stigmata

stig·ma·ta (stĭg-mäʹtə, -mătʹə, stĭgʹmə-) n.

A plural of stigma.

* * *

In Christian mysticism, bodily marks, scars, or pains suffered in places corresponding to those of the crucified Jesus

on the hands and feet, near the heart, and sometimes on the head (from the crown of thorns) or shoulders and back (from carrying the cross and being whipped).

They are often presumed to accompany religious ecstasy and are taken as signs of holiness. The first to experience stigmata was St. Francis of Assisi (1224). Of the more than 330 persons identified with stigmata since the 14th century, more than 60 were canonized or beatified by the Roman Catholic church (see canonization).

* * *

▪ Christian mysticism

singular  stigma 

 in Christian mysticism, bodily marks, scars, or pains corresponding to those of the crucified Jesus Christ—that is, on the hands, on the feet, near the heart, and sometimes on the head (from the crown of thorns) or shoulders and back (from carrying the cross and scourging). They are often presumed to accompany religious ecstasy.

      The first example of the alleged miraculous infliction of stigmata occurred in St. Francis of Assisi (Francis of Assisi, Saint). While in his cell on Mount Alverno in 1224, pondering on the sufferings of Christ, Francis was purportedly visited by a seraph who produced upon his body the five wounds of Christ. Pope Alexander IV and others attested that they had seen these marks both before and after Francis's death. The divinely attested sanctity of its founder gave to the newly established order of Franciscans a powerful impulse. In the next century the same alleged wonder occurred to a Dominican sister, Catherine Benincasa, better known as St. Catherine of Siena (Catherine of Siena, Saint). Her biographer implied that she was subject to hystero-epileptic attacks, during one of which, at the age of 23, she received her first stigma. From the 14th to the 20th century, more than 300 persons were identified as having been stigmatized; more than 60 were declared saints or the blessed in the Roman Catholic Church.

* * *