Why is there still no clear answer to the question about the reason for the appearance of stigmata - bleeding wounds that open precisely on those parts of the body where the crucified Savior had wounds?
Invisible nails are a gift to the elect
Stigmata can look like bloody wounds ("stigmatos" from Greek - signs, wounds, ulcers) on the palms, sometimes on the feet, as if nails were driven into them. Some carriers of stigmata develop wounds on their foreheads that resemble pricks and scratches from a crown of thorns, or bloody streaks on their backs, like marks of flogging. The first stigmatist is believed to have been the apostle Paul.
In the Epistle to the Galatians, the apostle says: "I bear the plagues of the Lord Jesus on my body." True, this can be understood both literally and figuratively. But the outstanding thinker Francis of Assisi certainly 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.
According to Thomas Celansky, the witness of this miracle and the biographer of St. Francis, “the palms of (his) hands and feet seemed to have been pierced in the middle by nails. These marks were round on the inside of the palms and elongated on the back, and around them was torn flesh, like tongues of flame, bent outward, as if nails were actually driven into the palm."
According to another contemporary of St. Francis, St. Bonaventure, who also observed the saint's stigmata, the invisible nails were so clearly outlined that one could stick a finger into the wound. Moreover, if you press an invisible nail on one side of your palm, the wound on the other side of it instantly reacts as if a real nail were actually moving in the wound! And this continued for the last two years of the saint's life.
Since then, for 800 years, evidence has been recorded that signs of the suffering of Christ appear on the bodies of Christians (mainly Catholics) and even non-believers.
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Here are some typical examples. Maria Magdalena de Pazzi, later declared a saint, had the stigmata in 1585, after she embraced the Christian faith with all her heart. In 1918, the stigmata began to bleed from the Italian priest, Padre Pio, after the appearance of Christ to him during the celebrations dedicated to the appearance of stigmata in St. Francis. When the vision disappeared, Pio's hands, feet and chest began to bleed profusely. Moreover, blood oozed constantly, and it ended only with the death of the priest in 1968.
The appearance of such wounds is sometimes accompanied by absolutely inexplicable things. So, blood from wounds on the body of Domenica Laptsari (1815-1848) gushed upwards for 11 years, violating the law of gravity. And Saint Veronica Giuliani (1660-1727) claimed that blood from her stigmata oozed not only outside, but also inside, and painted her heart with imprints on it of a cross, a crown of thorns, three nails and the letter X. After the death of Veronica during the autopsy convinced of the veracity of her statement.
Teresa Neumann (1898-1962) from Konnersroig (Germany) at the age of 21 as a result of injuries sustained in a fire, went blind and was bedridden. However, in 1925, after St. Teresa of Lisieux vanished all her illnesses. The next year, during Lent, Newmann announced that she had a vision of Jesus Christ, after which she suddenly felt excruciating pain and blood flowed from the wound in her side. Since then, the bleeding has resumed every Friday, and after a day or two the wound has healed.
Many people believe that stigmata are a gift from God. It is even said that the wounds of some stigmatists have a wonderful scent. There are numerous eyewitness accounts of the ability of the chosen stigmatists to levitate and other miracles. For example, Padre Pio could instantly move thousands of kilometers - from one point on the planet to another. And the miraculous healings of the suffering, according to the adherents of the priest, make it possible to consider him the chosen one of God.
Faith plus psychokinesis?
The Vatican is very wary of this phenomenon. Priests and doctors carefully study each case of such wounds, weighing all the pros and cons. And it must take time from the day of the death of the stigmatist - sometimes a hundred years - before he is declared blessed or saint.
The Catholic Church recognizes that stigmata can be miraculous, inexplicable in nature. However, in most cases, according to the church fathers, the reason for their appearance must be sought in the field of psychiatry. For example, what happened in 1932 with the American Elizabeth, a patient in a psychiatric hospital, watched by Dr. Albert Lechler. After viewing images of the crucifixion of Christ, she felt a slight tingling sensation in her palms and feet. Soon, wounds appeared in these places. Ten-year-old Cloretta Robertson from Oakland, California developed stigmata in 1972 after watching a movie about Christ. And since the girl was non-religious, her story testifies that the appearance of stigmata is possible among non-believers.
Most stigmatists do not remember when and under what circumstances wounds appeared on their bodies. Experiments conducted by the Italian doctor Marco Marnelli with the famous carrier of stigmata L o Bianco showed that healed wounds can appear again and again. Moreover, every time the stigmata began to appear on her body, Lo Bianco fell into a trance and saw in this state a rosary and a cross. The said Padre Pio saw himself in a trance on the cross.
Padre Pio's stigmata
At the beginning of the 20th century, Professor Charles Richet suggested that stigmata reflect the effect of fortitude on the circulation of blood in the body. However, when scientists tried to replicate them in subjects using hypnosis, the result was only red marks on the skin that had nothing to do with wounds.
While deeply religious people do not need any explanation, non-pious theorists believe that there are both scientifically explainable and paranormal elements in this phenomenon. Parapsychologist Dr. Scott Rhodeau (JF Kennedy University in Orinda, California) believes that they are most likely to appear in contemplative individuals who are predisposed to hysteria, but who have enormous psychic power. "The victims of this phenomenon literally target their own body with psychokinesis, causing their wounds to open and bleed."
What science says
Back in the 18th century, scientists noticed that many stigmatics suffered from multiple personality disorder, which is characterized by sudden mood swings, periodic immersion in a trance, and hallucinations. Today experts prove that this is a psychosomatic phenomenon caused by the influence of the mind on the body. English researcher Ian Wilson adheres to a theory that explains the appearance of wounds by self-hypnosis in a state of trance.
It is impossible to find two ascetics whose stigmata appear in the same way, but they all have one thing in common. Starting with St. Francis, everyone had wounds on the palms and legs in those places where, according to legend, nails were driven in during the crucifixion of Christ. But this contradicts the assumption that the stigmata could have been sent by God. And that's why. The Romans of those executed on the cross pierced the forearm in the area of the wrists with nails, and not the hand itself (it is generally pointless to drive nails into the palms, they will simply burst under the weight of the body), this is confirmed by the remains of the executed on the cross in about the 1st century, at the time of Christ.
So why is St. Francis and all subsequent stigmatics believed that nails pierced the palms? Because this is how, starting from the VIII century, artists depicted the crucifixion of Christ. The localization and even the size of the stigmata were significantly influenced by art, which is especially evident in the case of Gemma Galgani, who died in Italy in 1903. Gemma's stigmata faithfully reproduce the wounds on her beloved crucifix.
In his seminal study The Physical Manifestations of Mysticism, the English priest Herbert Thurston pointed out several reasons why stigmata are the product of auto-suggestion. The size, shape, and location of the stigmatics' wounds vary, indicating that they lack a common source, that is, the wounds of Christ themselves. A comparison of the visions that were visited by various stigmatists and which also have little in common indicates that they do not reflect the historical fact of the crucifixion, but are due to the peculiarities of the psyche of the subjects themselves.
In addition, there is a large percentage of stigmatics suffering from hysteria. Thurston interpreted this fact as additional evidence of an unstable and unusually emotional psyche, which provokes the appearance of stigmata. It is not surprising that even convinced Catholics consider the appearance of stigmata the product of "mystical thinking", inclining to believe that they are created by consciousness during periods of intense meditation.
If the stigmata are the result of self-hypnosis, the range of control of the body by consciousness is further expanded. Interestingly, such wounds heal at an inexplicable rate. Some individuals exhibit an almost limitless elasticity of the body by their ability to mimic nail marks with ragged edges of wounds that resemble prominences.
Theresa Neumann of Bavaria, who died in 1962, had such prominences, which most naturally mimic the penetrating wounds from nails in the palms and feet, only, unlike the constantly open wounds of St. Francis, they opened only periodically, and when they stopped bleeding, soft membrane-like tissue quickly grew on them.
Padre Pio's wounds went right through the hands, and the wound in his side was so deep that, examining it, doctors were afraid of damaging the internal organs. St. Veronica Giuliani, abbess of the Italian monastery in Citta di Castello, a large wound in her side opened and closed on command!
And yet, both secular and church experts do not undertake to unambiguously explain the phenomenon of stigmatism.
Sergey Milin
