- STIGMATA -

Description by Mister 13

Aerosol spray and kleenex on canvas, 1 coffee, 2 cigarettes. The background glows in the dark. A stigma is phenomenon when people mysteriously receive the crucifixion wounds of Christ. This stigma has an unexplainable concept that has always baffled both religious and scientific studies. A lot of people question the authenticity of stigmatics because there is not a scientific explanation. Stigmata is the Greek word for puncture wound. Basically, to experience a stigmata, one must be really close to God. There are many different kinds of stigmatics. Usually the wounds are located both in the hands or wrist and through the feet. These wounds can make their first appearance at any time in the stigmatic's life. The wounds can be merely visible to human eye. Some wounds completely puncture the hand or feet, and some partially puncture the limb. It has been recorded that Padre Pio, an Italian priest, had the stigmata and bled two cups of blood a day yet was perfectly healthy. His case is rare because he bled at a greater amount of blood and more often than any other stigmatic. Some bleed from their wounds only on Good Friday, and some bleed every Friday. Most interesting to note is that a stigmatic's wound will never get infected and they never get sick from experiencing blood loss. Stigmata which seen as a brutal punishment at the first glance is actually a physical representation of Christian love and is a true gift from God. The unity of man and god is represent by the experience of Stigmata is also an indication for any people that anyone has the ability to reach a spiritual peak where they are one with good, both physically and mentally. There have been over 500 people throughout history believed to be Stigmatics. For no apparent reason, these stigmatists displayed wounds similar to those said to have been suffered by Jesus Christ. The first recorded case of these wounds was in the year 1222, by a man named Stephen Langton of England. Saint Francis of Assisi first suffered the wounds in La Verna, Italy in 1224. Other famous stigmatists include Catherine of Siena, St. John of God, and St. Marie of the Incarnation. The most famous stigmatist of the twentieth century was Padre Pio (1918 -1968). More recently, stigmata was experienced by Brother Roque (died 1998), a novice in the order of Los Hijios de los Hijos de la Madre de Dios in Villavicencio, Colombia, Georgio Bongiavani and Canadian Lilian Bernas who began exhibiting stigmata in 1992. There have been historical stigmatics that were known to have faked wounds, such as Magdalena de la Cruz (1487-1560), who admitted the fraud. It remains unknown if stigmata actually exist. To accept the exisence of stigmata may simply be a matter of religious faith. Similar self-inflicted wounds can be associated with certain brain disorders. Some people who fake stigmata suffer from Munchausen Syndrome which is characterised by an intense desire for attention. People with Munchausen hurt themselves or fake an illness hoping to end up in a hospital where they can enjoy attention and care. People also fake stigmata knowing that some who had stigmata were declared holy by the pope. In this way they try to gain a recognition. Self inflicted stigmata wounds heal naturally, but believers say true stigmata is caused by emotional distress, and must therefore be treated as such. As a psychological condition, the suffering of a stigmatic may be very real. It has also been theorized that the wounds have a physiological origin, where the mind somehow produces the physical signs of the stigmatic’s religious fervency and fanaticism.