Today is September 20th, and today is the anniversary of St. Padre Pio receiving the Stigmata in 1918; St. Pio kept that stigmata for over 50 years. The Stigmata is a great gift received only by a select few including St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Padre Pio to name a few. The Stigmata (for those that are new to this term) is the presence of Christ's wounds from His hands, feet, and side on these saints.The Catholic Church has no official position on the stigmata, but it certainly is a great gift indeed going back to Sacred Scripture: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20)
I remember one story where a man came to St. Padre Pio and asked if he could take some of the pain from the stigmata (it bled and hurt every day). So that man went home and he had a horrible migraine, which felt like nails being driven in his hand. Finally, the next time he saw St. Padre Pio, St. Pio said, along these lines, "I told you it would be too much."
St. Padre Pio was a miracle worker (see: The Miracles of St. Padre Pio) able to be in two places at once, read peoples' thoughts in Confession to remind them of past sins to confess, and he had a special and unique fervor to serve Christ in the 1900s.
1 comment(s):
Dear Mr. Matthew, In reading this on-line Catholic Blog, I selected the Stigmata as a subject I am greatly interested in. As you can see my given name is Gemma Marie because my American Mother promised to name her First Born Girl Gemma after St. Gemma Galgani as she read about her in her youth. Also needless to say my father is an Italian immigrant from Sicily in the early 1900's as a young child. He also knew of St. Gemma. In reading this blog, I was disappointed that St. Gemma was not included in these group of Saints who received the great gift of the Stigmata. I realize this blog was written in 2005, and if you chose to update it, can you or someone in your office please include St. Gemma. Thanking you in advance. Your servant in Christ, Gemma Marie P.
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