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Since Francis of Assisi more than two hundred cases of the so-called stigmata have been recorded. Ninety percent of these have been women, and to the writer's knowledge there have been no cases which did not profess the Roman Catholic Faith. It is the purpose of this paper to present an explanation of the phenomenon as a conversion symptom in terms of psychodynamics.
The tradition of stigmatization has been traced back to St. Paul (1) but the actual meaning of the cited passage is uncertain. Perhaps the most famous stigmatist was St. Francis who is reputed to have borne the wounds of the crucifixion on both hands and feet and is so depicted in religious art. In modern times the most famous cases have been those of Louise Lateau of Belgium and Therese Neumann of Bavaria. The latter is still living. In France a certain Martha Robin is reputed to have been stigmatized in 1918. She is at present in a convent, and efforts to elicit information concerning her case from the authorities at Chateauneuf-de-Galaure (Drǒme) have met with refusal. An Italian, Gemina Galgani, is also reputed to be stigmatized.
The peculiarities in these cases which make them stand out from the classic conversion neuroses are: 1, the extent to which somatic participation is seen in the symptom in which bleeding wounds appear on the hands, feet, side, and more rarely the head and back in simulation of the passion of Christ. Somatic responses occur which are not under voluntary control, indeed which are not usually thought to be under nervous control at all; 2, the extreme degree of identification with a religious figure through auto-suggestion; 3, the periodicity of the symptom and its similarity to menstruation;