Let’s Talk About Stigmatas

“Francesco” was an average son of an upper-middle class merchant in 13th century Assisi, until he stripped naked in front of his father and the townspeople claiming that God himself had spoken to him. Before this shocking scene, “Francesco”, later to be referred to as Saint Francis, was in a militia and captured by the Perugians. During his captivity he suffered from a severe illness which moved him to become more religious, and once while praying in a church he heard the voice of God through a crucifix. After this religious experience, Saint Francis sold all of his possessions and gave his money to charity. When he father found out about this and became angered by his actions, it led to the scene presented above. After this Saint Francis led a Christ-like life, with no possessions and also helping the less fortunate. Towards the last two years of his life it is believed that he had the marks of Christ as well, otherwise known as stigmata. Some believe the marks to be directly from God, while others believe that the stigmata were due to illnesses that Saint Francis suffered from or even that Saint Francis gave himself the marks of Christ. However, it is highly likely that the stigmata was originally a metaphor about the Saint’s Christ-like life that eventually developed into the idea that he actually had the marks of Christ on his body.

In Morris Bishop’s Saint Francis of Assisi, he argues that there is no way that Francis could have consciously self-inflicted the stigmata on himself. Not only would it be extremely painful, but why would Saint Francis make a mockery of his savior by placing the marks of Christ on himself? Morris answers this question by stating: “Francis was no charlatan, and the supposition that he would make ...

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...t House is on the right track with the metaphorical stigmata developing into reality is the most logical. In order to properly convey the fact that Saint Francis led a Christ-like life, it would make sense to metaphorically give him the marks of Christ. It is very likely to make this metaphor a reality that a follower of Francis made the wounds post mortem.

The mystery of Stigmata of Saint Francis will never be solved. It simply happened too early to come to any conclusions about it. However, with the evidence provided, it is a logical thought to think that the marks were metaphorical and developed into reality as time passed.

Works Cited

Thompson , Augustine. Francis of Assisi: A New Biography . Print.

Spoto , Donald. Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi. Print.

Bishop, Morris. Saint Francis of Assisi. Print.

House, Adrian. Francis of Assisi. Print.