Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus. Crucifixion (from Latin crucifixio, noun of process crucifixio, from perfect passive participle crucifixus, fixed to a cross from Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) The term originates from the line at the end of Saint Paul's Letter to the Galatians where he says, "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus," stigmata is the plural of the Greek word stigma meaning a mark or brand such as might have been used for identification of an animal or slave. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and The Epistle to the Galatians is a book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul of Tarsus to a number of early Christian communities in the Roman province of An individual bearing stigmata is referred to as a stigmatic.

The causes of stigmata are the subject of considerable debate. Some contend that they are miraculous, while others argue they are hoaxes or can be explained medically. A miracle is an event believed to be caused by interposition of Divine intervention by a Supernatural being in the Universe by which the ordinary operation A hoax is a deliberate attempt to Dupe, Deceive or trick an audience into believing or accepting that something is real when in fact it is not or that Stigmata are primarily associated with the Roman Catholic faith. Many reported stigmatics are members of Catholic religious orders. The majority of reported stigmatics are female. ^[1]

Contents 1 Description 2 Occurrence 3 Famous stigmatics 4 Skepticism 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

Description

In some stigmatics, the wounds do not appear to clot, and stay fresh and uninfected; the blood from the wounds is said, in some cases, to have a pleasant, perfumed odour.

Occurrence

Cases of stigmata have been reported at different ages for different stigmatics. Some have manifested stigmata continually after the first appearance; others have shown periodic stigmata that re-occur at certain times of the day or on certain days, especially holy ones, throughout the year.

The first well-documented case and the first to be accepted by Church authorities as authentic, was that of Saint Francis of Assisi (1182–1226), who first experienced stigmata in La Verna, Italy, in 1224 [1]. For the opera by Olivier Messiaen see Saint-François d'Assise. La Verna, in Latin Alverna and geographically known as Monte Penna, is a locality on Mount Penna an isolated mountain of 1283 m situated in the centre Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest

In the century after the death of St. Francis, more than twenty additional cases of stigmata were reported. Stigmata have continued to be reported since, with over three hundred cases by the end of the 19th century [2]. In the 20th century, the number of cases increased dramatically; over 500 cases have now been recorded. In modern times, increasing numbers of ordinary people as opposed to the usual mystics or members of religious orders, have began to report stigmata. Cases have also been reported among non-Catholic Christians [3].

The first written record of a woman to have received stigmata is in the Medieval Codex Iuliacensis, ca. The Codex Iuliacensis is a mediaeval book dating to about 1320 to 1350 1320-1350, reporting the stigmata of Blessed Christina von Stommeln (d. Beatification (from Latin beatus, blessed via Greek μακάριος makarios) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic church Blessed Christina of Stommeln, (also known as Christina Bruso and Christina Bruzo) ( July 24, 1242 - November 6, 1312), whose relics rest in the Propsteikirche in Jülich, near Aachen [4], or Georgetta von Schnitenburgs. Jülich (in old spellings also known as Guelich or Gülich, cf ( Ripuarian: Oche, Dutch: Aken, Spanish: Aquisgrán, Italian: Aquisgrana, French, It is claimed that one can still see marks from the crown of thorns on Bl. In Christianity the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was the woven chaplet of thorn branches worn by Jesus before his Crucifixion Christina's skull, which is publicly displayed annually during the octave beginning every 6 November in Jülich. In Music, an octave ( is the the use of which is "common in most musical systems Events 355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II promotes his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him with Jülich (in old spellings also known as Guelich or Gülich, cf

Famous stigmatics

• Zlatko Sudac
• Saint Catherine of Siena
• Saint John of God
• Saint Marie of the Incarnation
• Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)
• Therese Neumann
• Saint Francis of Assisi
• Saint Gemma Galgani
• Blessed Lucia Brocadelli of Narni
• Saint Faustina Kowalska
• Saint Catherine of Ricci
• Saint Rita of Cascia
• Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

Skepticism

There have been historical stigmatics that were known to have faked wounds, such as Magdalena de la Cruz (1487–1560), who admitted the fraud. Fr Zlatko Sudac (pronounced "Sue-dots" (born 24 January 1971) is a Roman Catholic Diocesan priest for the diocese of Krk Saint Catherine of Siena, OP ( March 25 1347 – April 29 1380) was a Tertiary of the Dominican Order, This article is about the Iberian saint for the Portuguese poet see João de Deus; for the Brazilian medium see João de Deus (medium. Marie of the Incarnation, (born in Paris February 1[[ 566]] died at Pontoise, April 1618 born as Barbara Avrillot and known also as Madame Pio of Pietrelcina ( 25 May, 1887 – 23 September 1968) was a Capuchin Priest from Italy who is venerated as Therese Neumann ( 9 April 1898 &ndash 18 September 1962) was a German Catholic mystic and Stigmatic For the opera by Olivier Messiaen see Saint-François d'Assise. Gemma Maria Galgani (March 12 1878 in Camigliano Italy – April 11 1903 in Lucca Italy was a mystic and is a Roman Catholic Saint, who was Canonized Lucia Brocadelli of Narni (1476-1544 was an Italian Roman Catholic mystic, beatified in 1710 Mary Faustina Kowalska, commonly known as Saint Faustina, born Helena Kowalska (August 25 1905 Glogowiec Poland then in the Russian Empire &ndash Died October St Catherine de' Ricci, OP ( April 23, 1522 - February 1, 1590) is an Italian Catholic saint Saint Rita of Cascia (1381 &ndash May 22 1457) is an Italian Augustinian saint Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (Anna Katharina Emmerick September 8, 1774 - February 9, 1824) was a Roman Catholic Magdalena de la Cruz (1487–1560 was a Franciscan Nun of Córdoba in Spain, who for many years was honored as a Saint.

Similarly self-inflicted wounds can be associated with certain mental illnesses. Mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as Some people who fake stigmata suffer from Munchausen syndrome which is characterized by an intense desire for attention. Munchausen syndrome is a Psychiatric disorder in which those affected fake disease illness or psychological trauma in order to draw attention or sympathy to themselves People with Munchausen hurt themselves or fake an illness hoping to end up in a hospital where they can be given attention and care.

Skeptics also point out that stigmata have appeared on hands in some cases, wrists in others, and the lance wound has appeared on different sides of the body. This suggests some form of internally generated phenomena, based on the victim's own imagination and subjective in character, rather than something of external divine origin. It is unknown, either through the gospels or other historical accounts, whether crucifixion involved nails being driven through the hands, or wrists, or what side the lance pierced Christ's body, and this would appear to be reflected in the inconsistent placement of stigmatists' wounds. Crucifixion (from Latin crucifixio, noun of process crucifixio, from perfect passive participle crucifixus, fixed to a cross from However, Roman Crucifixions involved the nails driven through the ulna and radias gap, being just proximal to the wrist.

No instances of stigmata showing wounds through the wrists were noted before the publication of the photographs of the Turin Shroud showing wounds of this kind. The Shroud of Turin (or Turin Shroud) is a Linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have been physically traumatized in a manner consistent The physical appearance of wounds is often linked to the iconography of crucifixion with which the stigmatic is most familiar.

The ratio of left side wounds to right side wounds in stigmatics approximates to the ratio of right handed to left handed people in the general population. This suggests wounding by the stigmatic him or herself.

Similarly, no case of stigmata is known to have occurred before the thirteenth century, when the crucified Jesus became a standard icon of Christianity in the west. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings [5]. Since crucifixes typically show Jesus having been nailed by the hands, people popularly believed this depiction to be true. As such, if one were to receive stigmata through the wrists, people would not consider it as Jesus' wounds.

In his paper Hospitality and Pain, iconoclastic Christian theologian Ivan Illich touches on the phenomenon of stigmata with characteristic terseness: "Compassion with Christ. Ivan Illich (ɪˈvɑn ˈɪlɪtʃ ( Vienna, 4 September 1926 &ndash Bremen, 2 December 2002) was an Austrian . . is faith so strong and so deeply incarnate that it leads to the individual embodiment of the contemplated pain. " His thesis is that stigmata result from exceptional poignancy of religious faith and desire to associate oneself with the suffering Messiah.

In 1998, Edward Harrison suggested that there was no single mechanism whereby the marks of stigmata were produced. He found no evidence from a study of contemporary cases that the marks were supernatural in origin. However marks of natural origin need not be hoaxes, he concluded. Some stigmatics marked themselves in an attempt to suffer with Christ as a form of bizarre piety. Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed " Others showed marks as a kind of religious performance art. This article is about Performance art For other uses see Performance (disambiguation Others marked themselves accidentally and their marks were noted as stigmata by witnesses. Often marks of human origin produced profound and genuine religious responses. Dr Harrison also noted that the female to male ratio of stigmatics which for many centuries had been of the order of 7 to 1, had changed over the last 100 years to a ratio of 5:4. Appearance of stigmata frequently coincided with times when issue of authority loomed large in the church. What was significant was that early stigmatics were not predominatly women, but that they were non-ordained. Having stigmata gave them direct access to the body of Christ without requiring the permission of the church through the Eucharist. The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names is a Christian Sacrament by which in a common interpretation those Only in the last century have priests been stigmatised. A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities There is currently a cluster of cases in the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

References

See also

• Zlatko Sudac known for his stigmata which he bears on his forehead, and on his wrists, feet and side

External links

• The Stigmata of Heather Woods (ASSAP article)
• The Miracle Of Damascus [6]
• What is Stigmata? Article by a Spiritualist
• Autobiography of a Yogi/Chapter 39: Therese Neumann, the Catholic Stigmatist of Bavaria Paramahamsa Yogananda meets Therese Neumann
• DERMATLAS JHU: Stigmata
• Stigmata page on Catholic.org

Fr Zlatko Sudac (pronounced "Sue-dots" (born 24 January 1971) is a Roman Catholic Diocesan priest for the diocese of Krk

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