经常涌出泪水。啊!他们是多么可怜啊!在我看来,他们对古代的犹太圣民一无所知。
The Jews of the present day are the descendants of the Pharisees. Their misery and blindness have always grieved me ; yet, I have often noticed that one can speak very well to them of God. Poor, poor Jews !
今天的犹太人是法利赛人的后裔。他们的不幸和盲目,总是使我悲伤;然而,我经常注意到,人们是可以很好地向他们讲述天主的。可怜,真可怜的犹太人!
They once had among them the living germ of salvation, but they did not recognize the fruit ; they rejected it, and now they do not even seek it."
他们中间曾有救恩的生命种子,只是他们认不出果子来;他们弃绝它,现在也不再寻求它。」
But the most astonishing of all Anne Catherine's mortifications was the practice of nocturnal prayer, begun in childhood and never after omitted.
但在安纳•加大利纳所有的补赎中最令人惊讶的是她夜间祈祷的操练,从童年开始,从未间断过。
She commenced from her fourth year to curtail her hours of sleep in order to devote them to prayer. When the family was buried in slumber, she arose from her little bed and prayed with her angel two or three consecutive hours, sometimes even till morning.
她从四岁起就开始减少睡眠时间,将时间献给祈祷。当全家人都进入梦乡时,她从她的小床上起来,和她的护守天使一起祈祷两三个小时,有时甚至直到早晨。
She loved to pray in the open air. When the weather permitted, she used to slip out to a little hill in front of the house. There she felt nearer to God, and there she knelt in prayer, her arms extended, her eyes turned toward the church at Coesfeld.
她喜欢在露天祈祷。天气许可时,她常常溜到屋前的小山上。在那里,她觉得自己离天主更近了,她跪在那里祈祷,伸开双臂,眼睛望着科斯菲尔德的天主圣堂。
We cannot suppose the child would have undertaken such a practice save through an inspiration of her angel guardian and in accordance with the designs of Almighty God who, desiring to be glorified by the prayer of so pure a creature, imparted to her the strength necessary.
我们无法想象一个四岁的孩子会做出这样的举动,除非是她的守护天使给了她启示,而且全能的天主也希望通过如此纯洁的灵魂的祈祷来荣耀祂,因此赐予了她必要的力量。
We must not, however, imagine that by reason of the special helps of grace bestowed upon her the practice was easy and, as it were, self-sustaining. Not at all ! It was quite the contrary.
不过,我们千万不要以为,由于上天赐予她的特殊恩宠,她的修行就会很容易,就是很自然的。一点也不!恰恰相反。
It is a peculiar characteristic of such souls that they are forced to acquire little by little the perfection to which they are called, by a faithful co-operation with grace and a perpetual struggle against the weakness of nature.
那是这些灵魂的一个独特的特征,他们必须通过与圣宠的忠诚合作和与本性的弱点的长期斗争,而一点一点地获得他们被要求达到的完美境界。
By virtue of this law, Almighty God permitted the latter daily to assert its rights over Anne Catherine ; her delicate frame imperiously exacted the repose indispensable to growth and strength.
根据这一法则,全能的天主允许人性的软弱每天对安纳•加大利纳行使权利;她纤弱的身躯迫切要求休息,这对她的成长和强壮是必不可少的。
But the heroic little girl promptly obeyed the angel's call to prayer in spite of the involuntary shrinking of nature, in spite even of the hot tears that flowed from her eyes.
但是这个英勇的小女孩立即服从了护守天使的召唤去祈祷,尽管她的天性使她不由自主地退缩着,甚至热泪盈眶。
She even had the courage to devise means for facilitating her rising at any hour of the night. She found none more efficient than the sharp chips and hard cords strewn on her bed purposely to render her rest uneasy, besides which she bound her waist with knotted cinctures woven by herself.
她甚至有勇气想出办法,使自己在夜间任何时候都能起床。她发现没有什么比故意在她床上撒上尖硬的木块和硬绳子更有效了。这使她休息得不舒服,除此之外,她还用自己编织的打结的腰带来束腰。
It was from an increase of voluntary suffering she drew that strength which nature was not allowed to supply. God recompensed her generous efforts.
她正是从不断自愿增加的痛苦中,获得了本性无法提供的力量。天主赏报了她慷慨的努力。
She gradually arrived at a state in which she was able to deny rest to her weary body and, up to the last moment of her life, she served her Lord, by day and by night, without repose or intermission.
她逐渐进入了一种状态,可以不让她疲惫的身体休息,直到她生命的最后一刻,她不分昼夜地侍奉天主,没有休息,没有间歇。
Many will, perhaps, be more surprised at the fact of a child's being able to prolong her prayer two or three consecutive hours, at the tender age of four, than even at her power to deprive herself of sleep.
许多人也许会对一个四岁的孩子能够连续两三个小时祈祷感到惊讶,甚至会对她剥夺自己睡眠的能力感到惊讶。
They will ask, "What, then, was the subject of this protracted prayer?" The subject was as varied as were the objects for which God willed the child's petitions to be offered. She was shown in a vision every day the task to be accomplished by prayer.
他们会问:「那么,这次长时间的祈祷意向是什么呢?」意向是多种多样的,就像天主希望孩子献上不同的祈求对象一样。她每天都在神视异象中看到要通过祈祷来完成的任务。
In a series of tableaux she beheld the corporal and spiritual miseries which she was to avert. She saw the sick inpatient, captives dejected, the dying unprepared ; she saw travellers wandering or shipwrecked ; she saw her fellow-creatures in distress and despair, trembling on the brink of the abyss ; and, moreover, she saw that Almighty God in His mercy was ready to give them at her request help, consolation, salvation.
在一连串的画面中,她看到了需要缓解人们在肉体和精神上的痛苦。她看到病人卧病在床,俘虏垂头丧气,濒临死亡的人毫无准备;她看到旅行者四处漂泊或遭遇海难;她看到她的同胞陷入困境和绝望,在深渊的边缘颤抖;此外,她看到全能的天主满怀慈悲,随时准备在她的请求下给予人们帮助、安慰和拯救。
She understood that, if she neglected penance and supplication, these souls in so great need would perish for want of assistance.
她明白,如果她忽视了赎罪善功和祈求,这些极度需要帮助的灵魂就会因为得不到帮助而死去。
Her angel sustained her in her prayer, and her burning love for her neighbor made her so confident, so eloquent, so persevering in her petitions that the hours seemed rather short than long.
她的护守天使在她的祈祷中支持着她,而她对邻人炽热的爱使她的祈祷如此自信,如此有说服力,如此坚持不懈,以至于长时的祈祷似乎很短而不长。
At the breaking out of the French Revolution, her visions became especially varied and frightful. She was carried in spirit to the prison of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, and told to beg strength and consolation for her.
法国大革命爆发时,她的神视异象变得特别多样化和惊人。她的灵魂被带到法国王后玛利亚•安托瓦内特的监狱,并被要求为王后祈求力量和安慰。
The impression she retained of this visit was so strong that she related to her family the queen's distress, and begged them all to pray for the unfortunate lady. But her friends, as might be supposed, could not understand her.
这次拜访给她留下了深刻的印象,她把王后的不幸告诉了她的家人,请求他们为这位不幸的夫人祈祷。但是她的朋友们,正如人们所想的,不能理解她。
They thought her dreaming, and told her quite plainly that a person who could be in two different places at one and the same time or who could see all that is going on at a distance, could be none other than a witch.
他们以为她是在做梦,并且很清楚地告诉她,一个人如果能同时出现在两个不同的地方,或者能看到远处发生的一切,那她一定是个女巫。
Anne Catherine was so appalled at this information that she ran to confession to regain her peace of mind. She assisted, also, at many executions — helped and consoled the poor victims by her prayers.
安纳•加大利纳听到这个说法吓坏了,她跑去办告解以恢复内心的平静。她还在许多死刑执行时帮助罪犯——通过祈祷帮助和安慰那些可怜的死刑犯。
She was present in this way at the execution of the unfortunate monarch, Louis XVI.
她以这种方式出现于不幸的国王路易十六的处决。
"When I beheld the king and many other noble victims meeting death so calmly, so resignedly, I said to myself: Ah ! it is well for them to be taken from the midst of such abominations.
「当我看到国王和许多其他高贵的牺牲者如此平静、如此顺从地面对死亡时,我对自己说:啊!他们从这可憎的人、事、物中被带走,是件好事。
But when I mentioned what I had seen to my parents,' they thought I had lost my senses. I often knelt and with tears begged God to save such or such a person.
但当我向父母提及我所看到的一切时,他们以为我疯了。我常常跪着,含着泪祈求天主拯救这样或那样的人。
I then saw that dangers, either impending or still remote, may be averted by the prayer of faith. "
于是我看到了危险,无论是迫近的还是遥远的,都可能藉着信心的祈祷而得免。」
Some years later, when Anne Catherine was called upon to render to Dean Overberg, her director, an account of the prayer of her childhood, she said :
几年后,当安纳•加大利纳被要求向她的神师奥弗伯格院长,汇报她童年时期的祈祷时,她说:
—"I always prayed less for myself than for others, that they might not sin, might not be lost.
「我总是为别人祈祷多于为自己祈祷,这样他们就不会犯罪,也不会迷失方向。
There was nothing I did not ask of God, and the more I obtained, the more I asked.
任何事情我都向天主祈求,我得到的越多,我祈求的也就越多。
I never had enough. I said confidently to myself : All things belong to God, and nothing pleases Him so much as to see me begging Him for something with my whole heart."
我总是不满足。我自信地对自己说:万物都属于天主,没有什么比看到我全心全意地为别人向天主祈求点什么,更让天主高兴的了。
Dean Overberg tells us what purity of heart this wonderful little child attained by such practices. He says :
奥弗伯格院长告诉我们,这个奇妙的孩子通过这样的实践,获得了多么纯洁的心灵。他说:
"From her sixth year Anne Catherine knew no other joys than those she found in God, no other sorrows than those that pierced her heart at the thought of His being outraged by men.
「从她六岁起,安纳•加大利纳除了在天主那里找到快乐外,就不知道其他的快乐了,一想到主的愤怒,就会刺痛她的心,除此以外她没有别的痛苦。
When she began to practise mortification of the senses, the love of God was enkindled in her heart with such intensity that she often cried out in the midst of her prayer : 'Were there no heaven, no purgatory, no hell, I would still love Thee, O my God, with my whole heart and soul!'"
当她开始操练感官的克己苦行时,天主的爱在她的心中燃起了如此强烈的激情,使她经常在她的祈祷中呼喊:『既使没有天堂,没有炼狱,没有地狱,我仍然用我全心全意爱祢,我的天主啊!』」
The poor sufferers in purgatory shared largely in her spiritual alms, and they often appeared to her, claiming her pity.
那些在炼狱里受苦受难的可怜灵魂,很大程度上分享了她的灵性救助,他们常常出现在她面前,恳求她的怜悯。
Even in winter she arose at night and went out in the snow to pray with extended arms for their relief, until frozen stiff with cold. Sometimes she knelt on a triangular block of wood whose sharp edge cut deep into her knees ; or, again, she forced her way through stinging nettles to discipline her innocent flesh, that penance might lend efficacy to her prayer.
即使在冬天,她也会在夜里起来,到雪地里去,伸开双臂为灵魂得救助而祈祷,直到冻僵为止。有时她跪在一块三角棱形的木头上,木头尖锐的边缘深深地扎进了她的膝盖;或者,她又一次强迫自己穿过密布的荆棘丛,来惩罚她无辜的肉体,好让这种赎罪善功能对她的祈祷更有功效。
In return for her charity, she often had the consolation of receiving the thanks of the souls that she had delivered.
作为她爱心的回报,她经常得到被援助灵魂们对她感谢的安慰。
"When I was a little child," she says, "I was taken by a person unknown to me to a place which appeared to be purgatory.
「当我还是个小孩子的时候,」她说,「我被一个不认识的人,带到一个似乎是炼狱的地方。
I saw crowds of souls in excruciating torments who earnestly begged for prayers.
I thought I was in a deep abyss. I saw a great, broad space, frightful, pitiable to behold.
我想我是身处深渊。我看到了一个巨大的、宽阔的空间,既可怕又可怜。
In it were the poor souls, silent and afflicted, yet not without joy and hope in the mercy of God.
里面有可怜的人,沉默而痛苦,然而因天主的怜悯,不是完全没有喜乐和盼望。
I saw no fire, but I felt that the souls were racked by the most intense interior sufferings."
"Whilst praying for them, I often heard voices around me, saying : 'Thank you ! thank you!'Once, on my way from church, I lost a little bag that my mother had given me.
「在为他们祈祷的时候,我经常听到周围有声音在说:『谢谢你!谢谢你!』有一次,在我从圣堂回来的路上,我丢失了妈妈给我的一个小包。
I was very much concerned at my carelessne
ss, and I forgot that evening to offer my accustomed suffrages for the dear souls.
我非常担心自己的粗心大意,那天晚上,我忘记了按惯例为那些亲爱的炼灵献上我的祈祷。
I had to go to the shed for wood, and as I went along a white figure covered with black spots, appeared before me, saying : 'Thou art forgetting me!'
我要到棚子里去取柴火,当我走出屋子的时候,一个浑身是黑点的白色人影出现在我面前,说:『你把我忘了。』
I was very much frightened, and began right off to say some prayers. The next day I prayed hard and found my bag in the snow.
我非常害怕,马上开始祈祷。第二天,我努力祈祷,在雪地里找到了我的小包。
" When I grew older, I used to go very early in the morning to hear Mass at Coesfeld.
I always chose a lonely road, that I might pray without distraction for the suffering souls. When it was still dark, I used to see them floating before me two by two, like fiery sparks in a dull flame. The way was lit up before me and I rejoiced in their presence, for I both knew and loved them. They often came at night to beg help in their pains."
我总是选择一条僻静的道路,心无旁骛地为那些受苦的炼灵祈祷。天还黑的时候,我常常看见他们两个两个地漂浮在我面前,就像暗淡的火焰中燃烧着的炽热火花。我眼前的路亮了起来,我因他们在我面前而欢喜,因为我认识他们,也喜爱他们。炼灵常常在夜里来恳求帮助,以减轻他们在炼狱中的痛苦。」