Arthur C Clarke TV - A A Mason - Lucy Rael - Cecil Adams - Joe Nickell -
Why does this woman from New Mexico every Easter display the wounds of Christ? For half a century this Italian priest also bore the marks of the crucifixion, and so since she was ten has this woman from California. Are they miraculous signs from Heaven or curiosities of Earthly medicine? Arthur C Clarke’s World of Strange Powers, ITV 1985
The first to show stigmata was St Francis of Assisi. His wounds appeared in 1224 ... The most venerated stigmatic of modern times was Padre Pio. ibid.
A curious feature of stigmata is they usually appear in the wrong places. ibid.
A Case of Congenital Ichthyosiform Erythrodermia of Brocq Treated by Hypnosis. Dr A A Mason, British Medical Journal, Saturday 23rd August 1952
During Easter time all the marks appear on my body ... My daughter Angelica – the stigmata appears on her body also. Lucy Rael, American missionary
Stigmatics are often tormented souls. Many of the religious ones deny themselves to the point of masochism ... The fact that many stigmatics are emotionally unbalanced means you can’t rule out the possibility that they're simply hurting themselves when no one’s looking. Cecil Adams
People seem to hunger for some tangible religious experience, and wherever there is such profound want there is the opportunity for what may be called pious fraud. Money is rarely the primary motive, the usual impetus being to seemingly triumph over adversity, renew the faith of believers, and confound the doubters. Joe Nickell