The stigmata
The phenomenon of the stigmata shows itself in those it affects by the opening, on their bodies, of the marks of Christ’s five wounds, as well as the wounds of the crown of thorns. These wounds do not become infected, and the blood that flows from them is clear. The stigmata are accompanied by intense physical and emotional suffering, and they generally occur on the day the Passion of Christ is commemorated.
The first stigmata appeared as follows:
- A callus, a small bump, appeared in the middle of each palm; then the wound in the left side opened a few days before the five wounds opened all at once, and so on. The wounds opened on the afternoon of Friday 25 November 1983 and had closed completely by about 11 p.m., leaving no scab or scar. The side wound was small, no more than 1.5 cm (about 0.6 inch). Eight doctors saw these wounds, and some of them touched them.
- The second stigmata opened suddenly on Holy Thursday, 19 April 1984, at about 3:30 p.m. The side wound was deep; Father Maalouli measured it at 10 cm (about 4 inches). One of those present advised Nicolas to take his wife to hospital to have the side wound stitched; his answer was clear and firm: “The one who opened the wound will close it.” By about 11 p.m., all the wounds had closed without leaving a trace.
- The third stigmata opened on Holy Thursday, 16 April 1987, in the presence of Fathers Elias Zahlaoui and Joseph Maalouli, who saw the first drops of blood burst from Myrna’s forehead, where a wound opened for the first time on that occasion. The side wound measured 12 cm (about 4.75 inches); it was measured by a French woman doctor, Mrs Geneviève Antakli, who described it as a scratch. This wound opened about ten minutes after the first ones, and the next day it had healed completely; the two surgeons present as witnesses did not touch it. The other wounds, which were examined, took a few days to heal. The wounds on the forehead, hands and feet healed in the open air, and no antiseptic was ever used to disinfect the wounds of the stigmata.
The first stigmata were witnessed by the Greek Orthodox bishop Stephanos Haddad, who stayed beside Myrna for about an hour. Bishop Joseph Mounayer, a Syriac Catholic bishop, observed the second stigmata.
The third stigmata were seen and touched by Father Nicolas Baalbaki, a surgeon and Greek Orthodox priest. After these third stigmata opened, two French biologists, Geneviève and her husband Jean-Claude Antakli, arrived, as did the surgeons Louis Coyat and Georges Mesmar. Apart from the stigmata of Friday 25 November 1983 (on the first anniversary), it is noticeable that the stigmata appear only in years when Catholics and Orthodox celebrate Easter on the same day. In other years nothing at all happened, not even the flow of a single small drop of oil, either at the Catholic Easter or at the Orthodox Easter.
On Holy Thursday 1990, the stigmata opened in three stages:
- at 11:14 a.m., the five wounds on the forehead opened;
- at 1:26 p.m., the wounds in the hands and feet opened;
- at 1:31 p.m., the side wound opened, 12 cm (about 4.75 inches) long.
Note: 1984, 1987 and 1990 were indeed years when Catholics and Orthodox celebrated Easter on the same day (22 April 1984, 19 April 1987, 15 April 1990).
Source: http://www.soufanieh.com/
