Originally published at Churchpop
Stigmata is one of the strangest phenomena in the Catholic Church in the last few centuries.
If you don’t already know, the stigmata is a supernatural phenomenon in which the wounds of Christ from His passion and death miraculously appear on a person’s body.
Some saints have also suffered what is called invisible stigmata, in which they feel the sufferings of Christ but without the bodily marks.
What should Catholics make of this?
Here are six things you may not know about this incredible phenomenon:1. The first stigmata dates back to the 13th century.
No known accounts of the stigmata existed before Saint Francis of Assisi received it in the 13th century.
Read the amazing account of Saint Francis of Assisi receiving stigmata here.
For most of Church history, no one had heard of the stigmata, and now many people claim to have experienced it, which brings us to our next point…
2. Hundreds of people have claimed stigmata since then.
Although there were no known cases of stigmata before Saint Francis of Assisi in the 13th century, hundreds of people have claimed to have miraculously received stigmata since then.
It’s hard to understand why God may start acting in a new way, and some people take this fact as an
