Famous Catholic Stigmatic Women

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Video: Famous Catholic Stigmatic Women

Video: Famous Catholic Stigmatic Women
Video: Roman Catholic Personalities 2024, March
Famous Catholic Stigmatic Women
Famous Catholic Stigmatic Women
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Famous Catholic stigmatic women - stigmatics, stigmatics
Famous Catholic stigmatic women - stigmatics, stigmatics
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What stigmata? Stigmata are skin growths or wounds that correspond to wounds received Jesus at the crucifixion.

But if we continue asking and clarify who is the bearer of stigmata, where they come from, what stigmatization is as a phenomenon, for sure we will not hear sensible answers.

In the tens of centuries that have passed since the first case of stigmatization was described, our knowledge of this phenomenon has not deepened.

It is noteworthy that in the Middle Ages, stigmatists were mainly women, and in the modern world, men are more often their carriers. The geography of the appearance of stigmata has expanded - if earlier they appeared only in Italy, now stigmatics live in other European countries, and in America, and even in Japan and Korea.

What are the stigmata? Distinguish between imitative (or pictorial), symbolic stigmata, stigmata on internal organs. The imitative stigmata are those that reproduce the wounds on the body of Christ - small wounds on the forehead from a crown of thorns, four through wounds on the arms and legs, a wound on the right side, as well as marks of scourging and a bruise on the shoulder from carrying the cross. Bloody sweat and bloody tears complete the picture.

Stigma is a very mysterious phenomenon. Despite the fact that the phenomenon of stigma is confirmed by numerous documentary sources, it continues to be controversial. It is still not thoroughly known whether the appearance of stigmata is the result of a person's self-hypnosis, or is it still divine intervention? Is it a miracle or a madman's delirium?

For hundreds of years, about 400 cases of the appearance of stigmata have been officially recognized as complete. In this article, we highlight the most famous female stigmatists who have been recognized by the Catholic Church and have undergone a medical examination.

Veronica Giuliani

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Veronica (baptized Ursula) was born on December 27, 1660 in Italy.

From childhood, her character was already visible: the girl was distinguished by stubbornness and uncontrollable outbursts of anger, but at the same time she was unusually pious, the priests noted in her signs of mystical grace.

In 1677 she entered the Capuchin monastery, two years later she became a novice teacher there, and in 1716 she became an abbess. She lived in the monastery with great severity. On Good Friday, 1697, stigmata appeared on her body. The church at first did not believe in their authenticity, and Veronica was subjected to cruel tests.

Especially zealous was the Jesuit father Kriveli. But the humility and obedience of Mother Ursula, her desire to become like the crucified Christ, her readiness for suffering and clarity of spirit made even the most skeptics believe her.

She is usually depicted as a capuchin with stigmas and a crown of thorns, with a wedding ring on her finger and the wounded baby Jesus.

Veronica claimed that her wounds were bleeding not only outside, but also inside. She even painted what she thought was imprinted on her heart - a cross, a crown of thorns, three nails, swords, and the letter X.

Veronica Giuliani died in the monastery on July 9, 1727. An autopsy performed by two doctors in the presence of a priest showed that there were indeed scars on her heart that looked like a cross, and one shoulder blade was bent, as if something had been worn on it for a long time. it's hard.

In 1804 she was numbered among the blessed, and in 1839 - among the host of saints.

Anna Katerina Emmerich

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Anna Katerina was born in 1744. Already in childhood, Jesus and John the Baptist appeared to her, in her visions she experienced the life of Jesus, and after each such incident, the wound on her chest, shaped like a cross, became deeper and clearer. But those were not stigmata.

Stigmata appeared in Anna Katerina only in 1799 - a ring of small bleeding wounds suddenly formed around her head, and three years later other wounds appeared - on the palms, on the feet and on the side.

The bleeding weakened the woman so much that she fell ill and since 1813 did not get out of bed. Her doctor said: "Her stigmata was incredible: the wounds in her arms, legs, sides and head were half an inch in diameter."

Eyewitnesses claim that for the past 12 years she has only eaten cachets from the Catholic Mass.

Emmerich had daily visions. She claimed to have seen her guardian angel, as well as the suffering of Jesus on the cross. She saw the smallest details of the crucifixion and felt everything that Christ felt.

Her stories about the sufferings of Christ are extremely detailed, she describes many details that were not in the Gospels, and she gave them in her own interpretation, declaring that Jesus “writhed and trembled like a pitiful worm,” that he “cried out in a choked voice and begged for mercy”, And also told that the wound on the shoulder gave Jesus the greatest suffering.

However, it is not known whether it is possible to believe the words of Anna Katarina, since there is another factor here. Her stories were recorded by the German poet Clemen Brentano, an ardent Catholic believer, and today it is impossible to establish where Emmerich's words are and where Brentano's inventions are.

Only one thing can be said with certainty: the book "The Sorrowful Passions of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ", published by Brentano nine years after the death of Anna Caterina Emmerich, is clearly not built on knowledge of the evangelical texts.

Dominica Lazari

Dominica was born in Italy in 1815. When the girl was 13 years old, her father died. This event shocked her so much that she completely stopped eating, became very weak and soon fell ill. For several weeks, doctors fought for her life and still forced Dominica to eat.

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When the girl turned 18, she was accidentally locked in a mill in complete darkness for several hours. As a result, Dominica had a seizure, and she spent the rest of her life in bed half-paralyzed and with obvious signs of mental disorder - she could not stand noise, light, refused food. Attempts to force-feed her ended in vomiting.

In 1734, she developed wounds corresponding to those of the crucified Christ. The stigmata on her arms and legs were through and, according to her doctors, the wounds were so large that it was easy to stick a finger through them.

Dr. Gregory Kass from Lisbon Central Hospital pointed out another interesting feature of Dominica: in whatever position she was, the blood, instead of flowing down, went towards and down the thumbs, as if Lazari was crucified on a cross.

The wounds on Dominica's forehead, similar to wounds from a crown of thorns, appeared only once, and it happened in the presence of doctors. The scratches formed suddenly, blood flowed from them, and after a while they disappeared.

In this position - stigmatized and without food - Dominica Lazari lived for another 14 years and died at the age of 33.

Louise Lato

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Louise was born into a working class family in Charleroi (Belgium) in 1850. At the age of 13, the girl fell under the hooves of a cow, after which she did not get out of bed, as her internal organs were severely damaged.

When the girl was 18 years old, she had a vision, after which she got out of bed.

This event took place on Good Friday, and since then every Friday bleeding has been observed on the thigh, then on the legs, hands, shoulders and forehead. This event caused great excitement among the Catholic clergy, who declared her stigmata miraculous.

Thus, we can say that Louise got rid of one disease, but instead she got stigmata. After getting up, she began to work on the farm, performing simple operations. But her strength was quickly fading away, since with the appearance of stigmata she completely stopped eating, any meal made her vomit violently.

The girl fell ill again. Doctors examined her, but they did not find an explanation for the refusal of the body to take food. Since 1871, Louise had not eaten or drank anything, but she still looked quite healthy.

The Belgian Academy of Medicine, after listening to a report by Dr. Varlomon, who observed Louise in 1874-1875, concluded that the girl was obsessed with a nervous disease known as "stigmatization."

Louise Lato died at the age of 33, it happened suddenly, so that she barely had time to receive communion.

Teresa Neumann

Teresa Neumann was born in 1898 in a small village in Connersreith (Bavaria). She was the eldest of the Nouman children. Teresa was considered a saint from childhood. She did not miss a single Mass and always prayed diligently, kneeling before the crucifixion or Madonna.

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When the girl was 20 years old, a fire started in the house. Teresa tried to extinguish it and was badly hurt as a result.

And just a month after this event, she fell down the stairs, receiving a severe concussion, as a result of which she was paralyzed and almost completely blind. The neighbors decided that this was a test of faith for the whole family.

Seven years later, the illness suddenly released Teresa, she got out of bed and regained her sight, and a year later, on Good Friday 1926, Teresa had a vision in which her saint appeared to her, after which the girl was instantly healed of her illness, but acquired a new one: stigmata appeared on her body - a copy of the wounds Jesus received on the cross.

Since then, every Friday until her death in 1962, Teresa fell into a trance in which she experienced the events that took place on Calvary, and she had bloody tears, bloody sweat, deep bleeding wounds on her body - on her arms, legs and forehead. After a week, the wounds healed.

Teresa was repeatedly examined by specialists - doctors, journalists, clairvoyants, and none of them doubted that her wounds were real, whatever the source of their occurrence. The fact that Teresa herself could not apply them to herself was convinced in the very first years.

Dr. Alfred Lechler tried to explain the appearance of stigma on Teresa's body. In 1933 he published a book in which he described the experiments carried out with an Austrian girl. During hypnosis sessions, she developed the classic stigmata of bloody sweat, bloody tears, cuts on her forehead, and swelling of her shoulder. However, the doctor himself admitted that artificially induced stigmata are inferior to the present in terms of intensity, persistence, and clarity.

In 1927, Teresa again had a vision in which she was told that she must give up food and water in order to live. She fulfilled the mandate, so now she is considered her by the Breatharians (not to be confused with the Praetorians and vegetarians, from the English breath - "breath"). This movement advocates avoiding food.

Breatharians believe that humans were eternal until they began to eat. Food deprived a person of wings, brought him closer to the ground. They are categorically against the common saying “you will not be full of the holy spirit,” and they cite Teresa Neumann as an example.

People could not believe that it was possible to live without food and water, so the Bishop of Regensburg in 1960 appointed a commission to verify the veracity of such data. For 10 days, four nuns watched Teresa day and night. She did not eat or drink anything, but her weight remained unchanged. Medicine has not yet been able to explain this phenomenon.

The head of the breatharians movement, Wylie Brooks, believes that you can feed exclusively on the energy of the sun and chemical elements from the air, that refusing to eat increases the production of growth hormones that slow down aging, and stimulates a variety of psychic phenomena, including clairvoyance, which can be observed in other famous women. stigmatists - St. Didvina of Shidamskaya, blessed Elizabeth of Rena, St. Catherine of Siena, blessed Angela of Foligne.

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