[UM-Bot]

One of the most rare and disturbing religious paranormal phenomena is the stigmata, or the manifestation of the wounds of the passion of Christ on the body. These wounds can range from a seemingly psychosomatic feeling of the wounds and the associated pain, but with no corresponding visible damage to the skin, to full blown unexplainable wounds that bleed and cause great discomfort to the stigmatic.

View: Full Article | Source: The Paranormal Report

[The Silent Oblivion]

Here in italy Padre Pio da Pietralcina is one of the most "famous" saints, his story is recent and small miracles concerning him still occur today. All of our grandparents have at least one representation of him at home (my grandma has a painting of Padre Pio in the corridor, and a picture on her bedside table).
He was famous for his stigmate and his supposed healing powers, people who suffered after WWI started to see him as a symbol of hope.
Despite his fame, he was often accused of misuse of founds, deception and insanity; even from the church itself.

After his death an further investigation was made, and five years ago he was declared saint also thanks to his immense public success.

[:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR:]

Sounds like we was living in a Hell on Earth. If the devil appeared in front of me, I don't know what I'd do, other than crap myself senseless...

[xCrimsonx]

OMG, Ive always been facinated with the stigma of stigmata. lol

Ive seen so many docos and never have I heard about this one. Heaven forbid one sees visions from heaven, and also apparitions from hell. very spooky.......

If be, this man to have bled from the scars for the rest of life then so he should be a saint.

For someone so holy, why should the devil have visited a dedicated man such as Padre Pio?

[Neognosis]

Sounds like scitzophrenia to me.

What's most interesting to me about stigmata is that the wounds appear either on the wrist or the palms, depending on that particular culture's depictions of the crucifixion.

[Pelican_Eel]

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What's most interesting to me about stigmata is that the wounds appear either on the wrist or the palms, depending on that particular culture's depictions of the crucifixion.

I guess that's because stigmata appears depending on a person's belief, not on a historical truth of how Christ was crucified. Stigmata's cause is inside, not outside (which, in my opinion, doesn't make them less mystical).

[Compline]

As early as 1911, he first manifested the stigmata, which he described in a letter as red marks on his hands and feet that caused severe pain. The wounds eventually became visible, sometimes bleeding profusely and would continue the rest of his life. He often prayed for the wounds to dissappear, but not the pain, as he found the marks to be an embarrassment.
They would never completely dissappear, so he was known to hide them. The visions of the devil continued as well, appearing to Pio as everything from a dancing naked girl, Pope Pius X, St. Francis and most disturbingly, the virgin Mary. One wonders how difficult of a time he had in distinguishing between visions from heaven, and apparitions from hell. Pio died in 1968, still afflicted with the stigmata.

Just a few points for accuracy, because the phenomena and Padre Pio himself are so controversial. Witness accounts and information have been extensively documented about Padre Pio, and accuracy is important to protect against false accusations.

The invisible stimata appeared in 1915, and the full stigmata on 20 September 1918. It was immediately investigated by the Church and then again and again, and all the reports are fully documented. The Church ordered that he be forbidden to let anyone see the wounds, the most of obvious of which were on the palms of his hands, so he wore gloves with the fingers cut off; and socks over his feet. Only during the saying of Mass were the gloves removed. He bore the pain and bleeding for 50 years, till early 1968 when the wounds began to close up, the last scab falling off just after his death in September.

Stigmatists vary as to which of the wounds of Jesus Christ appear and the times of the week they bleed. Padre Pio's stigmata, as far as has been allowed to be reported, bore all the wounds: feet, hands, side, back lacerations, shoulder (from the carrying of the cross and said by him to have been the most painful of all the wounds) and only on rare occasions appearing during the saying of Mass, as pinpricks of blood on his forehead and around his head, representing the crown of thorns. They bled continuously, the most profuse being from his side. Highly qualified doctors attempted to "cure" the wounds and so prevent the crowds from flocking to seek solace from a fake that the Church had not approved, but nothing worked for 50 years to close the wounds. However on two occasions Padre Pio had to operated on, once for a hernia and once for a growth on his neck. Both operating wounds healed normally within about a month. Rather than stinking, the continually flowing and congealing blood had a strong scent of fresh flowers.

Padre Pio lived a life of austerity as a monk. He barely ate, and ate only under obedience. Despite this he often worked an 18 hour day mainly hearing confessions, although during his priesthood he did all the usual duties of baptism, marriage, counselling etc. His official day began with the saying of Mass pre-dawn and continued the whole day and into the evening. Reported as a man with a wonderful sense of humour, he put up with having no privacy from the thousands that crowded around all year and a voluminous correspondence. He was also responsible for the raising of a huge hospital from funds donated to the cause in a part of southern Italy that was desperately poor and without proper medical and hospital facilities.

One cannot know why he was the victim of all sorts of annoying tricks, temptations and physical assault by the Devil. The assaults continued into his old age when he could barely move on his own, and resulted in noises that terrified the monasteries he stayed at, and physical injuries that sometimes required medical treatment. Padre Pio learnt fairly early on that calling out the name of Jesus or the sprinkling of holy water dispersed the tricks for him, but the physical assaults could not wholly be stopped. We are left to assume that we are to be aware of the reality of the Devil and the curative of prayer and the help of St Michael the Archangel, whose ancient shrine was close to the monastery where Padre Pio was cloistered, might be applied to. He did teach that the Devil could only attack you through your will; that all suffering comes from God and all temptation from the Devil.

Despite the enormous good the man did and his obvious pain and suffering, he was also the victim of difficult restrictions by the Church to whom he displayed conspicuous obedience, and slanders from within and without the church. He was and is greatly loved and in his lifetime he demonstrated love, obedience and forgiveness as an example to follow as he did of his beloved Jesus Christ.

Well, we can try harder.

[truethat]

Not for nothing, but it can't be that hard to fake these kinds of things can it? The idea that his wounds would never leave his hands and feet, when it has been shown that nailing someone through the hands was not how people were crucified, would seem to me to be a fake job.

Self mutilation has long been part of the history of depression.

[TeraLink]

That's commitment...

TeraLink Was Here!

[AntoniCanada]

I can't believe I am actually telling this story because how often does Santo Padre Pio come up but.. My Uncle died in Feb of this year and I have been going to my Aunts house every Sat night and sunday morning since, I help her out out and take her to mass in the morning and do the lawn while she is there. Anywhooo they have a spare bedroom in which they converted into a shrine so they could do their daily rosary and prayers. Santo Padre Pio is a main feature on the mini alter and on the wall along with other adornments.. long story short.. i have to sleep in the Santo Padre Pio guest bedroom, breakfast optional shrine. Believe you me, I have only clean thoughts in that room, and I dont do any adjustments if you know what I mean guys.

[xCrimsonx]

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Not for nothing, but it can't be that hard to fake these kinds of things can it? The idea that his wounds would never leave his hands and feet, when it has been shown that nailing someone through the hands was not how people were crucified, would seem to me to be a fake job.

Self mutilation has long been part of the history of depression.

Well, just recently Ive found that Mother Teresa wasnt happy in her life. Her journal entries prove this. Like Ghandi...... was he depressed? They starved themselves. With respect to both of them, this somewhat seems disturbing. These holy icons endured pain to serve god and to bring happiness to the poor.

Sorry of topic, just thought Id mention.

[Compline]

Well, just recently Ive found that Mother Teresa wasnt happy in her life. Her journal entries prove this. Like Ghandi...... was he depressed? They starved themselves. With respect to both of them, this somewhat seems disturbing. These holy icons endured pain to serve god and to bring happiness to the poor.



I dunno about Mother Theresa or Ghandiji, who may have offered abstention from food as personal sacrifice or as a way to learn self-discipline.

Padre Pio the stigmatist was said by his friends and brother monks to have been the happiest man they knew, always telling jokes and making witty remarks. Yet he also showed deep sorrow and compassion for the thousands of people who had physical and emotional problems which he prayed for help to alleviate. And when loved ones died he was prostrate with grief, despite well knowing that they were with God because "the humaan heart claims its share".

For all his sacrifice and suffering for most of his life he nevertheless endured a constant Dark Night of the Soul from his early 20s, always in fear that he was not pleasing to God. He doubted that he was fully making use of the spiritual gifts he had received and felt unworthy of them, and this was despite working an 18 hour day in all weather when his health permitted. His antidote was constant prayer and trust in the Divine Mercy.

Padre Pio did not starved himself but just did not seem to need food. He ate a little under obedience to the successive Farther Guardians of the Capuchin community of monks he belonged to. But starvation was not an issue.

[Katana357]

Compline, outstanding posts! You are obviously well versed in this subject and it's proven to be a great source of information for myself. With a moderate background in forensics I can say that determining whether any wound is self inflicted or not has become a rudimentary aspect of observations of live or dead subjects. One has to look at the chronology of the wounds as well as looking at the level of observation that the subject was under during the times that self mutilation may have occurred. I know that in this case one of the attending physicians had a background in forensics and was baffled as to how wounds that should have had ample time to heal would not only fail to close but seemed to opening from inside the body.

Self mutilations are by their very nature the result of an external force. The stigmata in this and several cases that are the most convincing of this phenomenon are not only originating from inside the body but they show in incredibly low rate of infection. Another amazing fact resides in the lack of long term effects to the suffers of stigmata that persists into weeks, months, or in this particular case decades. It isn't hard to self mutilate ones self but ultimately it's very difficult to do it in a way that can avoid detection by the forensic specialists of almost any time period.

As a final thought the spiritual fight that Padre Pio endured reminds me of the account of Emily Rose. The attack on the sole, the stigmata, and the suffering endured by someone who you would definitely count among Gods soldiers.

Katana357

[Compline]

As a final thought the spiritual fight that Padre Pio endured reminds me of the account of Emily Rose. The attack on the soul, the stigmata, and the suffering endured by someone who you would definitely count among Gods soldiers.

Hi Katana357 and thank you for the kind comment.

I have seen the Hollywood version of the movie Emily Rose and done a little reading on her case. Very sad for her and her family. And for their sakes let us hope that her decision and her vision were authentic. At least people are more aware of the possibility of possession and of the possible real presence of the Devil.

Unfortunately the facts are so bizarre that you would have had to have been a personal witness or close to one whom you could trust, to believe that it was genuine demonic possession. And not many people would know enough background to what actual possession consists of and how it manifests itself. I am puzzled as to why demons have to be quite so ugly, drooly and frightening. Is not their purpose to sway us away from God? In which case more of the temptations of earthly possessions and powers would surely work better, wrapped in silk and Prada and served with lobster and the best champagne. This dreadful screaming, red eyes and green goo would frighten a soul, rather than entice it onto a path of evil.

The reported exorcisms carried out by Padre Pio were quick and though prayer, holy water and a blessing. But perhaps he was powerful enough spiritually to be effective just with this. There was a case where he succeeded when two priests had failed, where the demon mocked them saying that they had not themselves been sufficiently prayerful and had not made sacrifices enough to counteract the possession.

[Regency]

Wow - what a fascinating subject, I've really enjoyed reading all the posts on this.

Padre Pio devoted his life to God, I could never imagine that - now he's revered as a Saint, after reading all the accounts it appears that it's a titled well deserved, IMO. There does seem to be something about him, a holiness - and I'm not a religious person.