Stigmata Resource
Stigmata is the appearance of sores, marks, or pain on a person's body in the exact locations of the wounds left on Jesus after his crucifixion. It derives from the Greek word "stigma" which means mark or brand, such as we might see on livestock to show indentification or ownership. In the Christian Bible, St. Paul writes to the Galatians saying, "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus."
Generally,"the marks of Jesus" refer to the wounds left by crucifixion. Nails through the hands and feet, crown of thorns pushed into the head, and a sword run through the side are the wounds depicted in The Bible. When a person claims to have stigmata, often these wounds seem to appear on their own body. Several have shown blood flowing freely from these "wounds" without explanation. A few have even bled from their eyes, such as Teresa Neumann.
A great number of stigmatics are female as well as of the Catholic faith. Ages seem to range and the frequency of occurrences differs between individuals, although it does often continually recur throughout the life of the stigmatic after the first appearance.
The first well-documented case may be that of Saint Francis of Assisi back in 1224, who experienced stigmata in La Verna, Italy. Likewise, the first female reporting stigmata was Christina Von Stommeln in 1312. Her remains are on display during the octave every November 6. While observing her remains, you may still see the marks from the crown of thorns on her head.
Skeptics, however, would like to point out cases such as Magdalena de la Cruz, who admitted her trickery in faking her stigmata and then imprisoned for life. Some medical reasons have also been noted for some of the effects stigmata can produce. Munchausen syndrome in which a person will injure theirself or fake illness in a plea for attention is one such condition. Schitzophrenia is another disorder that produces multiple personalities who may inflict wounds that another personality may not remember.
Also, it has been theorized that a person can "will" themselves to have stigmata. A Swedish girl known as Maria was badly beaten when she was 23; after that time she would, every few weeks, produce bleeding from head, ear and eyelids. A doctor examining her concluded that she could produce bleeding at will, from no visible wounds, when she picked arguments with other patients and reached a certain emotional state.
This ability, known as hysterical conversion, is a close cousin of a form of extreme hypochondria as exhibited by 'Elizabeth'. She could manifest the symptoms of any illness she heard about. Upon watching a slide show of the 'Passion', ie. the crucifixion of Jesus. She left feeling pains in her hands and feet.
A Doctor Lechler, using hypnosis, suggested that she - like Jesus - had been pierced by nails in her hands and feet. Nail-like wounds appeared. Using suggestion, he also induced tears of blood and bleeding wounds on her forehead. Lechler was also able to use hypnosis to heal the wounds, and he could eventually re-manifest them without hypnosis.
Written by Silent Whispers
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