Since the Middle Ages, history has known cases of bleeding and very painful wounds on the bodies of ardent followers of Christ, from nowhere. They arise in those places where wounds were inflicted on Christ himself during his crucifixion. They are called "stigmata", and this incredible phenomenon is still unknown.
It is believed that the first stigmata (translated from the Greek "ulcers", "marks", "wounds") appeared in 1224 at Francis of Assisi, an Italian monk who founded the Franciscan order. Probably not by chance, the wounds appeared on his body, because in Christianity he is considered the most revered religious figure after Christ. Francis of Assisi did not have high dignity, he preached asceticism, lived in poverty and was a seer. There are many recorded cases when his predictions came true. In mid-September 1224, he presided over the ceremony at the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Christ on Mount Alvern. During the prayer, he noticed several angels who appeared to him, which led with bright rays over his body, with which something strange began to happen. Suddenly, some parts of the body began to hurt badly, and after a while bloody sores appeared on them. The church ministers who were next to him noticed with surprise that the wounds were located exactly in those places where the wounds of the crucified Christ were (Christ's hands and feet were nailed, there were wounds from a crown of thorns on his forehead, a wound from a blow with a spear on his chest, and on sides and back - traces of blows).
In the centuries that followed, the church recognized nearly 500 cases of stigmata, 75 of which it canonized. If several centuries ago they arose among Italian monks, now the geography has expanded. Cases of stigmata have been reported among Japanese, Americans, Koreans, Canadians and Argentines. These are mainly supporters of Catholicism, but there are adherents of other religions.
In the 20th century, the most striking example of the emergence of stigmata was the Italian monk Pius. He had the gift of foresight, he saw the whole life of a person who confessed to him, he could be in two places at once and in one second be transported a long distance from one place to another. At the age of thirty (in 1918), stigmata appeared on him, which brought him painful torment for the next 50 years. The stigmata disappeared from the body of the monk immediately after death. At first, the church was skeptical about the wounds and asked scientists and doctors to explain their origin, but the monk was found healthy, and the cause was never established. However, the wounds were bleeding, festering and sore. Pius was forced to constantly bandage his arms, legs and side. After ten years of repeated medical examinations without any explanation, the Vatican recognized the divine origin of the wounds.
In all known cases, stigmata are very excruciating, incurable wounds that never gave complications. Physicians using modern technology have tried to research and treat stigmata, but to no avail.
The Vatican checks each case very carefully, and rarely when the bearer of these marks is recognized as a saint during his lifetime. Sometimes it happens after a hundred years. Such careful checks are justified, because there are many cases when people with a sick mentality, prone to self-torture and wanting to be considered the messengers of God, inflicted wounds on themselves. It is clear that they should not be canonized, but treated by a psychiatrist.
Perhaps stigmata arise in people with a special "mobile" psyche, easily amenable to suggestion. Or maybe they are God's gift and speak of the holiness of their bearer. Although there are supporters of the theory that stigma is a sign of the devil.
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All carriers of true stigmata said that before the appearance of the wounds, they fell into a trance, saw the cross of Christ, as if from the side watching their own crucifixion and did not remember anything else. Researchers and clergy argue that stigmata, despite the terrible rotting bleeding appearance, smell very good. Surprisingly, in all cases, regardless of the person's posture, the blood from the wounds did not flow down, but towards the thumbs (this is how it flowed in Christ on the cross). Even if the person was lying, the blood did not flow down, but, refuting all the laws of physics, up. to the toes.
There is another group of stigmata, the so-called "symbolic", when not wounds suddenly appear on a person's body, but images of Christian symbols: a cross, phrases from prayers. Moreover, stigmata can appear not only among religious fanatics, but also among atheistic people and even young children.
So far, there is no explanation for the phenomenon of stigmata, and we can only believe in a miracle.