Since the Middle Ages in history, one can find cases of painful bleeding wounds on the bodies of some followers of Christ. These wounds appear on those parts of the body where they were in Christ during his crucifixion (hands, feet, head, hypochondrium). Neither science, nor religion, nor the very carriers of such wounds, called stigmata, can give an answer to the question of how and why they appeared.
THE PASSION OF CHRIST
The word "stigmata" is literally translated from Greek as "wound", "sign", "injection". Over the past 800 years, there are not so few of those who have such marks - about 406 cases, but only 60 of them are recognized by the Catholic Church. There are even statistics on this mysterious phenomenon.
For example, it is determined that 68% of people wearing stigmata are Catholic. Interestingly, most cases occur in the Mediterranean region, but today the geography of stigmata has expanded, they are found among Koreans, Japanese, Canadians and Argentines. And 90% of stigma carriers are women.
Let us recall the wounds that were inflicted on Christ during the crucifixion: four through on the arms and legs, a wound on the right side from the centurion's spear, scratches on the forehead from a crown of thorns, wounds on the back from scourging and a mark on the shoulder from the heavy cross he carried. It is these wounds that are reproduced on the body of carriers of stigmata.
They are called external. There are also internal stigmata that we cannot observe as they appear on the internal organs. So, in 1691, during the autopsy of Savelle's body, doctors were surprised to find an image of a crucifix on his heart muscle!
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Sometimes external stigmata appear as if in a mirror image, on the contrary. Experts believe that this is because believers perceived the wounds of Christ as a visual image in front of them.
Outwardly, stigmata can be of very different types: through wounds, superficial, growths. But they all look like nail marks.
These wounds always appear unexpectedly. It is said that the highest number of cases occurs on Good Friday. Before visible stigmata appear, the person experiences severe pain in the places where they appear. This pain is much stronger than the pain of a normal injury.
This gives specialists a reason to assume that we are talking about damage not only to the skin and soft tissues, but also to the nerves. An amazing feature of these wounds is that, despite the bleeding, they emit a faint, but pleasant smell!
Doctors still fail to find a way to treat stigmata and determine the nature of their occurrence.
SHARING SUFFERING
When the first stigmata appeared, it is difficult to say, because the evidence of them may simply not have reached our days. Perhaps the apostle Paul had them, otherwise how can one interpret his words: “I bear the plagues of the Lord Jesus on my body”? But one can speak with a great deal of confidence that Francis of Assisi was a stigmatist.
Francis of Assisi, who founded the Franciscan order, is still one of the most revered religious figures. He led an ascetic lifestyle, possessed the gift of clairvoyance. In the fall of 1224, while praying at the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Christ on Mount Alvern, he allegedly saw angels directing bright rays to his body.
In those places where the rays touched the skin, pain arose and five bloody ulcers appeared. The wounds were located exactly where Christ was. This happened two years before his death. And until the very last day, the stigmata bled and caused terrible torment to the monk.
And here is a case from much later times. Teresa Newman was born in 1898 and was a very sickly child. She was the carrier of five stigmata: on the palms, on the side and on the forehead. Every time Friday came, she seemed to walk the path of Christ to Golgotha and at the same time lost up to 1.5 liters of blood and up to 3.5 kilograms of weight. It even happened that the girl cried with bloody tears. However, by Sunday, the stigmata disappeared without a trace from her body.
The 17th century nun Maria Villari of a Dominican monastery had internal stigmata. She said that, while in a trance state, she saw an angel who burned her heart with a spear. After her death, a column of hot steam escaped from the heart during the opening of the chest. When the doctor removed her heart, he found a spear scar on it.
In the 20th century, the Italian monk Pio (1887-1968) is recognized as the most famous stigmatist. He could heal the afflicted, had the gift of foresight, and had the ability to instantly be transported over great distances. In the year when Pio was 30 years old, stigmata appeared on his body, causing pain and torment to the monk until his death.
He was forced to constantly treat festering wounds. Surprisingly, immediately after the death of a person, the stigmata disappeared. The Church did not want to acknowledge the divine origin of these wounds. Only after a thorough medical examination, on the basis of which no diseases were found in the monk, the Vatican had to yield.
A GIFT OF GOD OR A MENTAL SICKNESS?
The Vatican always carefully checks cases of stigmata on the human body, doctors and priests are involved in research. Sometimes it takes many years for the church to acknowledge a stigmatist, even after his death. But the stigmata themselves and their wonderful nature are still not rejected by the priests.
There is a hypothesis that the reason for the appearance of stigmata is the impact on the psyche of especially emotional believers of church painting and sculpture depicting the bloody scenes of the crucifixion of Christ. The masters did not skimp on details, they reliably portrayed the Savior's suffering, his blood, wounds, which could not leave anyone indifferent.
Moreover, in medieval Europe, the Catholic Church was the center of social life. Against the background of organ music combined with architecture, fanatical believers thought that they needed to feel the suffering of Christ at all costs. After all, it is no coincidence that stigmatists said that before the wounds appeared on their body, they were in a state of trance, as if observing their own crucifixion from the side, and then a complete loss of memory.
A similar hypothesis is well illustrated by the story of Kporetta Robertson from California. In 1972, when the girl was 10 years old, she read a book about the sufferings of Jesus, and it made a strong impression on her. A week after the reading, a bleeding wound appeared on Cloretta's left palm, then four more, which disappeared without a trace after 19 days.
Stigmatics in general often fall into a trance, which allows scientists to put forward a version of the psychosomatic nature of the phenomenon. After all, as a rule, this happens according to the scheme: religious ecstasy - visions - stigmata. Therefore, Catholic priests believe that in most cases this is a job for a psychiatrist.
As for the Russian Orthodox Church, it does not want to discuss this phenomenon at all, believing that stigmata have nothing to do with spirituality, that this is a manifestation of pride and the machinations of the devil.
Medical science also has its own point of view, or rather, two. First, the stigmata are hysterical and neuropathic. It is clear that this is a very rare case. Few sufferers can make their intact skin bleed, even in a trance state. True, there are cases when, under the influence of hypnosis, some people cried with bloody tears, while others appeared on the body with scars, as if from a blow.
Second: stigmata - imitation (Munchausen syndrome). In this case, the patient can use drugs or chemicals that prevent blood clotting. He deliberately inflicts wounds on himself that do not stop bleeding.
There is something that serves as a good argument in favor of the version of self-hypnosis. Remember the picture of the crucifixion. Artists paint people nailed to the cross by the palms. But they were nailed to the wrists, because the palms would not have supported the weight of the body. And the stigmata arise precisely on the palms, which corresponds to the most common, but incorrect point of view.
Nevertheless, despite all the logical reasons, believers consider stigmatists to be God's people. And experts from science and the church also cannot unequivocally speak for or against stigmatism. Indeed, along with the "usual" origin of stigmata, there are cases that have no explanation. So for now, it remains to believe and guess.
Galina BELYSHEVA
