Stigmata

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, an Italian saint, became very famous as a healer both of physical illnesses but also of moral failings. Many healed people can testify that he even could read consciences.

One reason of the healing fame of Padre Pio are his stigmata. This is the word of Greek origin which means “marks” or “physical wounds” in the hands of a holy person. They are signs of divine favor.

According to Catholic tradition there have been two hundred stigmatists in the history of the Church. The most famous are St. Francis of Assisi and Padre Pio.

What do the Church mean by stigmata as “signs of divine favor”. It means that the Crucified Lord Jesus, now gloriously risen and mysteriously alive in the Church, in the sacraments, in the world of suffering and in our loving hearts, has decided to share the signs of His wounds often in the hands of His beloved followers. This miraculous gift recalls the following words of St. Peter who in exhorting us to be patient in suffering says, “This, in fact, is what you were called to do, because Christ suffered for you and left us an example for you to follow in his steps. He had done nothing wrong, and had spoken no deceit. He was insulted and did not retaliate with insults; when he was suffering he made no threats but put his trust in the upright judge. He was bearing our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live in uprightness; THROUGH HIS BRUISES (wounds) YOU HAVE BEEN HEALED” (1Peter 2:21-24). This is also from Isaiah 53:5 referred to by St. Peter.

We are informed by Church officials in the Archdiocese that a special relic of St. Padre Pio will be brought here in San Pedro Cathedral from Oct 14 to 16 for public veneration.

These words of St. Peter are worth reflecting seriously especially by all of us who believe in the power of patient suffering to deepen our faith, and in the Cross and its stigmatic signs to heal us from from physical and spiritual maladies.