Franciscans around the world celebrate this September 17 the 800th anniversary of the stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi, the first saint on record with this gift in the history of the Catholic Church. Here we tell you how it happened.
According to the Major Legend of San Franciscowritten by the Seraphic Doctor Saint Bonaventure, “one day close to the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross” the holy founder of the Franciscans was praying, when he saw a seraph with six splendid wings descend from heaven.
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“Then the effigy of a crucified man appeared between the wings, whose hands and feet were extended like a cross and nailed to it. Two wings rose above his head, two extended to fly and the other two covered his entire body,” describes Cardinal Saint Bonaventure.
Saint Francis was amazed and felt in his heart a mixture of joy and pain because he rejoiced in this grace, but seeing Christ nailed was for him like a sword “that pierced his soul.”
“When the vision disappeared it left a wonderful ardor in his heart, and the effigy of the signs that it imprinted on his flesh was no less wonderful. Thus, immediately the signs of the nails began to appear on his hands and feet, just as he had seen shortly before in the image of the crucified man,” indicates Saint Bonaventure.
The cardinal later points out that Saint Francis sought to keep the stigmata hidden, but many witnessed this supernatural gift.
To commemorate this event, the Order of Friars Minor indicates on its website that on January 5, the VIII Centenary of the Stigmata of Saint Francis was inaugurated in the sanctuary of Mount Alverna, in Italy, where tradition relates that the saint received the wounds.
The friars specify that the General Ministers of the Franciscan Family and representatives of the various Franciscan realities were present.
For this September 17, numerous Franciscan communities and parishes around the world will carry out activities to commemorate the 8 centuries of the stigmata of their founder, with peace and good.
Abel Camasca
Journalist graduated from the Communication Sciences degree at the University of Lima. He has been part of the ACI Prensa journalistic team since 2014. Between 2016 and 2022 he was in charge of the production of the television program EWTN Noticias and Más que Noticias, a World Catholic Radio program. He often writes articles about the lives of saints.