Stigmata. Stigmata, in Christianity, are the appearance of bodily wounds, scars and pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ, such as the hands, wrists and feet.
   An individual bearing the wounds of stigmata is a stigmatist or a stigmatic. In Galatians 6:17, Saint Paul says: From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
   A stígma is a mark on the skin. Stigmata are primarily associated with Roman Catholicism.
   Many reported stigmatics are members of Catholic religious orders.St. Francis of Assisi was the first recorded stigmatic.
   For over fifty years, St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin reported stigmata which were studied by several 20th-century physicians. Stigmata are notably foreign to the Eastern Orthodox Church, which professes no official view on the matter; the first and only stigmatics have been Catholics who lived after the Great Schism of 1054. A high percentage of all stigmatics are women. In his Stigmata: A Medieval Phenomenon in a Modern Age, Ted Harrison suggests that there is no single mechanism whereby the marks of stigmata were produced. What is important is that the marks are recognised by others as of religious significance. Most cases of stigmata have been debunked as trickery. Some cases have also included reportings of a mysterious chalice in visions being given
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