Seers

John of Patmos is the name given to the author of the Book of Revelation. The author was living in exile on the Greek island of Patmos, writing to the 7 churches in Asia to warn them of challenges and temptations and to relate powerful visions concerning the Last Days and the Second Coming of Christ. Traditionally he identified with John the Apostle and also known as John the Divine, as well as the author of the Gospel of John and the letters attributed to him in the New Testament. However, modern scholars hold that John of Patmos was a different person from the other writers. Even if he is the author only of the Book of Revelation, John of Patmos' writing had a major impact on Christian tradition and history, inspiring numerous millennialist movements and millions of contemporary believers with his powerful and sometimes frightening vision of the Second Coming of Christ.

Anthony of the desert, Anthony "the Great", the "Father of Monks", ranks with those saints whose life exercised a profound influence upon succeeding generations. Born in Middle Egypt, he dedicated himself wholly to acts of mortification. One day in church he heard the words: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give it to the poor" (Matt. 19:21). It seemed as if Christ had spoken to him personally, giving a command he must obey. Without delay he sold his property, gave the proceeds to the poor, and went into the desert. When overcome by fatigue, his bed was the hard ground. He fasted rigorously, ate only bread and salt, and drank only water. Nor would he take food before sundown; at times he passed two days without any nourishment. The saint suffered repeatedly from diabolical attacks, but these merely made him more steadfast in virtue. He would encourage his disciples in their struggle with the devil with such words: "Believe me; the devil fears the vigils of pious souls, and their fastings, their voluntary poverty, their loving compassion, their humility, but most of all their ardent love of Christ our Lord.

Julian of Norwich was an English mystic, about whom almost nothing, but reliable tradition associates her with St. Julian's church, Norwich, near which she lived a solitary life of prayer and meditation. Her fame rests on her book The Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love. She claimed to have received fifteen revelations on one day and another on the following day. In prolonged states of ecstasy she saw visions of the sufferings of Christ and of the Trinity. She meditated on these visions for twenty years, concentrating on the love of God, which supplies the answer to all life's problems and especially to the evil in the world. Her book contains both the original visions and her meditations on them. Scholars hold that Julian of Norwich was influenced by a famous book on mystical experience, The Cloud of Unknowing, as well as by Neoplatonic philosophy She summed up her doctrine of God in these words: "And I saw full surely that ere God made us He loved us; which love was never slacked nor ever shall be. And in this love He hath done all His works, and in this love He hath made all things profitable to us, and

Born in Germany, Hildegard de Bingen was of minor nobility and was dedicated to the church at birth. As a child Hildegard was left much to herself because of her poor health. For her entire life she was subject to visions which her sister Jutta noticed and reported to a monk of the neighboring abbey. At the age of 8, Hildegard was sent to live in a retreat adjacent to a friary. Hildegard takes her monastic vows and becomes a Benedictine nun. She was elected Head of her sister community set up 2 female only convents.

Hildegard authorized herself as a theologian in alternative rhetorical arts and was creative in her interpretation of theology. She believed that her monastery should not allow novices who were not nobility as their lack of education put them in an inferior position. Hildegard was one of the first people the canonization process was started for, however the process was not completed and she remained at the level of her beatification at the time of her death.

Meister Eckhart was a theologian, a writer, and the greatest German mystic of the Middle Ages, with writings focusing on the relationship of the individual soul to God. Eckhart joined the Dominicans at 15 and continued his theological studies as a member of the order. Eckhart's theology followed that of another Dominican, St. Thomas Aquinas, but it also incorporated much Neoplatonic thought. His teachings on the union of the soul with God led to accusations of pantheism, a charge also made against the Rhineland mystics who followed him. Pope John XXII summoned Eckhart to defend himself against accusations of heresy. Eckhart recanted on some 26 articles. Modern scholars consider Eckhart's mysticism generally orthodox, although surviving sermons and tracts are usually thought to have been edited by Eckhart's friends and foes. Eckhart had a profound influence on the development of the German language, as he wrote in German as well as in Latin. The German idealists looked to Eckhart as a forerunner of their movement, and modern scholars have traced his influence in the development of Protestantism and existentialism.

Saint Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was a miller's daughter born in Lourdes, France. Soubirous is best known for her Marian apparitions of "a small young lady" who asked for a chapel to be built at a cave-grotto in Massabielle where the apparitions occurred. She would later receive recognition when the lady who appeared to her identified herself as the Immaculate Conception. Despite initial skepticism from the Catholic Church, Soubirous's claims were eventually declared "worthy of belief", and the Marian apparition is now known as Our Lady of Lourdes. Since her death, Soubirous's body has apparently remained internally incorrupt; during her third exhumation in 1925, the firm of Pierre Imans made light wax coverings for her face and her hands due to the discoloration that her skin has undergone. These masks were placed on her face and hands before she was moved to her crystal reliquary in June 1925.