The Stigmata: Those Who Bore the Wounds of Christ - David Annandale

Whether you are an atheist, an agnostic or a true believer and disciple of Jesus Christ, you will be mystified at what you learn from The Stigmata. The Stigmata examines such other worldly phenomena, one could liken it to a spiritual X-files episode. Christ's death and resurrection was not the end, but the beginning for us all. Jesus' agonizing suffering, sacrifice and surrender of his own life opened the gates of heaven to all those willing to follow Him. The stigmatics serve as an earthly human reminder of the Divine Jesus' obedient, holy and sacrificial offering to us. The Stigmata is a compilation of some 657 individuals from the 13th to the 21st centuries who have incomprehensibly borne the wounds suffered by Christ. The Stigmata discusses many of the stigmatics in biographical detail. Some stigmatics are recognized saints, such as St. Padre Pio and St. Therese Neumann. Sainted or not, all stigmatics suffer in some way like Christ, bearing evidence of nail piercings to the hands and feet, the crown of thorns and sword laceration near the heart. Have there been fraudulent stigmatics? Yes, and The Stigmata discusses the fakes, separating them like wheat from chaff. Aside from the painful and bloody wounds these individuals suffer, many stigmatics exhibit other miraculous mysteries, from levitation and bi-location to reading of souls and other human impossibilities. The pain the stigmatics have endured is real, the phenomena they've experienced is mystical and their complete impact on the world is known only to God.