A good friend of mine from Florence, Marco, was going to marry the charming Ukrainian woman Anya. They have known each other for a long time and actually live in a civil marriage. The wedding was supposed to take place last year. But, obviously, the leap year, which many rightly fear, made itself felt.
Now the triumph is scheduled for June this year, and I pray to Christ to grant grace and the opportunity to unite two loving hearts in the bosom of the holy Church.
Mysterious disease
But what happened in 2012? Why was the wedding postponed? The fact is that Marco had strange wounds on his arms and legs two months before the celebration. Sometimes blood oozed from them. But it was especially unusual that open wounds did not bother Marco and he did not feel pain.
Doctors examined Marco and made a helpless gesture. No one could make a diagnosis. Finally, one of the old doctors spoke the word "stigmata" during a consultation. And then everything seemed to fall into place, but by and large, nothing became clear. For until now, neither science nor religion can give a simple and clear answer: what is the reason for the appearance of stigmata - bleeding wounds that open precisely on those parts of the body where the crucified Jesus Christ had wounds: hands, feet, head, hypochondrium -
Cross sufferings
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Let's remember: the hands and feet of Jesus Christ were pierced with nails when He was nailed to the cross. The crown of thorns put on the Savior's head scratched his forehead. One of the Roman legionaries pierced His chest with a spear, and a deep wound remained in this place.
Stigmata can look like bloody wounds ("stigmatos" in translation from Greek - "signs", "wounds", "ulcers") on the palms, as if nails were hammered into them … Sometimes the same wounds appear on the feet. Some carriers of stigmata have wounds on their foreheads that resemble pricks and scratches from a crown of thorns, others have bloody streaks on their backs, like marks of flogging.
I read about stigmata, helping Marco stand up and understand: is it a blessing or a curse? Anya was always by his side … It is interesting that the local priest was wary of the miracle that happened to Marco. Padre promised to write to Rome and collect a commission. But, obviously, the priests did not rush to the groom. And recently, Marco's stigmata have diminished, but have not disappeared altogether. We hope that, as the Russians say, Marco will have everything healed before the wedding …
History of stigmatism
Nevertheless, I began to collect information about such an unusual phenomenon. It turns out that over the course of eight hundred years, stigmata, signs of the suffering of Christ, have appeared on the bodies of some Christians (mainly Catholics), and other people as well.
But the question arises: who was the first of the stigmatists? Evidently the apostle Paul himself. In the Epistle to the Galatians, the apostle says: "I bear the plagues of the Lord Jesus on my body." This can be understood both literally and figuratively. But the outstanding thinker Francis of Assisi definitely had stigmata. Sincerely believing in Christ, he founded the Franciscan monastic order in 1224. And soon thereafter, on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, while praying on Mount Verna, he received a vision. It was then that in the places of Christ's wounds, the body of Francis began to bleed. And this continued for the last two years of his life.
Further more. It turns out that the stigmata have been described in hundreds of people. After careful checks by doctors and priests, rare imitators and swindlers were swept away. The overwhelming majority of people - believers and non-believers - did develop stigmata.
In 1918, Theresa Neumann, 20, from Konnersreuth, Bavaria, was injured in a fire and bedridden. In 1925, she began to have visions, and the following year, her palms, feet, and forehead began to bleed every Friday. It even happened that the girl cried with bloody tears. Teresa died in 1962. And she had stigmata regularly.
Ten-year-old Clorette Ro-bertson from Oakland, California, had stigmata in 1972 after watching a film about Christ. Since Clorette was a non-religious girl, her story confirmed that the appearance of stigmata is possible among non-believers. This was also proved by the events that took place in 1932 with the American Elizabeth, a patient in a psychiatric hospital, who was observed by Dr. Albert Lechler. After viewing the images of the crucifixion of Christ, she felt a slight tingling sensation in her palms and feet. Soon, wounds appeared in these places.
Interestingly, the English doctor Eric Dingwall has been collecting information about cases of stigmata for a long time. For example, he carefully studied the story of Maria Magdalena de Pazzi, later declared a saint, whose stigmata appeared in 1585 after she embraced the faith with all her heart. Dingwall argued that in her case it was simply self-mutilation due to fanaticism and masochistic inclinations.
However, his assumptions are refuted by many other cases. For example, in 1918, the stigmata of an Italian priest, Padre Pio, began to bleed. His blood oozed constantly, and it ended only with the death of the priest in 1968.
Chosen of God
Thousands of people believe that the stigmata is a gift from God. But there is another opinion: one of the Theosophical schools believes that the stigmata is a sign of Satan. Yet among believers, stigmatics are treated as God's chosen ones. There are numerous accounts of the levitating powers of a select few stigmatists. They say that some wounds emanate a wonderful scent …
There is a movement in the Catholic Church, whose supporters consider it necessary to proclaim the aforementioned Father Pio as saints. Many supernatural incidents are associated with it. Eyewitnesses talk about the padre's ability to instantly travel thousands of kilometers from one point on the planet to another. The incidents of miraculous healings that Father Pio performed, according to his adherents, allow the priest to be considered God's chosen one.
Photo: youtube.com
Not without aliens
The Vatican is usually very wary of cases of stigmatization. Theologians, priests are waiting for time - sometimes up to a hundred years - from the death of the stigmatist, so that the Church can proclaim him blessed or even saint. Priests and medical professionals scrutinize every instance of stigmatization, weighing the pros and cons.
The Catholic Church recognizes that stigmata can be miraculous, inexplicable in nature. However, in most cases, according to the Church Fathers, the cause of the appearance of stigmata must be sought in the field of psychiatry. Indeed, many stigmatics have clear signs of hysteria, they have various mental oddities, a tendency to self-torture, low self-esteem and self-loathing.
An interesting group of stigmatists, as the author of the article was surprised to learn, is made up of those who explain the origin of their wounds by contact with aliens. One of the most famous stigmatists - the Italian Giorgio Bongiovanni - tells strange stories that are a kind of mixture of Catholicism and UFOlogy, and explains the origin of his stigmata to the influence of aliens.
Believe in miracle
Of course, one can say that people with a “headache” inflict wounds on themselves, but the problem is that most stigmatists do not remember when and under what circumstances wounds appeared on their bodies. This makes it difficult for researchers. There is ample evidence that stigmata, no matter how treated, reappears on the human body in the same places over and over again. Several experiments conducted by the Italian doctor Marco Marnelli with the famous carrier of stigma Lo Bianco showed that healed wounds can reappear on her hands many times.
Moreover, every time the stigmata began to appear on her body, Lo Bianco fell into a trance and saw a rosary and a cross in this state.
The aforementioned Father Pio saw himself on the cross in a trance. American Ethel Chapman found stigmata on her palms while in the hospital, where, unconscious, she saw the scene of her own crucifixion.
The state of trance, which stigmatics sometimes fall into, allows some researchers to suggest that stigmata (if we are not talking about intentionally traumatizing oneself) is explained by self-hypnosis. But how does it happen?
So far, both scientific and church experts believe that it is impossible to unequivocally explain the phenomenon of stigmatism. Many stigmata are of “common” origin, but most of the cases defy explanation. This is a very complex phenomenon, and perhaps over time we will understand the nature of stigmatism. Until then, it remains for us to believe in a miracle.
Alessandro LANZI, Switzerland