Spontaneous development of bruises and wounds, usually bleeding, in places corresponding to the wounds of the crucified Christ, and usually viewed as a sign of saintliness. Some stigmata are, of course, fraudulent. The first officially recognized stigmatic was the 13th- century saint, Francis of Assisi, who was noted for his simple life of material deprivation and devotion to God. One day in 1224, while meditating outside the cave that was his home, he saw a vision of Christ on the cross. At the same time, blood began flowing from deep fissures in Francis’s hands, feet, and side. Nail-like pieces of skin or bone also appeared, thrusting out through the wounds. Francis’s stigmata continued to his death. This is the case with most religious stigmata: Once the phenomena is visited upon a person, it usually lasts for the remainder of his or her life, although it does not necessarily remain continuous; some stigmata have appeared annually, for example, perhaps on Good Friday; some have appeared weekly or monthly often with the stigmatic showing no signs of wounds or scars in the intervening times.
Doctors and other attendants of various stigmatics have actually measured quantities of blood flowing from the wounds or, in some cases, from the eyes as tears. Padre Pio, for example, was an Italian Capuchin monk who developed stigmata early in the 20th century; he is said to have bled a glassful or more each day.