First published in 1852, ‘The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary’ was written by Anne Catherine Emmerich, a German nun and mystic whose visions were recorded by the German Romantic writer Clemens Brentano. Brentano posthumously published this book, which discusses Emmerich’s visions of a house near the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (now in western Turkey) in which Mary, according to one tradition, spent her last years. In 1881 ruins of a house answering Emmerick’s description were discovered by a French priest, and the site subsequently became a shrine.The book is incredibly revealing and presents an informative background of Virgin Mary, her parents and ancestors, St. Joseph, plus other people who figured into the coming of Christ. Many facts described about the early life of Jesus, as well as the final days of the Blessed Mother—all from the visions of this great mystic.