The stigmata of Lilian Bernas - Investigative Files

Canadian Lilian Bernas claims to exhibit--"in a supernatural state"--the wounds of Christ. On March 1, 2002, I observed one of a series of Bernas's bleedings. It was the eleventh such event that "the Lord allows me to experience on the first Friday of the month," she told the audience, "with one more to come" (Bernas 2002). Bill was the event really supernatural or only a magic show?

Stigmata

Popularly associated with saintliness, stigmata refers to the wounds of Christ's crucifixion supposedly reproduced spontaneously on the body of a Christian. Following the death of Jesus, about A.D. 29 or 30, the phenomenon waited nearly twelve centuries to appear (putting aside a cryptic Biblical reference to St. Paul [Galatians 6:17]). St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) is credited with being the first "true" stigmatist (after a man with the crucifixion wounds was arrested for imposture two years earlier).

Following St. Francis, a few hundred people have exhibited stigmata, including several saints--most recent Padre Pio (1887-1968). He was canonized in 2002, although nor for his stigmata, the Catholic Church never having declared the alleged phenomenon miraculous (D'Emilio 2002; Tokasz 2003).

Indeed, in addition to its copycat aspect, stigmata is suspect on other grounds. It appeared in mostly Roman Catholic countries, notably Italy, until the twentieth century. Also, the form and placement of the wounds has evolved. For example, those of St.

Francis (except for his side wound) "were not wounds which Isled but impressions of the heads of the nails, round and black and standing clear from the flesh" (Harrison 1994, 25). Subsequently, stigmata have typically been bleeding wounds, albeit with "no consistency even remotely suggesting them as replications of one single, original pattern" (Wilson 1988, 63).

It is well established that many stigmatics were engaging in trickery. For instance, Magdalena de la Cruz confessed, during a serious illness in 1543, that her stigmata had been faked. In 1587, Maria de la Visitacion, known as the "holy nun of Lisbon," was caught painting fake wounds on her hands. Pope Plus IX privately branded as a fraud Palma Maria Matarelli (1825-1888), stating that "she has befooled a whole crowd of pious and credulous souls." And more recently, in 1984, an Italian court convicted stigmatic Gigliola Giorgini of fraud (Wilson 1988, 26, 42, 147).

The twentieth century's two best-known stigmatics--Theresa Neumann and Padre Pio--were suspected of deception. A Professor Martini who conducted a surveillance of Neumann observed that blood would flow from her wounds only when he was persuaded to leave the room, as if something "needed to be hidden from observation" (Wilson 1988, 53, 114-115). And a pathologist who examined Padre Pio concluded that his wounds were superficial at best and that the side "wound" had not penetrated the skin at all (Ruffin 1982, 146-154,305).

Catholic scholar Herbert Thurston (1952, 100) found "no satisfactory case of stigmatization since St. Francis of" Assisi." He believed the phenomena was due to suggestion, but attempts to duplicate it experimentally through hypnosis have ranged from the doubtful to the unsuccessful. As to St. Francis, his extraordinary zeal to imitate Jesus may have led him to engage in a pious deception (Nickell 2000).

A New Stigmatist

Enter Lilian Bernas, a Catholic convert (in 1989) and one-time nursing-home worker. She first exhibited stigmata during Easter of 1992, having previously received visions of Jesus. According to one of her two self-published booklets, Jesus appears frequently to her, addressing her as "My suffering soul," "My sweet petal," and "My child" (Bernas 1999).

The Archdiocese of Ottawa, Ontario, where she then lived, established a commission to investigate Bernas's claims. "The inquiry did not make a judgment on the authenticity," stated a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese, Gabrielle Tasse. Tasse told The Buffalo News, "It doesn't really concern the general public. It just creates propaganda." The Catholic Church often resists publicity regarding supernatural claims, noted the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest who edits the weekly Catholic magazine, America. "The church is very skeptical of these things," Rev. Reese explained (Tokasz 2003).

Bernas now resides in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, living with a retired couple whom she asked to take her in in 1996, supposedly at Jesus's request. They are impressed with Bernas whom they regard as a "victim soul" (one who suffers for others). In 2001 the Ottawa Citizen published a profile of Bernas (Wake 2001), apparently provoking displeasure from her home archdiocese of Ottawa. Their policy (according to a spokesman for the Buffalo Diocese) is "that she is not to speak publicly because her faith journey is private" (Tokasz 2003).

However, Bernas does speak publicly, addressing the faithful and the curious at various churches. I attended a talk she gave, for example, at Resurrection Church in Cheektowaga, New York. Although she claimed Jesus guided her in her talks (she sometimes departed from her prepared text), she said that "the Devil" was at her elbow at all times and that she had to struggle with pride and self will. She spoke of Lent, of praying the Rosary, and other Catholic topics, and claimed that Jesus had given her "a vision of aborted babies" (Bernas 2002a).