"look everyone!, i'm bleeding from the same spots on my body that christ our saviour was wounded on his!, now go forth my flock and fill the collection plate with lots of $$$" !!!

Like virtually every thread on this entire website, it's filled with people speaking on a subject they know nothing about. There have been some stigmata cases studied up close where the wounds have been examined and didn't seem to fit into an explanation of fraud. There was one documentary a while back that put a number of current religious phenomena to the test. One was a woman from Central/South America that had recurring stigmata-type wounds periodically that would appear and then disappear. Time lapse photography when she was under testing showed the marks slowly appear. She developed lots of small wounds around her head where the crown of thorns that Jesus was forced to wear would have been.

Remember, these people aren't actually being crucified and if the phenomenon is real, it's symbolic and doesn't mean the wounds have to appear exactly where they would have on Jesus. And Stigmata has nothing to do with interpreting pictures of Jesus on a Walmart receipt.

Originally posted by WarminIndy
I can see why people in the Middle Ages could be psychologically inclined by superstition to manifest stigmata. Life was bad in those days with the Crusades and the Plague. Much of Europe was destroyed by that. And if people felt that it was Divine Judgment against them for their sins, then a few devout people would find it much more important to find signs of God's favor. And I suppose stigmata could be just that for them.

But we live today in a modern world. Our plagues are preventable. We have trouble with the concept of Divine Judgment or Divine Providence that is manifested in signs. I am sure there are a few who do believe that way, but overall, we don't talk about it as part of our collective understanding.

So what surprises me is that a few people today still exhibit the 5 Sacred Wounds. Perhaps they feel that their lives now have meaning because of it. Perhaps they are overwhelmed by previous emotional wounds. I can't really say.

But in other groups of people who face modern plagues, famines, starvation, disease, malnourishment, abuse, and all other forms of human cruelty, stigmata in religious terms still only affects those of Catholic leanings. I guess the average Muslim believer in Somalia isn't going to believe in the wounds of Christ anyway. But isn't there something their own adherents manifest that they believe is Divine in origin?

I don't think stigmata is about God's judgment. I believe it has happened to only those people that are deeply immersed in the life of Christ and the experiences that occurred at different points of his life. I'd say it's only the very devout that choose to experience the "Passion of the Christ" through suffering, which manifests the wounds. Here's an interesting link of those that have and still do experience stigmata. [url=http://www.greatdreams.com/stigmata.htm]

Interesting topic.

All I can say is this: If stigmata is indeed caused from "mind over matter", it just goes to show that Christ really is within us all.