The Stigmata ~ Miracles, Part 5

Mr Plese continues his series on miracles. Part 1 is Miracles As Proof That Catholicism Is From God, Part 2 is Miracles As Testified in the Holy Scriptures, Part 3 is Miracles Worked by the Saints Throughout the Centuries, and Part 4 is Miracles Worked by Modern-Day Saints.

From One Peter Five

By Matthew Plese, TOP

This article is the fifth in a 10-part series that will explore miracles as proof of the truths of Catholic doctrine. In this installment, we consider the stigmata.

What are the Stigmata?

The “stigmata” – a word derived from the Greek meaning “a mark, tattoo or brand such as might have been used for identification of an animal or slave.” For Catholics, the word “stigmata” denotes the five holy marks of Christ’s crucifixion, a person manifests on his hands, feet and side.  The Apostle Saint Paul may be the first to record his own stigmata when he wrote, in his letter to the Corinthians:

And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me. For which thing thrice I besought the Lord, that it might depart from me.  And he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. For which cause I please myself in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ. For when I am weak, then am I powerful (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

And again, in his letter to the Church in Galatia, Paul wrote: “From henceforth let no man be troublesome to me; for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body”  (Galatians 6:17).

But what were these “marks of the Lord Jesus” St. Paul bodily suffered after his encounter with the Risen Lord on the Road to Damascus? Were these the marks of Christ’s crucifixion – the stigmata, as some propose? Clues may exist, especially when St. Luke, a physician, records “And God wrought by the hand of Paul more than common miracles. So that even there were brought from his body to the sick, handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the wicked spirits went out of them” (Acts 19:11).

Were these handkerchiefs and aprons soaked with Paul’s blood from “the marks of the Lord Jesus in [his] body?” All one can say is “perhaps.” The question of the nature of St. Paul’s afflictions has been debated seriously and continuously over the past two-thousand years by theologians and Biblical scholars. Although many have speculated, no one has been able to posit a definitive answer.

St. Francis of Assisi

Twelve hundred years after Saint Paul lived, we find the first credibly recorded instance of the appearance of the marks of Christ on a devoted Christian. 

During a forty-day bread and water fast, while St. Francis was engaged in solitary prayer and contemplation with several of his monastic companions on Monte La Verna in Tuscany, Italy, about 150 miles northwest of Rome, the miracle occurred. Francis knelt constantly, day and night, in prayer, meditating deeply on Christ’s suffering on the cross. It was during this time of solitude that St. Francis was afflicted with the five marks of Christ which would be observable on his hands, feet, and side for the remainder of his life.

His friend and fellow monk, Brother Leo, left a clear account of how this happened. Suddenly he saw a vision of a seraph, a six-winged angel on a cross. This angel gave him the gift of the five wounds of Christ. Saint Francis suffered the agony of these five weeping, open wounds for the remainder of his life. Throughout these two years, Francis never complained about his suffering. Indeed, he celebrated having the wounds as a privilege. 

Singing softly with Brother Leo in the same rude hut in which he first sought God’s mercy, St. Francis died on October 3, 1226. Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on July 16, 1228, only two years after his death. The Traditional calendar of the Catholic Church keeps September 17th as the Commemoration of St. Francis receiving the Stigmata, indicating how important this was in the life of the Church.

St. Gemma Galgani

St. Gemma Galgani (1878 – 1903), a devout and frail young woman, endured an extraordinary life of suffering and spiritual grace. After falling gravely ill at the age of 18, she experienced partial paralysis, hearing loss, boils, and extreme scoliosis. Despite the lack of medical explanation or effective treatments, St. Gemma’s faith remained steadfast. Her deep spirituality included visions and conversations with the Virgin Mary, Jesus, and her patron, Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother.

Her reception of the stigmata, however, was the most remarkable event in her spiritual life. On June 8, 1899, Gemma reported to her confessor that she began to feel intense pain in her hands, feet, and side—precisely where Christ was wounded. These stigmata appeared every Thursday, lasting until Friday or Saturday morning. Gemma hid the wounds with gloves and sought to avoid attention, but word quickly spread, and many sought her out, hoping to witness her miraculous suffering.

Despite the Church’s cautious approach to verifying miracles, St. Gemma remained humble and petitioned for the stigmata to cease when requested by her confessor. The wounds vanished, leaving only faint white marks. In her remaining three years, she lived in seclusion, enduring further illness before passing away on Holy Saturday, 1903, her life a testament to unwavering faith amidst suffering.

St. Padre Pio

Shortly after his ordination, Pio began experiencing the stigmata. Initially, the wounds were invisible, but by 1918, after a profound spiritual experience, the visible marks of Christ’s crucifixion appeared on his hands, feet, and side. Unlike Gemma, whose stigmata eventually ceased, St. Padre Pio bore these wounds for the rest of his life. He referred to them as his “gift from God,” despite the pain and the constant bleeding, which became a source of widespread attention.

As news of his stigmata spread, pilgrims from across Italy and beyond flocked to San Giovanni Rotondo, seeking confessions and blessings. Despite his fame, Padre Pio remained deeply humble, focusing on prayer, confession, and Mass, all while enduring both physical and spiritual battles. His stigmata completely healed only after his death in 1968.

In one story, illustrating the great suffering our Lord bore for us, a man came one day to St. Padre Pio and asked if he could take some of the pain from the stigmata which affiliated him with pain and bleeding without end. So that night when the man went home, he had an excruciating migraine, which felt like nails being driven in his hand. Finally, the next time he saw St. Padre Pio, St. Pio said to him, along these lines, “I told you it would be too much.” We should not pray to receive the Stigmata. But we should pray for grace to withstand all the trials Our Lord sends us. May we offer them all up for His glory and the good of souls.

Dozens of Examples of the Stigmata

The aforementioned saints are merely three examples from a sample size of over 400 individuals have been reported to bear the wounds of Christ. This includes at least 60 canonized saints and beatified individuals. Some additional examples of the stigmata include the following:

1. St. Lydwine of Schiedam (1380-1433): St. Lydwine suffered a severe fall while ice skating, leading to a chronic illness that confined her to bed for life. During this time, she experienced visions, mystical suffering, and bore the stigmata. She endured extreme physical afflictions beyond the wounds of Christ.
2. St. Catherine de’ Ricci (1522-1589): A Dominican nun known for her deep devotion to Christ’s Passion, she experienced weekly ecstasies in which she would re-live the Passion. Her stigmata appeared on her hands, feet, and side during these experiences.
3. St. Veronica Giuliani (1660-1727): A Capuchin nun who not only bore the stigmata but also experienced a mystical coronation, where she received a crown of thorns. She had frequent visions of Christ and underwent prolonged ecstatic states.
4. St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds (1715-1791): A Franciscan tertiary who bore the stigmata and suffered intensely, often reliving the Passion of Christ in mystical experiences. She also received mystical visions and reportedly had the gift of prophecy.
5. St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380): A Dominican tertiary and mystic who suffered the wounds of Christ inwardly. She requested that her wounds be made invisible to avoid attention, though she continued to endure their pain. She was known for ecstasies, mystical union with Christ, and serving as a spiritual advisor to popes and religious leaders.
6. St. John of God (1495-1550): Known primarily for his charitable work in founding the Brothers Hospitallers, St. John of God was reported to have suffered mystical wounds of Christ internally. He also experienced divine locutions and visions.
7. St. Lutgardis (1182-1246): A Cistercian mystic who experienced a deep mystical union with Christ and is said to have received an exchange of hearts with Him. Though she did not have external wounds, she bore the sufferings of Christ intensely and received supernatural revelations.
8. St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi (1566-1607): A Carmelite nun known for her mystical experiences, she endured both the wounds of Christ and periods of deep spiritual dryness. Her ecstasies sometimes lasted for days.
9. Marie-Rose Ferron (1902-1936): A Canadian mystic, who bore the stigmata, including wounds on her hands, feet, and side, and suffered intensely in union with Christ’s Passion. Her mystical experiences included visions and ecstatic trances, and she was often bedridden, living in complete surrender to God’s will.
10. Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824): An Augustinian nun and mystic who  experienced the stigmata along with detailed visions of the life of Christ, which later inspired Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Her wounds included the marks of the crown of thorns, scourging, and the nail wounds, and she endured extreme suffering, often surviving solely on the Holy Eucharist.

Medical Explanations of the Stigmata

Medical professionals have tried to offer a variety of explanations for the phenomenon of the stigmata. One commonly stated medical explanation is autosuggestion or psychosomatic illness. Some researchers argue that the wounds might be a result of intense psychological stress, trauma, or religious fervor, which they claim could lead individuals to manifest symptoms of stigmata. This condition is known as hysterical or dissociative stigmata, in which individuals, through intense emotional or spiritual experiences, may cause their own body to develop wounds that mimic the traditional stigmata.

However, these attempted medical explanations fail to account for all the phenomena associated with the stigmata. The duration, consistency, and, in many cases, the inexplicable healing or absence of scarring of the wounds challenge a purely psychological or physiological explanation. They are, after all, physically manifested. People from many different walks of life who met Padre Pio would tell of the aroma which surrounded him and seemed to emanate from his open wounds.  Some said it was the sweet smell of a field of blooming mountain wildflowers, others that it smelled like finely cured leather, others still of cigar smoke. Such smells are not medically explainable.

In many cases, the stigmata appear spontaneously, persist for long periods, and heal without medical intervention in ways that defy normal medical understanding. The wounds are often reported to heal in unusual ways, often without leaving scars, which is also inconsistent with most known medical conditions. Additionally, many stigmatists report accompanying mystical phenomena such as bilocation, prophecies, or the ability to read souls, which also point to a divine origin rather than a secular physical or mental condition. These aspects suggest that the phenomenon cannot be fully explained by modern medical science alone and ultimately indicates the presence of divine intervention.

Conclusion

The Stigmata is a great gift received only by a select few. The Catholic Church has no official position on the stigmata, but it certainly is a great gift: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). Ultimately, the stigmata cannot be reduced to psychological or physiological causes. The mystery surrounding the stigmata and its persistence in various individuals throughout history continues to be a powerful witness of the veracity of the Catholic Religion.

In the next installment we will consider another truly scientific-defying miracle found only in the Catholic religion – the incorruptibles. Why do the bodies of various holy men and women fail to naturally decompose, despite having died centuries ago? This miracle further collaborates the truth of the Catholic religion as the one true religion established by God.

Pictured: St Francis of Assisi, the first known stigmatist, receiving them.