Paradox: STIGMATA

Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus, such as the hands, head, torso and feet.

Over the past 770 years around 300 to 350 people have reported an extraordinary phenomenon. They have displayed, for all to see, wounds on their bodies - and particularly their hands and feet - that they believe represent the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ. Research shows that within religious circles there may have been many more stigmatic’s; many believe that their suffering is a private experience not to be made public.

The vast majority of the claimants have been female; one estimation indicates a figure as high as 85%. Some stigmata have unusual shapes, such as a cross or a circle, and some even glow in the dark. Many of them also produce a pleasant perfume-like odor. In a few rare cases they aren't even visible, but are known to be present from the pain that they cause.

Since they match the wounds suffered by Jesus, they are normally found on the hands and ankles, on one side of the chest, and on the head, shoulders, and back. But they aren't always real wounds, because many of them occur in the form of purplish skin blotches or tattoo-like markings. Actually, in some cases what looks like a blotch may be a real wound, because small amounts of blood will sometimes seep from it, even though no breaks are visible in the skin.

Some occurrences of stigmata persist for many years, but others only last a few days. In several cases they have appeared on Good Friday and vanished on Easter morning. In addition to the 'usual' marks some even report a pain that they believe represents the injury caused to Jesus Christ by his carrying the cross on his shoulder as he walked to his crucifixion.

Whether the stigmata is God-given are, of course, a matter for conviction rather than research so taken that in consideration we at Paradox will only inform you not try to explain:

SOME FAMOUS CASES (The list bellow has no particular order):

FIRST KNOW CASE

The word "stigmata" is the plural of the Greek word "stigma". This was an ancient name for marks that were pricked or branded onto the bodies of slaves and soldiers for identification purposes. The word was also applied to religious symbols tattooed onto members of pagan religious cults to show their devotion to particular gods and goddesses.

The first known use of the word with regard to the wounds of Christ occurs in Galatians 6:17, where the Apostle Paul says "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

THERESE NEUMANN

Was a German Catholic Mystic and Stigmatic.

She was born in the village of Konnersreauth in Bavaria, Germany, where she lived all her life. She was born into a large family with little income. She was a member of the The Third Order of St. Francis.

On 10 March 1918, Therese Neumann was partially paralyzed after falling off a stool while attending to a fire in her uncle's barn. She sustained more falls and injuries during this period. After one particular fall she claimed to have lost much of her eyesight. In 1919, she was blinded completely. Bedridden, she reportedly developed horrible bed sores that sometimes exposed bone.

Therese reported that her eyesight was restored on 29 April 1923—the day Therese of Lisieux was beatified in Rome. Therese Neumann had been praying novenas in advance of this day.

On 17 May 1925 Therese of Lisieux was fully canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church. Therese Neumann said the saint called to her and then cured her of her paralysis and bed sores.

On 7 November 1925 Neumann took to her bed again, and on 13 November was diagnosed with appendicitis. While prepared for surgery, she convulsed violently and stared at the ceiling finally saying, "Yes." She asked her family to take her to the church to pray immediately. She then announced that she had been cured of all traces of appendicitis. Therese would later apparently develop the stigmata. She said that on 5 March 1926, the first Friday of Lent, a wound had appeared slightly above her heart, but that she had kept this secret. However, she did report a vision of Jesus at Mount Olivet with three Apostles. On 12 March, she said she had another vision of Christ at Mt. Olivet, along with the crowning of thorns. She also claimed that the wound above her heart reappeared on this day, and she spoke to her sister about it. She claimed the wound also reappeared on Friday of the following week. By 26 March, she was claiming the same wound accompanied by a vision of Christ bearing the cross and a similar wound on her left hand. Blood was observed on her clothing, and she no longer attempted to keep the information to herself.

On Good Friday, Neumann according to her own testimony witnessed the entire Passion of Christ in her visions. She displayed wounds on her hands and feet accompanied by blood apparently coming from her eyes. Blood poured from the wounds, however - according to Neumann-critic Josef Hanauer's book The Swindle of Konnersreuth - onlookers did not actually see the bleeding in action, only the blood itself.[

However, according to author Albert Paul Schimberg, many persons observed her wounds bleeding and these witnesses were by no means limited to her immediate family and Fr. Josef Naber.Template:Gish, Lillian. The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me, p.302, Gish recounts her visit with Neumann By 3 p.m. that day, her parish priest Fr. Josef Naber was summoned to give Neumann the Last Rites. By 4 o'clock, her condition improved. The wounds on her feet and hands were observed when she was bathed.

On Easter Sunday, she claimed a vision of the resurrection of Christ. For several consecutive Fridays after that, she stated she was experiencing the Passion of Christ, apparently suffering in her own body along with all his historic agonies. She especially suffered the Passion on Good Friday each year.

By 5 November 1926, she displayed nine wounds on her head as well as wounds on her back and shoulders. According to several sources these wounds never healed or became infected and were found on her body at death.

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

Born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone; 1181/1182 – October 3, 1226 was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.

Francis was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, and he lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi. While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he begged with the beggars at St. Peter's. The experience moved him to live in poverty. Francis returned home, began preaching on the streets, and soon amassed a following. His order was endorsed by Pope Innocent III in 1210. He then founded the Order of Poor Clares, which was an enclosed order for women, as well as the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan. By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the order. Once his organization was endorsed by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. In 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas manger scene. In 1224, he received the stigmata, making him the first recorded person to bear the wounds of Christ's Passion. He died in 1226 while preaching Psalm 141.

On July 16, 1228, he was pronounced a saint by Pope Gregory IX. He is known as the patron saint of animals, the environment and one of the two patrons of Italy (with Catherine of Siena), and it is customary for Catholic and Anglican churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October

GEORGIO BONGIAVANI

Giorgio Bongiovanni was born in Cicilia in Floridia (SR) on September 5, 1963. His life changes for the first time in 1976, when he was only 13 years and finds Eugenio Siragusa, a remarkable Cateniense contacted (who was born in Catania - Italy) who becomes his spiritual father. Giorgio Eugenio awakens in the universal consciousness, it follows the teachings to educate and "cosmic" You learn that the Earth is a living creature, whose spirit can be identified with that Spirit commonly indicated with the name of Mary, Mother Earth or Miriam, the second cultures.

With his brother Philip and some friends founded the Journal Nosiamosoli that combines the various aspects of message Eugenio Siragusa One day, on March 5, 1989, around noon, Giorgio leaves his job to go and have lunch next to your currency Lady a car that looks like it is waiting. It struck (dazzled) by the light that comes from this being, because the sun is high in the spring sky. As he approached, he realized that Lady dressed in white is suspended over the earth. The salutes, and says that her name is Mary and invites him to prepare for subsequent meetings.

The following new appearances, increasingly intense, until the Virgin invited Giorgio to travel to Fatima that there would give him a sign On September 2, 1989, Giorgio accompanied by two Spanish friends, is in knees under the big oak dominates the square of the sanctuary. Led red roses as a gift and waits in prayer. As promised, the Heavenly Mother calls and Giorgio falls in stasis, see now the sublime Being who asks him if he is willing to bear the suffering of his son. Giorgio accepted the offer of the Virgin and see out of his chest, adorned with a white rose, two rays of light that strikes you on the palms. Giorgio falls back. His friends come running and see form on the back of his hands a swelling which is slowly tearing, as if a nail pushed upwards, opening up a deep wound that pierces through the palms. The pain is excruciating and spiritual trauma is profound. His "revelations" about Jesus, ufos, aliens and etc.. make him Giorgio one of the most controversial Stigmatics...Still Alive.

PADRE PIO

On the morning of the 20th September 1918, after having celebrated Holy Mass, the priest Padre Pio retired to the choir stalls for his usual thanksgiving. The place was S. Giovanni Rotondo and the church, Our Lady of Grace. Only a few old folk long accustomed to this midday furnace weather moved slowly about, entering the small church to say their devotions.

For the young priest, however, just then kneeling in the chapel of the church, this morning was to be very different, a fateful morning like no other, containing within it a destiny, a summons whose imperious and exalted demands he would attempt to fulfill to the end. In this absolute silence he prayed, mind and heart totally wrapped in the burning love which consumed him like some incurable fever.

What happened next can best be told in the simple, unadorned words of P. Pio writing to P. Benedetto little more than a month afterwards: "It all happened in a flash. While all this was taking place, I saw before me a mysterious Person, similar to the one I had seen on August 5th, differing only because His hands, feet and side were dripping blood. The sight of Him frightened me: what I felt at that moment is indescribable. 'I thought I would die, and would have died if the Lord hadn't intervened and strengthened my heart which was about to burst out of my chest. The Person disappeared and I became aware that my hands, feet and side were pierced and were dripping with blood" P. Pio had just received the visible stigmata.

For the next fifty years they would confound impartial science; their continuous and profuse effusion of blood, accompanied often by the sweetest fragrance, The rest is history. News of the event spread like wildfire and by the following year there began that afflux of pilgrims to the tiny friary which has not ceased since. At first in a tiny stream they came, later in the tens of thousands, flocking to glimpse this priest with the wounds of Christ, to assist at his Mass, to kiss those mistuned hands and for those who could speak Italian the privilege of confessing to him.

Saint Pio (Pius) of Pietrelcina, was a Capuchin Catholic priest from Italy who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. He was born Francesco Forgione, and given the name Pius (Italian: Pio) when he joined the Capuchins, thus he was popularly known as Padre Pio. He became famous for his bearing the stigmata. On 16 June 2002, he was canonized by Pope John Paul II.P. Pio died on 23 September 1968

JULIA KIM

Her original name is Hong-Sun Yoon. Julia is her baptismal name and Kim is her husband’s last name. She was born in Naju in 1947. Her father was a school teacher and a scholar in Chinese literature. In 1950, when the Korean War broke out, her grandfather and father were killed by the Communist soldiers. Her younger sister also died of an illness. Julia, with her mother, began experiencing extreme poverty and had to work hard for survival. She could not finish junior high school because of the poverty.

In 1972, Julia married Julio Kim. Julio works for the City of Naju, in its agricultural department. They have four children — two sons and two daughters. Later, Julia’s health deteriorated because of cancer and other accompanying illnesses. After several surgeries, her doctors said there was no hope.

While Julia was waiting for death, her husband took her to a Catholic priest. After hearing Julia’s story, the priest consoled her by saying that her sufferings were blessings from God. Julia felt her body becoming warm and sweating and was soon healed completely. She began a fervent prayer life. She opened a beauty salon and became quite successful. (A few years later, she closed the salon.)

One night, at 3 a.m., Julia saw a vision of Our Lord bleeding miserably, especially from His Heart, which was torn by human sins. Julia was deeply moved and promised a life of reparation for the sins in the world. Miraculously, she began suffering severe pains again. Julia also received the Stigmata, the wounds of Our Lord. These Stigmata usually last for several days and disappear.

They reappear later. On June 30, 1985, Julia saw Our Lady’s statue in her room weeping for the first time. Two and a half weeks later, on July 18, she received the first message from Our Lady. On October 19, 1986, clear tears turned into bloody tears. Julia has continued receiving messages and suffering pains. Other miracles have also continued — fragrant oil from Our Lady’s statue, the fragrance of roses, healings of incurable illnesses, and Eucharistic miracles.