STIGMATIZATION (Let. stigmatizatio, a puncturing, from Gr. stigma, a puncture), the name applied, by the mystic writers of the Roman Catholic church, to the supposed miraculous impression on certain individuals of the " stigmata," or marks df the wounds which our Lord suffered during the course of his passion. These stigmata comprise not only the wounds of the hands and feet, and that of the side, received in the crucifixion; but also those impressed by the crown of thorns and by the scourg ing. The impression of the stigmata, being held to be miraculous, was regarded as a mark of the signal favor of'our Lord, manifested to those who were specially devoted to the contemplation of his passion. The most remarkable example of stigmatization is that already referred to in the memoir of Francis of Assisi (q.v.), which is said to have occurred on the mountain of Alverno, upon Sept. 15, 1224, two years before the death of Francis. Being absorbed, according to the account of his biographers, in profound and rapturous contemplation of the passion of Christ, be saw, as it were, a seraph with six shining wings, blazing with fire, and having between his wings the figure of a man crucified, descend from heaven, and approach him, so as to be almost in contact. After a time the vision disappeared, but left the soul of Francis filled with reverence and awe; and on his return to calmer thought. ha-became aware that his body had received externally the marks of the crucifixion. His hands and feet seemed bored through with four wounds, and these wounds appeared to be filled with nails of hard flesh, the heads of which protruded and appeared upon the palms of his hands, and on the instep, while the points protruded upon the opposite side, and seemed as if clenched with a hammer. His side, moreover, presented a red wound. its though from the point of a lance, and this wound occasionally gave forth blood. These mys terious marks continued, and were frequently seen by St. Bonaventure and others during the two years which intervened between this date and the death of Francis; and they were seen by multitudes after his death.
It would be out of place here to enter into any discussion as to the origin, or the nature, of this strange phenomenon. But the case of Assisi is by no means a solitary one; very many others, women, as well as men, are recorded as having received all or some of the stigmata. The cases of women so visited are more numerous than those of men. A very remarkable one is that of Veronica Giuliani. in 1691. who is related to have received first the marks of the crown of thorns, and afterward those of the cruci fixion; Gabriella da Piezolo of Aquila is recorded to have received the mark of the lance in 1472; Clara di Pugny, a tertiary of the Dominican order, was similarly impressed in 1514; and Cecilia di Nobili of Nocera in 1655. Catherine di Raconisio is alleged to have
been marked with the crown of thorns in 1583, and the same is related of several others, as Maria Razzi of the island of Chio, Maria Villani, Vincenza Ferreri of Valencia, and Joanna Maria of the cross, a nun of St. Clare, at Roveredo. In some cases, the visita tion, although said to be accompanied with excruciating pain in the seat of the several wounds, was unattended by any external marks. Such was the case of St. Catherine of Siena, of Ursula Aguirre—otherwise known as Ursula of Valencia—of Mary Magda len di Pazzi, and of Mechtildis von Stanz; while in other cases the wounds were in pa,rt visible, and in part invisible. Thus, Hieronyma Carvaglio suffered the pain of the wounded hands and feet without any external mark, while the lance-wound was not only visible in her side, but was reported to bleed upon every Friday, the day specially devoted to the commemoration of the passion. Blanca de Gazeran experienced the sensation of pain in the seat of each one of the wounds, but the mark of the nail was visible upon the right foot only. The same variety of sensation is recorded in several other eases.
Most of the cases recorded hitherto are of females; and that examples of these are not wanting even in more recent times, the case of the well-known " Estatica" of Caldaro, about 40 years ago, and that of Louise Lateau, discussed quite recently, suffi ciently attest. But, besides that of Francis of Assisi, instances are also recorded in which inch were reputed to have received the stigmata. A Capuchin named Benedict, of Reggio, is said to have received the marks of the crown of thorns in 1602. A lay-brother named Carlo di Siietzt, or Sazia, was smitten in a vision with the wound in the side. Angelo del Paz, a Franciscan, of Perpignan, is related to have borne for many years all : the stigmata, as also a Premonstratensian monk named Dodo, and a Franciscan called Nicholas of Ravenna. Several cases also are mentioned of men, who, without the visible or external stigmata, experienced at regular intervals the painful sensation by which the stigmata arc accompanied. Many such cases are detailed by the celebrated German mystic, Gorres, in his Christliche vol. ii. pp. 420-456.