Stigmata

By Crusader1307

 The truly mysterious phenomenon known as ''Stigmata'' (Greek for ''Mark'' or ''Sign''), is indicative to several Christian Religions (mostly The Catholic Faith). It is a process by which certain Faithful manifest the bodily marks of Christ's suffering on The Cross. These are holes in the hand and feet (by which Christ was nailed to The Cross), gouges in the forehead (from which Christ had a ''Crown of Thorns'' thrust upon Him) and finally intense pain on the side of the abdomen (somewhat rarer) – where Christ was pierced by a Roman Spear. The Sigmata appears only on specific persons and in particular those of extreme religious beliefs. First recorded in the 12th Century AD (Francis of Assisi), not all wound manifestations appear. The most common are the wounds to the hands. In cases examined over the centuries, these would are indeed deep gouges into the flesh resembling nail piercings. Often blood flows copiously, other time not so much. Often, pain is not felt – again it is. The manifestation is seen by those Faithful as a ''sign'' of devotion and ''favor'' from God.

Another common phenomenon with Stigmata sufferers, is that all share a common ''dream'' had prior to the appearance of the wounds. In this dream, the person is ''given'' a Chalice or cup to drink from (linking them to Holy Communion) or are pierced thru their Heart by a Sword. This phenomenon is known as Transreverberation within The Catholic Faith. Naturally, fakery has been known to happen and has been thus recorded as well over the years. However, several Cases in the 20th Century were thoroughly examined by science and medical authority. These cases show no ''earthly reasoning'' as to just how the wounds were made (or how they can just as quickly disappear). Science had advanced the theory that certain subjects can actually induce the wounds through ''mental means'', known as Neurotic Necrosis. Even this explanation is seen as fringe by many.

Skeptics cite other examples of trickery. While the common appearance in Art since The Middle Ages has been that Christ's hands were pierced with nails (thru the palms), this is really a misconception. In reality, His wrists were pierced (as the body weight would had caused his hand to literally rip free of their fastening point. The wrist provided a much stronger point to attach a victim to the cross bar during this uniquely Roman execution form. As stated previously, many Medieval Painters had no idea of this, and simply painted images of Christ's suffering as being ''nailed thru The Palms''. It is advanced, that of Stigmata is in fact ''real'', why then do the majority of those who feature the ''hand wounds'', show them incorrectly thru the palms? It should be noted that of this percentage, only 5 Cases in History presented wounds actually thru the wrist. The Catholic Church has been and still is wary to declare Stigmata as a genuine sign of Godly intervention, although it does have several Cases subscribed to deceased Saints as being authentic. Stigmata is (as with anything out of the ordinary) a matter of One's belief system.