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STIGMATIZATION , the infliction of stigmata, i.e. marks tattooed or branded on the See also:person, the See also:term being used with specific reference to the supposed supernatural infliction of wounds like those of See also:Christ. An See also:ancient and widespread method of showing tribal connexion, or relation to tribal deities, was by marks set upon the person; thus See also:Herodotus, in describing a See also:temple of See also:Hercules in See also:Egypt (ii. 113), says that it is not lawful to See also:capture runaway slaves who take See also:refuge therein if they receive certain marks on their bodies, devoting them to the deity. The practice is alluded to by See also:Paul (Gal. vi. 17) in the words, " from henceforth let no See also:man trouble me, for I See also:bear branded on my See also:body the stigmata of Jesus "; and some writers have understood the passage as referring to stigmatization in the See also:modern sense (Molanus, De historia ss. imaginum et picturarum, ed. Paquot, iii. 43, p. 365). See also:Branding, as indicative of See also:servitude, was forbidden by See also:Constantine. In the See also:period of persecution See also:Christian martyrs were sometimes branded with the name of Christ on their foreheads (Pontius, " De vit. S. Cypriani," Biblioth. veterum patrum, vol. iii. p. 472, § vii.). Wounds of this sort were sometimes self-inflicted as a disfigurement by nuns for their See also:protection, as in the See also:case of St Ebba See also:abbess of Coldingham (see See also:Baronius, Annales, xv. 215, See also:ann. 87o, also Tert. De See also:eel. virg.). Some Christians likewise marked themselves on the hands or arms with a See also:cross or the name of Christ (See also:Procopius, In Esaiam, ed. Curterius, p. 496), and other voluntary mutilations for Christ's See also:sake are mentioned (Matt. xix. 12; See also:Fortunatus, See also:Life of St Rhadegund, ed. See also:Migne, See also:col. 508; See also:Palladius, Lausiac See also:History, cxii.; See also:Jerome's See also:Letter to St Eustochium, &c.). In St See also:Francis of See also:Assisi we have the first example of the alleged miraculous infliction of stigmata. (For an earlier instance pronounced by the See also: 230). In spite of her See also:great reputation, and the number of attesting witnesses, this occurrence was not universally believed in. Pope See also:Sixtus IV. published a See also:bull in 1475 ordering, on See also:pain of See also:anathema, the erasure of stigmata from pictures of St Catherine, and prohibiting all expressions of belief in the occurrence. Pope See also:Innocent VIII. similarly legislated " ne de caetero S. Catherina cum stigmatibus depingatur; neve de ejus stigmatibus fiat verbum, See also:aut sermo, vel praedicatio ad tollendam omnem scandali occasionem " (see references in Raynaud, De Stigmatisme, cap. xi. 1665). In the years which followed cases of stigmatization occurred thick and fast—now a Franciscan, now a Dominican, very rarely a religieuse of another order, showing the marks. Altogether about ninety instances are on See also:record, of which eighteen were See also:males and seventy-two See also:females. (There are about See also:thirty other cases sometimes included in the See also:catalogue, of which there are no particulars recorded.) Most of them occurred among residents in religious houses, after the austerities of See also:Lent, usually on See also:Good See also:Friday, when the mind was intently fixed on our Lord's See also:Passion; and the possibility of the reception of the marks was constantly before the eyes and thoughts of the members of the two orders to which St Francis and St Catherine belonged. The order of infliction in the See also:majority of cases was that of the crucifixion, the first token being a bloody sweat, followed by the See also:coronation with thorns; afterwards the See also:hand and See also:foot wounds appear, that of the side being the last. The grade of the infliction varied in individual cases, and they may be grouped in the following See also:series: 1. As regards full stigmatization, with the visible See also:production of the five wounds, and generally with the See also:mark of the See also:crown as well, the See also:oldest case, after St Francis, is that of See also:Ida of See also:Louvain (1300), in whom the marks appeared as coloured circles; in Gertrude von Oosten of See also:Delft (1344) they were coloured scars, and, as in the case of St Catherine, disappeared in See also:answer to See also:prayer as they also did on See also:Dominica de Paradis; in Sister Pierona, a Franciscan, they were blackish See also:grey. They were true wounds in See also:Margaret Ebnerin of See also:Nuremberg (d. 1351; see her Life, See also:Augsburg, 1717), in Brigitta, a Dominican See also:tertiary (139o), and also in Lidwina. An intermission is described in the marks on Johanna della Croce of See also:Madrid (1524), in whom the wound in the side was large, and the others were See also:rose-coloured circular patches. The marks appeared on each Friday and vanished on See also:Sunday. These emitted an odour of violets; but in Sister See also:Apollonia of Volaterra they were fetid while she lived. Angela della See also:Pace (1634) was fully stigmatized at nine years of See also:age, being even marked with the sponge and See also:hyssop on the mouth; while See also:Joanna de Jesu-Maria at See also:Burgos (1613), a widow, who had entered the See also:convent of Poor See also:Clares, was marked in her sixtieth See also:year. To her in See also:vision two crowns were offered—one of See also:flowers and one of thorns; she See also:chose the latter and immediately was seized with violent pain and her See also:confessor heard a See also:sound as of her See also:skull breaking. This case was investigated by the See also:officers of the See also:Inquisition. The stigmatization of See also:Veronica Giuliani (1696) was also the subject of inquiry, and in this case the See also:nun See also:drew on a See also:paper a See also:representation of the images which she said were engraved on her See also:heart. On a See also:post-mortem examination being made in 1727 by See also:Professor See also:Gentili and Dr Bordiga, the See also:image of the cross, the See also:scourge, &c., were said to have been impressed on the right side of the See also:organ (Vita della Veronica Giuliana, by Salvatori, See also:Rome, 1803). The case of See also:Christina Stumbelen, a Dominican at See also:Cologne, is noteworthy, as on her skull there was found a raised See also:ridge or crown which was at first See also:green, with red dots. In See also:Lucia di See also:Narni (1546) the marks were variable, as they also were on Sister Maria di S. Dominico. On the body of St Margaret of See also:Hungary the stigmata were found fresh and clear when her body was exhumed some See also:time after her death for transportation to Presburg. Other stigmatized persons were See also: 1515) and Philippa de Santo Tomaso of Montemor (167o), while according to Torellus the Augustinian Ritta von See also:Cassia (d. 1430) had a single thorn wound on the forehead. The crown was marked on Catharina of Raconizio (b. 1486), who also suffered a severe bloody sweat. In the case of Stephano Quinzani, in See also:Soncino (1457), there was a profuse bloody sweat and the wounds were intermitting, appearing on Friday and Saturday, vanishing on Sunday. See also:Blanche Gazinan, daughter of See also:Count Arias de Sagavedra (1564), was marked only on the right foot, as also was Catherine, a Cistercian nun. The heart wound was visible in Christina Mirabilis (1232). Gabrielda de Piezolo (d. 1473) died from the bleeding of such a wound, and similar wounds were described in Maria de Acosrin in See also:Toledo; Eustochia, a tertiary of St Francis; See also:Clara de Bugny, a Dominican (1514); See also:Cecilia See also:Nobili, a Poor Clare of Nuceria (d. 1655). In the last instance the heart wound was found after death—a three-cornered puncture. A similar wound was seen in the heart of Martina de Arilla (d. 1644). Maria Villana, a Poor Clare, daughter of the See also:margrave of La See also:Pella, was marked with the crown and the spear thrust, and after her death the impresses of the spear, sponge and See also:reed were found on her heart (d. 1670). The wound was usually on the See also:left side, as in Sister Masrona of See also:Grenoble, a tertiary of St Francis (1627); it was on the right in Margareta Columna, also a Clare. In Maria de Sarmiento it was said to have been inflicted by a seraph in a vision.
4. In a See also:fourth set of cases the imprints were said to have been found on the heart, even though there was no See also:surface marking. Thus the Dominican Paula de St Thomas was said to have had the stigmata on her heart. The heart of Clare of See also:Montfaucon (1308) was said to have been as large as a See also:child's head and impressed with the cross, the scourge and the nails. Similar appearances were found in Margaret of Citta di Capello and Johanna of Yepes (1591)•
The instances of masculine stigmatization are few. See also:Benedict di Rhegio, a Capuchin at See also:Bologna, had the marks of the crown (1602); Carolus Sazia, an ignorant See also:lay See also:brother, had the wound in his side. See also:Dodo, a Praemonstratensian lay brother, was fully stigmatized, as also was See also: The marks after death were found on the heart of Angelos del Pas, a minorite of See also:Perpignan, as also on Matheo Carery in Mantua, Melchior of Arazel in See also:Valentia, Cherubin de Aviliana (an Augustinian), and Agolini of See also:Milan. See also:Walter of See also:Strassburg, a See also:preaching See also:friar (1264), had the heart-pain but no mark, and the same was the case with a Franciscan, See also:Robert de Malatestis (1430), and See also: The hardness is 31 and the specific gravity 2.2. Stilbite is a See also:mineral of secondary origin, and occurs with other See also:zeolites in the amygdaloidal cavities of basic volcanic rocks; it is sometimes found in See also:granite and See also:gneiss, and exceptionally in metalliferous See also:veins. It is abundant in the volcanic rocks of See also:Iceland, See also:Faeroe Islands, See also:Island of See also:Skye, See also:Bay of See also:Fundy, in Nova See also:Scotia and elsewhere. Beautiful, See also:salmon-See also:pink crystals occur with See also:pale green See also:apophyllite in the See also:Deccan traps near Bombay and See also:Poona; white sheaf-like groups encrust the See also:calcite (Iceland-spar) of Berufjord near Djupivogr in Iceland; and crystals of a See also:brick-red colour are found at Old See also:Kilpatrick in See also:Dumbartonshire. (L. J. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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