Stigmata: Conclusion

The Stigmata what have learned?

Over the length of the Stigmata series on the Eidolon Paranormal Blog, we have described a great number of similar occurrences and detailed differing types of stigmata, as well as brought you a broad spectrum of people, from saints to everyday people, right across the globe, from this we have learnt the following aspects about Stigmata.


Stigmata is mainly felt by Catholics (with very rare cases outside the Faith)
Stigmata can affect Holy people, but also everyday people.
The first, and only recognised Stigmata case by the Roman Catholic Church is that of St. Francis of Assisi
The wounds can appear on the hands or the wrists of those with Stigmata.
Visions usually accompany the Stigmata, mostly they are of the Virgin Mary, Jesus or a Saint, but in at least one case they have been of the Devil.
Stigmata appears to be psychological to the medical community, but it is still unknown as to why the and how the physical attributes happen
When one case of Stigmata “breaks out”, it is usually followed in quick succession by others reporting Stigmata, with no valid connections to one and another, other than being Catholic, afterwards a long period will occur when no cases are reported.
Hemography – Blood used from Stigmata wounds forms letters and symbols on clothing and bandages to form Symbolic words or meanings to the Catholic Faith.
Other supernatural phenomena usually coincide with stigmata such as bilocation, prophecy, revelations, soul connections, connections with spirit and Jesus and levitation.
As of yet, no-one in Australia has reported Stigmata
almost all cases of stigmata report the blood from the wounds having a “rose” scent – the same scent is apparent with those who have incorruptible bodies ( http://eidolonparanormal.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/proof-of-god-incorruptible-body.html)
Stigmata was once enough of a miracle for someone to become a Saint after death, the Catholic Church no recognises it alone as such an honour to beatify someone.


Stigmata is still an often overlooked supernatural phenomenon, most likely as most paranormal investigators today laugh off anything religious as being “out there”, which if you think about it is rather ridiculous with so many chasing demons and other biblical creatures, and the whole paranormal community being a little “out there”
There is much in the Bible describing supernatural and paranormal phenomena that are overlooked whilst people chase ghosts, or get stuck in Church Dogma, but there seem to be no paranormal investigation teams interested in researching the phenomena like Stigmata that is still happening in modern times.
It would be great to see more teams look further afield than ghosts, UFO's and Bigfoot, and search other phenomena.
The Stigmata will continue to be a mystery until a sufferer comes forward and allows real medical teams and scientists to study their bodies, wounds and minds and find try to make sense of what is happening, the phenomena could be psychosomatic, self mutilation or indeed of God, but until any real documented, unbiased research is concluded we will never know the truth.





© 2013 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Stigmata: Hemography

Stigmata: Hemography

For those of you paying attention during our stigmata series, you may remember the word Hemography being briefly described in the short profile on Natuzzo Evolvo and her Stigmata case.

Hemography whilst being associated closely to the Stigmata, is not solely associated with it, but is a paranormal phenomenon all of its own, although it remains one of the lesser known phenomena because it does not receive the same media attention as say, UFO, Hauntings or Near Death experiences, it is still a subject that can be studied by paranormal investigators and scientists alike to try and ascertain its validity as a real and actual event.

So what exactly is Hemography I hear you ask? Well, to put it simply, it is the formation of letters or symbols on walls, cloth, bandages etc, with human blood, done from an unknown or supernatural force.

With Natuzzo Evolvo it involved the bandages that wrapped the wounds of her stigmata, when taken off her wounds the bloodstains would form hieroglyphs of Christian symbols of Jesus, the rosary or other Catholic religious symbolism.

In other documented cases words have been written in blood, in one long string of documented events the words “God is Nowhere” was seen to be written in blood, but more recently this phrase has changed to “God is Now Here”, but who the writer is, none of the people investigating is really sure, but what they do know is that humans are not the ones writing the phrases, it seems to come from an unseen supernatural force, maybe even multiple forces, if they are good, evil or neutral is also unknown.

Hemography is still a relatively unknown phenomenon, and as such has had little or no research done upon it, it has had some exposure through the Television show “supernatural” in recent years, but many people believe it to be a fictional, “made up for television phenomena”, rather than something that is very real in the physical world.

Maybe this article has sparked your interest and you might like to look a little deeper into the phenomena, as per usual with all our Eidolon Paranormal post, we encourage that you investigate for yourself, below is a couple of links to get you started

Below are links to a few case file studies on the phenomena

http://www.sodalitasquaerito.com/chadg.htm

http://www.sodalitasquaerito.com/tommyf.htm

http://www.sodalitasquaerito.com/paulcallan.htm

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Stigmata: Maria Esperanza de Bianchini

The Stigmata of Maria Esperanza de Bianchini

Born in Venezuela on November 22, 1928, Maria is also known locally as “Servant of God, Maria Esperanza” a title given to one who is thought to be Pius in their religion, and to be investigated by the Holy Roman Catholic Church to be taken towards Sainthood.

Maria was born on the feast of Saint Cecilia in Barrancas, not far from the Orinoco River, she had considered becoming a Nun at one pint, but had a vision on October 3, 1954, that called for her to live the life of a wife, she went on to have seven children and tweny grandchildren!

The vision was that of Saint John Bosco. Saint John told her how she would meet her husband on November 1^st 1955, of which she did and, as above, went on to marry and have a large family.

Maria was devoted to St Therese of Lisieux, the “Little Flower” and spent much of her time in prayer for intercession from her.

Many of her followers and the cult that has sprung up about Maria believe in a long list of supernatural knowledge bestowed upon this humble wife from God.

They believe Maria received the gifts of Levitation, Healing, apparition, Discernment of Spirits, Locution, Ecstacy, The Odour of Sanctity ( an unusual effect attributed to many saints where the odour of fresh roses rises from their bodies after death) and the stigmata.

There have been witnesses to her levitation during mass and her bilocation (where a person is in one place but is seen in another at the same time).

Maria was also present, with 150 other people, when Our Lady, The Virgin Mary appeared to people in Finca Betina, Venezuela, which has been authenticated as a real event by the local Bishop and The Holy See.

Maria Esperanza lived with her stigmata, and still ran a household, had children and grandchildren, managed to pray, go to church and do all the humdrum things us normal folk do, so even though the Stigmata is a Holy gift, it did not get in the way of her everyday life.

Maria was also a modern mystic, revealing many prophecies, some have claimed to be eerily accurate, for more on Maria, please follow the links below.

http://www.esoterism.ro/english/maria-esperanza.php
http://www.mariaesperanza.org/english/maria_esperanza_en.html

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

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Stigmata: George H

Stigmata of George H.

In 1985 in Scotland, around the same time as Jane Hunt, a man known simply as George H. received the stigmata, George wasn’t a particularity religious fellow, but at the time he had been studying Saint Francis of Assisi, the first of all stigmata sufferers.

George received his marks, and at the same time, instead of visions of Jesus or Mary, his vision was of the Devil, Satan mocking him, tempting him with favours and promise and with other more unsavoury acts.

George became increasingly ill, and ended up in hospital fed through a feeding tube, it is said the devil would whisper in his ear on a daily basis...

Unfortunately, that’s where the trail ends with George H. from Scotland, with nothing further written about him available online on this stage, did he live? I cannot answer that, but it is very interesting that his vision was not of The Lord or The Virgin Mary, but of the devil. It is a stark contrast to the norm ( if there is one) of stigmata!

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Stigmata: Jane Hunt

Stigmata of Jane Hunt

Jane Hunt, a 28-year-old woman from the United Kingdom began to report visions of Christ appearing in her pillow on the 24^th of July 1985.

The very next morning, the feast day of Saint James, Jane's hands began to itch and burn uncontrollably, she suffered on and went about her daily routine with a quick visit to the local shops to buy groceries, it was there that she suddenly experienced tremendous pain, like needles, were being pushed through her hands, blood began to flow from her palms although there were no puncture wounds visible.

The wounds would come and go from then on, but around Easter and generally on a Sunday the wounds would become more sensitive.

At a time when they appeared on her hands, they looked somewhat like a blister and would burst spilling her blood, sometimes up to a pint by Jane’s own estimate.

Deep pits or fissures appeared on her hands, but no piercing or puncture wounds were visible, soon Jane’s feet also began to show signs of the Stigmata, and she developed serious debilitating pain in her right side.

More visions began, sometimes she felt as if she was “inside Christ”, she also had a vision of Mary in her house and one vision of being allowed to hold Jesus just after his birth.

Jane also experienced a mentally disturbing vision of the Devil, who tried to undermine her faith and mock Jesus and the Stigmata

Another unusual occurrence was the scent of sweet roses through her house, which was also sensed by her Mother and husband, this is also a scent often detected when a very Pius person dies, and many of the saints who have gone on to have “incorruptible bodies” have had the same smell emanate from them at death.

Jane’s case becomes a little bit more unusual though, as in 1987 she had to undergo a full hysterectomy, from which she recovered nicely, but her stigmata were gone and have not since returned.

Reported in The Anchorage Daily News Saturday, Oct 4^th 1986 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1828&dat=19861003&id=rIAgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kqcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1244,2094805

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Stigmata: Heather Woods

Stigmata of Heather Woods

A remarkable case of Stigmata is that of Heather Woods, why is it so remarkable?

Because this is one of the best-documented cases of The Stigmata in modern, if not all times.

Researchers John and Anne Spencer have put a great deal of their own and time and money into documenting Heather's particular case.

The couple's study has seen them live for three days with Heather as well as accumulate 12 hours of videotaped interviews, over 130, 000 words of dictated memories, access to all of Heather's private diaries where she had written about messages from God, her pain and other writings about her stigmata, as well as having access to all of Heather's writings that she claims are channelled messages from God.

Heather came from a background of child abuse, she was removed from her parents at a very young age, and subsequently abused by her carers, this led the researchers not to trust her psychological health as many people who suffer such trauma at an early age have psychological issues in their adulthood.

Abandonment issues often show themselves in ones adult lives as attention-seeking behaviours, of which Stigmata would certainly fit the bill.

Heather would fall into trance-like states, and begin writing at incredible speeds and drawing pictures of her visions, at the same time her stigmata would appear. She believed wholeheartedly that her writings and vision were given to her by God.

Her writings read like sermons and her pictures would always be of Jesus either being baptised or being crucified.

Heather stated that when she had the Stigmata she felt like she was “inside Christ” upon the cross, and felt herself with him at many times throughout Jesus life in the biblical times. She also felt herself with John the Baptist, she described it as 'It was as if I was there. I could see the water dripping from him, sparkling in the sunlight.'

Unfortunately by the time Heather was 44 she had been in and out of surgery for various organ failures and had most removed, she also suffered from cancer, and her body was a wreck, but she still maintained a sense of dignity, and some witness claim, “holiness” about her in her meetings with people and interviews with the media.

Heather was featured in a 1994 Easter documentary in the USA and is also the subject of at least two books.

http://stigmata-phillosophy.blogspot.com.au/p/heather-woods.html

Stigmata Video :

http://youtu.be/7dNFTJld8rc

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Stigmata of Father Bruse

The Stigmata of Father Bruse – USA

The stigmata is a worldwide phenomenon, but it appears to be one almost exclusively within people of the Catholic Faith.

The USA is home to many wonders, fascinating beasts and oddities. One would expect to find more supernatural religious-related paranormal phenomenon happening in the country, but oddly, it seems to have a distinct lack of it.

There is however one very fascinating case, that of Father Bruse, who from 1991 to 1993 carried the wounds of the Stigmata on his body, but in an oddity not seen elsewhere, his blessing carried further than his own body, and affected statues around him too.

In a very well documented case, statues began to weep blood in the St Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, crucifixes and pictures wept in his presence too.

The main statues that wept were always ones featuring The Blessed Virgin Mary, there were also reports of the facial expressions of the statues changing, statues changing colour, rosary's changing colour, the fragrance of roses filling the Church and many other supernatural occurrences.

Amidst all this Father Bruse's body was showing the signs of the stigmata, he was also conducting healings and blessings on mass, but strangely, the Archdiocese of Arlington decided to play down the weeping statues and marked Priest, and warded media and the throng of sight-seeing parishioners off.

The Church has not recognised the events of those two years officially, which isn't so unusual in the United States when one considers it took the Catholic Hierarchy of the country 150 years to recognise, officially, a sighting of the Virgin Mary.

Father Bruse has since been moved onto a different Church and currently presides as Parish Priest over two Churches. It is said things still happen around him, like rosaries changing colour, and that in his presence one can feel the holiness of the man.

In a recent interview Father Bruse was quoted as saying:

"Something is getting ready to happen. The Lord is just making us aware that He is there and He is real."

"I see that as something getting ready to happen. I think it's a major wake-up call that's going on, and I think that all that I see -- the weird temperature, the polar caps, the earthquakes -- there's a lot going on and I think we should all be prepared. I really do. I've had a lot more come back to church and Confession. I think it's all different than a few years back. I think we're in a different era now."

"We don't have to worry about what's beyond death, We know. It's total love. Christ is the real power behind all these phenomena. Christ is preparing us for the Kingdom of God, saying 'be prepared,' but shouting it out now. It's as if Christ is saying 'wake up! Let's get moving on our spirituality.' I believe it's building up to something big."

For more on Father Bruse and the weeping statues, please follow the links below

Weeping Statues:

http://www.visionsofjesuschrist.com/weeping73.htm

The Seton Miracles (Book)

http://www.amazon.com/Seton-Miracles-Weeping-Statues-Wonders/dp/0966623401

Current news story on the weeping statues

http://www.visionsofjesuschrist.com/weeping823.html

http://www.spiritdaily.org/stigpriests.htm

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

The Stigmata of Marie Rose Ferron

Born in St Germain de Grantham, Quebec, Canada, Marie Ferron, also known as “Little Rose”, was born into a large family, the tenth child of a brood of fifteen children. She was born on the 24th of May 1902, four years later, in 1906, the family pulled up its roots and moved south to Fall River in Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Moving again in 1925, “Little Rose” now found herself living in Rhode Island, where the family settled and Marie spent the rest of her lifetime.

It was noted, that even in younger years, Marie was a particularly pious young lady, listening intently during Mass, and staying in her seat afterwards to reflect on what she had just heard, rather than run out to play with the other children.


An unfortunate event occurred to Marie in her teenage years, She was carrying dinner to her father on a spring day, the snow was beginning to melt and the ground was a slushy mess, Marie became seriously sick, and the result was a paralysed hand and foot, oddly, two years later after receiving some holy water, her hand mysteriously healed itself, yet her foot didn’t, and she spent the next twelve years using crutches to get around.

Marie suffered incredibly mental anguish because of her condition, she couldn't go out and play with other children, nor could she go to be schooled due to her illness, it played very deeply on her mind and washed a sadness over her. She writes of it in her letters of her inability to attend schooling:


"I felt as if I were blind, groping in the dark," she said. "I had nothing to look forward to, no hope of bettering my condition. I beheld my ignorance ever before my eyes, and that discouraged me more than my infirmities. Time, that softens everything, even sufferings, increased my own: they broke my heart."

At Six years old Marie had her first vision of Christ, she saw him clearly with a cross, and stated he had a sadness in his eyes.

When she was seven, Jesus taught her a prayer in French, of which she spoke daily until her death

"Lord Jesus, when I reflect upon the words You have uttered, 'Many are called, but few are chosen, I begin to tremble for those I love, and I beg You to look upon them with mercy: and behold, with infinite tenderness, You place their salvation in my hands, as it were; for everything is promised to him who knows how to suffer with You and for You.
"My heart bleeds under the weight of affliction, but my will remains united to Yours, and I cry out to You: 'Lord, it is for them that I want to suffer!' I want to mingle my tears with Your Blood for the salvation of those I love! You will not turn a deaf ear to my cry of sorrow and You will save them."

During Lent of 1927, Marie suffered the weight of the whole Stigmata, unlike almost all stigmatic's before and after her, she bore the hand and feet wounds, the wound in her side, the crown of thorns, and the bleeding eyes as well as the cat-o-nine tails scourging marks from when Jesus was whipped, these appeared across Marie's arm.
The wounds began to appear on a regular basis, every Friday.

In front of the eyes of witnesses, her biographer and a Priest, the wounds in hands appeared, and blood streamed from them, not a steady flow like one would expect, but a rushing gorge of blood, Marie said at the time that it felt like her hands were being torn in two.

A priest who examined the wounds wrote:

"The blood gave a sweet-smelling odour unknown to me, somewhat like a perfume; my hands became saturated with it...It was not a transitory smell since the odour persisted until the following morning."

In 1929, poor Marie’s Stigmata became even worse, when she began to suffer the Stigmata of the heart, the pain of the spear of Longinus, piercing through her side, and into her heart, just as Jesus would have suffered.


Marie Rose Ferron lived to the age of 33, the same age of which Jesus died. Marie became blind, and before her death, the pain in her head so tremendous, that any noise that was a little loud in her vicinity would cause her too faint, on her last day alive, her hearing and sight failed also



Marie was clothed in a habit from the religious foundation she had founded, under direction from God, knows a “The Sisters of Reparation of the Sacred Wounds of Jesus” and presented in the Church before burial, nearly fifteen thousand people signed the guest book.




Sources: “Crucified with Christ” by Herbert George Kramer S.M., P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1949 and also the excellent book “She Wears a Crown of Thorns”, by Rev O.A. Boyer S.T.L Benzinger Brothers, 1949.
http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2010/03/marie-rose-ferron-american-mystic.html





© 2013 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Stigmata: Natuzza Evolo

The Stigmata of Natuzza Evolo

Studied by doctors, scientists and the Catholic clergy, the stigmata of Natuzza Evolo has fascinated investigators for many years.
 Natuzza not only has stigmata, but her blood and sweat have been seen to deliver another supernatural phenomenon, that of Hemography. Hemography is the belief that the blood, sweat and tears of stigmatic people can create religious symbols and words upon cloth or clothing

Natuzza was born in Paravati, Italy, before she was born her father fled to Argentina, and was never heard of again, Her Mother, Maria, had to take on many different jobs to feed and house her family, and as soon as Natuzza was of age, she too had to work, because of this, she was never schooled and never learnt to read and write.

It is said, even at this early age, Natuzza had visions of Lord Jesus and of Our Lady, The Virgin Mary.

In 1944 she met and married Pasquale Nicole, and together they had five children.

A book has been written about the life of Natuzza by Professor Valerio Marinelli, in the book her early life is recorded, as are her visions, and a lot of interviews are conducted with people who honestly believe they were healed by Natuzza after she prayed for them.

Natuzza became famous after blood coloured images and words appeared on her body around Easter, some of the words were found to be Hebrew and Aramaic, both languages far from the understanding of this humble uneducated Italian woman.

Natuzza felt incredible physical pain when the images and words would appear,  which no drug could relieve either pain. 

For decades after her stigmata were revealed, pilgrims would descend on Calabria, at the southern tip of Italy, and ask her for advice and prayers, offers of hope, and intercession for the souls of their dead relatives.

In May 1987, with permission of Monsignor Domenico Cortese, the Bishop of Mileto-Nicotera-Tropea, Natuzza founded an association named "Fondazione Cuore Immacolato di Maria Rifugio Delle Anime" ("Immaculate Heart of Mary, Refuge of Souls Foundation.") The Foundation was later formally approved by the Bishop. 

Natuzza died on Sunday the first of November 2009 of Renal failure, Church Bells rang out at her death (allowed by the Parish Priest) and thousands of Catholics came to pay their respects, from this a cult has risen and it is expected the beatification process will begin very soon.

For a more in-depth look at Natuzza's miracles and the Hemography writings in blood please visit the link below

http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2012/03/natuzza-evolo-stigmatic-blood-writings.html

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

The Stigmata: Father Zlatko Sudac

The Stigmata of Zlatko Sudac

Father Sudac is a Catholic Priest in Yugoslavia from the town of Vrbnik on Krk Island, Croatia. He began studying for the priesthood in 1993 after finishing a term of service, which is mandatory, in the Yugoslavian Army.

On the 29^th of June 1998, Sudac was ordained as a Catholic Priest. Father Sudac currently involves himself in religious seminars and retreats in his home country, which bring in large crowds due to his Stigmata. Father Sudac's stigmata appear on his hands, side and feet, as one would expect, but also as a cross on his forehead.

It is said as he paints, his fingertips bleed, as does his Stigmata.

There has been a growing cult around Father Sudac, with one Clergyman claiming “ There isn’t a Church in the World that can hold Sudac”, meaning that large numbers of parishioners are coming to see the miracle of the stigmata for themselves, and hope to be blessed by the young priest.

With great fame also comes great scrutiny, and Sudac is finding that many people, sceptical people, are not believing his stigmata is real, so at the same time as thousands flocking to see him, a small number, of louder voiced, opinionated people, are there to mock and prove him to be a fake.

Interestingly, Sudac often does not appear with the Stigmata whilst delivering Mass, this, of course, adds more weight in the mind of the sceptics, but for the true believers, they have faith that this priest is telling the truth, that Jesus himself has bestowed this gift upon him, and for them, seeing isn’t believing, faith for them is enough.

Sudac is still alive and well in Croatia. He still delivers Mass as required by duty, and attracts large throngs of worshippers who come to witness his Stigmata and other holy gifts. In time we could well witness him become a Saint.

For more information on Father Sudac, the following links are provided

http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/trends/columns/cityside/5990/

http://www.velecasnisudac.com/ - in Croation but can be translated into English

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Stigmata: Therese Neumann

The Stigmata of Therese Neumann

Born in the village of Konnersreuth, Bavaria, Germany, Therese Neumann was a Catholic Mystic who led an extraordinary life, with claims to have not eaten from 1922, and not drank water from 1926, other than the Holy Eucharist, until her death in 1962

In 1918, Therese was at her Uncles farm when the barn caught fire, trying to help extinguish the flames, she fell and became partially blind, this led to her having many more falls in the period after, due to her lack of sight, these falls would eventually blind her completely.

She became bedridden and developed terrible bed sores that would often expose her bones they were that severe.

On the day Therese of Lisieux was beatified in Rome, in 1923, Therese Neumann had been praying her Novenas, and was cured of her blindness, then, two years later, on May 17th 1925, Therese of Lisieux was fully canonised and became recognised as a Saint. Therese Neumann said that the new Saint called upon her and cured her of her illness and sores, and she was free to leave her bed.

This did not last too long though as later that year Therese suffered appendicitis, doctors came for her and prepared her for surgery. Therese began to convulse as the Doctors prepared her, she looked at the ceiling, staring, she said aloud “Yes!”, then asked her family to take her to Church and pray. Once they had done so, she stood before them and announced her appendicitis was fully cured.

On March 5th, 1926, Therese would show the first signs of the Stigmata, on the first Friday of Lent a wound appeared above her heart (which she kept secret) and she spoke of a vision of Jesus at Mount Olivet with three Apostles.
A few days later on the 12th of March, Therese had another vision of Christ at Mt Olivet, with a Crown of Thorns. Another week later, her wound appeared again, and she saw another vision, this time Jesus bearing his cross, and bloodied wound on his hand, a similar wound appeared on her hand, which she could not hide, so Therese decided to speak to her sister about it.

On good Friday, Therese claims, in a vision, she saw the entire Passion of Christ in a vision. Her wounds were now full stigmata, with the wound in her side, and her feet and hands, but also blood began to pour from her eyes.

Her bleeding became so bad at one point that her local Priest, Father Josef Naber read her the Last Rites, but 4pm the same day, her condition had drastically improved.
On Easter Sunday, again Therese had a vision of Christ, this time the Lord's Resurrection, for several Fridays following Therese suffered the Passions of Christ and all the pain and suffering that went with it. Her worst days of suffering and bleeding were always Good Friday from that point on.
Therese also suffered nine wounds on her head as well as wounds on her back and shoulders, sources say the wounds would never heal, but never become infected, and indeed they were documented by coroners upon her death

Another interesting fact about Therese, is during the reign of the Third Reich, the Nazi's started a defamation and ridicule policy aimed at her, defaming her wherever they could, because they feared her dissenting views and her growing popularity amongst Catholics in Germany, The Gestapo was ordered to watch her.
In 1929, a medium named Reinhard Lorenz claimed to have received a direct message about Therese, from Almighty God himself. The message was published in a periodical in Germany known as “Das Wort”.

In the message, God is to have stated that the phenomenon associated with Therese Neumann cannot be argued away by Science, that it cannot be explained away, that every man should look into his heart for understanding and this will create various useful thoughts to understand the signs of the times.
In September 1962 Therese Neumann died from cardiac arrest.

To this day the Roman Catholic Church has neither approved nor denied the Stigmata, and the Inedia suffered by Therese.

A cult formed supporting the canonisation of Neumann, and 40, 000 people signed a petition asking for her beatification.
In 2005, The Bishop of Regensburg formally began proceedings for her beatification.
Therese Neumann died from cardiac arrest, after having suffered from Angina pectoris for some time.
The Roman Catholic Church has neither confirmed nor denied the inedia (from which she suffered according to her critics), nor her stigmata. The "Resl", as she is colloquially known, nonetheless attained a place in popular piety — a petition asking for her beatification was signed by 40,000 people. In 2005, Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Bishop of Regensburg, formally opened the Vatican proceedings for her beatification.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtmRDGzflJw

http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2009/12/therese-neumann-mystic-victim-soul.html

© 2013 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

The Stigmata: St Faustina

The Stigmata of Saint Faustina

Born into this world on August 25th, 1905 in Glogoweic, Poland, Maria Faustyna Kowalska was a Catholic Polish nun, mystic and visionary, known as the Apostle of Divine Mercy.

Sister Faustina had grown up in a poor family in Poland, that struggled to survive, they could barely afford food let alone an education, and because of this young Maria only received about 3 years of schooling, enough to learn to read and write, but not much more.

At the age of 20, she joined a convent in Warsaw and was soon moved to Plock and then to Vilnius. In Vilnius, she met Father Michael Sopocko, who would become her confessor.

Faustina reported an umber of visions throughout her lifetime, but suffered most of them silently, with only the Mother superior and her confessor knowing the facts, it wasn’t until much later that the other sisters who she lived with finding out about her incredible visions of Jesus and other supernatural gifts.

In February 1931, on the 22nd, Jesus appeared to Sister Faustina to bring to her a wonderful message of mercy for all men. She wrote this in her diary about the experience:

"In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord

Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing,

the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening

of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one

red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord;

my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After

a while Jesus said to me, 'paint an image according to the pattern

you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.'

The Lord spoke to her again sometime later and said:

"The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous;

the red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These

two rays issued forth from the depths of My most tender Mercy at

that time when My agonising Heart was opened by a lance on the

Cros....Fortunate is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for

the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him."

Faustina's writings later became a book called “Diary: Divine Mercy In My Soul”

Faustina had entered the convent in 1925, and for the next 13 year,s she was graced with extraordinary gifts, including Bio location, visions, Stigmata, revelations, the reading of souls, prophecy and many more.

Despite all these gifts, Faustina knew that they did not constitute sanctity, and in her diary wrote of them

Pope John Paul II at the shrine of Divine Mercy
 in Krakow on June 7, 1997, in front of the tomb of
 Sister Faustina and the image of the Merciful Jesus

"Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God"

Later Faustina and Father Sopocko hired an artist and through Faustina's visions, the artist painted the first “Divine Mercy Image” which was completed in 1934 and was shown at the first Mass on the first Sunday after Easter, which would later become known as Divine Mercy Sunday.

St. Faustina was declared the first Saint of the 21st Century, she was canonised in April 2000







© 2013 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Stigmata: St Francis of Assisi

The Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic Friar and preacher, but before he became a man devoted to God, he was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant who was often seen cavorting in the streets with friends as a youth.
Francis was born whilst his Father was away on business, his mother was having a difficult labour and could not push the child out, an old beggar woman knocked on the door of the house and told her she should go to the stable. Once in the stable, miraculously, everything righted itself and the baby was born.

The unnamed baby was soon to baptised “John” in the local church and was given the name Francis, upon his Fathers return. “Francis” meaning “ The Frenchman” in Italian, was given as that was his Mothers birth country.
His upbringing was that of a moderately wealthy Italian family, and Francis himself was known for being flamboyant, often wearing clothing all the colours of the rainbow, with a long red feather protruding from his hat.
One day, an unusual thing happened, a beggar came to town, and upon seeing Francis, removed his dishevelled coat and placed it on the ground in front of Francis.
Francis told the beggar, “I have no money give!”, but the poor beggar did not care for money, he replied, “I do not want any! I do this to honour you, for, you will soon do great things that will be talked about until the end of the world!”

 The beggar's words have indeed proven to be true, with the recent election of Pope Francis, taken his name from St Francis of Assisi.
Francis, a youth of high spirits and energy, was soon to face war, like all youths in Italy in that era, he was sent to fight. Francis was captured and spent a year imprisoned. Upon his return to Assisi, it was noticed the energy and pluck of his youth were long gone, instead of his endless partying, he was now seen to stray into the fields to pray.
He gave away his armour, he gave his horse and gave away many of his other possessions.

Chapel of San Damiano

Whilst praying in the Chapel of San Damiano, a neglected old ruin at the time, Francis heard the Lord Jesus speak to him, Jesus told him to “Rebuild his Church”. Francis took the instruction literally and sought out the old priest in charge of the ruins, and gave him a large bag of gold to get the restoration work underway.
Francis disappeared for a month or more, no-one knew where he went, but when he returned he was dressed in rags like a beggar. His Father had him taken away fearing he had gone mad, but when his Father left on business, Francis Mother gave him money and set him free.

 His Father returned, and was angry, he took his son to court to retrieve his money but lost. Next, he took his son to the local Bishop. The bishop questioned Francis extensively, and Francis reply was that he wishes “to serve God”.
The Bishop admonished Francis for stealing his Fathers money, to which Francis reply, was to walk behind the curtain of the Bishops throne, strip naked, and return. He laid the clothing in front of his Father, as well as a small bag of gold and said unto him “Until now I have called Pietro di Bernardone father. I am returning his money and the clothes he has given to me. From now on, I shall not say ‘Father Pietro di Bernardone,’ but ‘Our Father who is in heaven!’”
With that Francis came under the protection of the Church and one of Gods servants.




It wasn't long until Francis lifestyle earned him followers, men and women who were inspired by the wealthy youth, who would give it all up to follow Christ and serve him unconditionally.
One of Francis followers, a young woman named Clare was so inspired she started the Catholic order of Poor Sisters
Frances himself also founded a number of orders, which the Pope at the time, Pope Innocent III authorised in 1210, he also went on to found the Order of Poor Clares, a religious order for women, as well as the Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance (The Third Order)
It wasn’t until near the end of his life that Francis stigmata appeared. He had a vision of Jesus on a burning cross in the night sky.
Streams of light came from the vision and touched upon Francis body, overcome with the deepest of love for the Lord, Francis fell to the ground, the wounds of Christ displayed upon his body.
It is said Francis found great joy in carrying the wounds of Christ but they had a terrible effect on his body, weakening his health greatly. His stigmata lasted from 1224 until his death in 1226.
Late in his life, Francis received the Stigmata,
as told in this account from the Catholic Encyclopedia:


Early in August 1224, Francis retired with three companions to "that rugged rock 'twixt Tiber and Arno", as Dante called La Verna, there to keep a forty days fast in preparation for Michaelmas. During this retreat the sufferings of Christ became more than ever the burden of his meditations; into few souls, perhaps, had the full meaning of the Passion so deeply entered. It was on or about the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (14 September) while praying on the mountainside, that he beheld the marvellous vision of the seraph, as a sequel of which there appeared on his body the visible marks of the five wounds of the Crucified which, says an early writer, had long since been impressed upon his heart.

Francis died singing to death, his body was carried through Assisi so the people could see the wealthy young youth who would become known as the poor man of Assisi.




Saint Francis of Assisi is the first recorded person to have been gifted the Stigmata.
On July 16th 1228 he was pronounced a Saint by Pope Gregory IX.
He is known as the patron Saint of Animals and the environment and is a patron Saint of Italy (along with Saint Catherine of Siena)
Saint Francis of Assisi is also recognised as the creator of the nativity scene.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=50
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm


© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

An Introduction to the Supernatural Phenomena of Stigmata.

The Stigmata

Stigmata

Greek: Plural, Stigma singular. Στίγμα - meaning to brand, mark or tattoo, used for identification of livestock or slaves. Individuals bearing stigmata are known as a “stigmatic” or a “Stigmatist”.


The Stigmata is an often overlooked phenomena in the paranormal world, that focuses so heavily on ghosts and UFO's, we at Eidolon Paranormal like to do things a little differently than other teams, and research a vast array of different topics, and keep away from recycling the same old stories we so often see on paranormal forums, in what seems to be an endless cycle of trying to “top” another teams work.
Really though, how many times do paranormal fans out there want to read about Amityville (for example), with a slight variation of events, it'd be like watching the same episode of Ghost Adventures in a highlight real again and again with a slight variation to Zak's hair in each episode – you wouldn't want to watch it, we wouldn't want to present it.


So, as we have done before with our look into “Hex house” (http://eidolonparanormal.blogspot.com.au/2012_11_01_archive.html) and Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs, we are going to delve into The Stigmata and some short biographies on people who were blessed, or suffered from it, (as the case may be). As per usual with all our topics we present, we will provide links and direction for you to research the subject yourself (if you choose) – there is nothing better than making discoveries on your own, and we would like to encourage you to do so, rather than accepting what we put out as gospel.


So What is the Stigmata?


The Stigmata is used a term used to describe marks upon someone’s body, sores, wounds or pains that correspond with the crucifixion wounds suffered by Jesus Christ, the wounds appear on the feet and hands, a wound on the side, and sometimes many small wounds, or severe pain around ones head usually in conjunction with many marks across ones side and back. (an often overlooked aspect of the Stigmata that is associated with the “scourging” of Jesus with cat-o-nine tail type whips)

The main wounds are where the nails were driven into Jesus' feet and hands. Where the crown of thorns placed upon his head, and where Roman soldier, Longinus drove a spear into Jesus' side.
Many blessed Saints have become famous for the stigmata appearing upon their bodies, St. Francis of Assisi and Saint Padre Pio, being amongst them, but everyday, ordinary people have also borne the wounds of Christ and, as you are going to see with the coming Stigmata posts, it is not only men who the wounds appear on, women have also had stigmata.


Is it real?

This is truly a fascinating subject that needs exploring further. There are so many unanswered questions. Why do the wounds not get infected?
Why do some wounds smell like roses?
Is it a psychological physical manifestation and not Holy and of God?
Why are some Stigmata wounds in the wrist and not the hand?

Hopefully, some of these questions will be answered along the way, others you will find in our summary at the end of this series that will appear on our blog and our website simultaneously, links will also be put on our facebook page to the main story of the day.

© 2013 Allen Tiller
www.eidolonparanormal.com.au