THERESE NEUMANN-THE CATHOLIC STIGMATIST
Here is the real story of a series of miracles, which occurred in the 64 years long life of a Christian saint,
Theresa Neuman. Not that she was somebody from the remote past. She was born in 1898 and died in
1962.
: Therese Neumann was born in 1898 in Konnersreuth, a small Bavarian village. At the
age of 20, she had a serious accident while helping the villagers to fight a fire. She remained bed ridden for 7
years, with shock, paralysis, and all kinds of ailments. While in bed she "took over" the sufferings of others
and relieved them of their agonies! By the end of seven years, she was a living heap of all kinds of pain and
diseases. Suddenly on 29th April 1925, she saw Holy Maria standing before her and her blindness vanished.
On 17th May 1925, Therese's paralysis disappeared and on September 10, the death anniversary of the
French Saint, she recovered fully.
It was the near evening time on a memorable Friday of 1926- few weeks before Easter. Therese was in
her room thinking, as she did every moment, of her Divine Love, Lord Jesus. Suddenly she found a vision
entering her consciousness. It was Her Lord Jesus going through his last physical journey towards the Cross
..... Nails were being forged in His hands….. As he knelt on the great rock, the sharp spear was thrust in His
side. In her consciousness, Therese was herself feeling the same bouts of pain the Lord was undergoing, and
at the thrust of the spear, she felt she was also bleeding. But it was not a delusion. She instinctively placed
her hand at the spot and drew it back. Her fingers were red with fresh blood. She thought she was dying. "I
am pierced as He was and I shall go to Him". She lay with closed eyes, waiting "to go to Him". The
bleeding was continuing ...... for several hours. But she did not feel weak. On the contrary, the pain and
throbbing in her head and ears had vanished.
It was the near evening time on a memorable Friday of 1926- few weeks before Easter. Therese was in
her room thinking, as she did every moment, of her Divine Love, Lord Jesus. Suddenly she found a vision
entering her consciousness. It was Her Lord Jesus going through his last physical journey towards the Cross
..... Nails were being forged in His hands….. As he knelt on the great rock, the sharp spear was thrust in His
side. In her consciousness, Therese was herself feeling the same bouts of pain the Lord was undergoing, and
at the thrust of the spear, she felt she was also bleeding. But it was not a delusion. She instinctively placed
her hand at the spot and drew it back. Her fingers were red with fresh blood. She thought she was dying. "I
am pierced as He was and I shall go to Him". She lay with closed eyes, waiting "to go to Him". The
bleeding was continuing ...... for several hours. But she did not feel weak. On the contrary, the pain and
throbbing in her head and ears had vanished.
In Christian Mysticism, the word "Passion" is used for the sufferings of Christ from the last supper to His
death on the Cross. It has been made the subject matter of numerous paintings by great master artists of all
centuries after Him.
The miraculous phenomenon of the intense devotees of Lord Jesus Christ suffering the Passion in their
own bodies and developing the scars and wounds at the same or similar places as had appeared on the Lord's Holy Body, is called "Stigmata".
But it was not only the tearful eyes that looked at her. Other highbrow eyes of pompous scepticism and
cynicism, doubts and disbelief, also arrived-eyes of the doctors - and psychologists and investigators, with red
flashes of defying ego. Humbug, nonsense, swindle, fraud, buffoonery …... But before they could 'prove' "the fraud" of this "psychopathetic woman", another miracle sprang up.
Therese Neumann gave up eating and drinking !!
Soon after the stigmata appeared in 1926, she drank only a small cup of tea daily. That did not attract
much attention. But one day in 1927 a vision again appeared before her saying that she no longer needed
any earthly food or drink. From, 1927 till her death in 1962 she did not eat anything, she did not drink
anything.Professors and Doctors were flabbergasted. One Dr. Otto Buchinger arrived in Konnersreuth with his
team to expose "the pure fable" with his scientific equipment. After a thorough German fashion investigation,
the learned Doctor wrote a book "Wirkliches and Wirkendes" (The Real and the Workable), in which he
declared without any hesitation that this was no fraud. Here was something which defied the modern science.
The phenomena and the miracles were inexplicable by any so called rational thinking. Some mysticism was at
work here. How can a human being seemingly in mortal flesh stop eating and drinking? How can a simple
woman actually physically suffer the same agony as Lord Jesus suffered on the Cross? And develop the
same scene in her own person and body?
Even the church had sent three nurses to find out the truth or otherwise of the miracle of "inedia" (the
ability to survive without food and drink). She was kept under the closest -watch, even when she was bathing,
to ensure she is not gulping down any water! When she rinsed her mouth, the water taken in and thrown outwas measured, to find whether any water was swallowed. There was no escape. Miracle went on happening.
(This checking by the Church was done from 14-7-1927 to 28-7-1927.)
The only thing Therese put on he tongue was the sacred Wafer, which the Church Priest offered during
communion ( a kind of collective prayer). The Wafer just disappeared on her tongue! It was observed that at
times the wafer would fly from the priest's hand and float through the air into her mouth. This is
recorded in a Book: "Therese Neumann von Konnersreuth" by Fritz Gerlich (1929), and even photographed.
At times during her ecstasies, she would fall to her knees and stretch out her tongue, when a host wafer
would suddenly materialise on it! (D. Scott Rego's "Miracles" Contemporary Books Inc Chicago - 1982, page
69)
Therese's miracles do not end here. There is one more - perhaps most amazing to those who think that
science explains everything and that anything defying the laws discovered by science does not exist. It was
observed that the blood that came out during stigmata defied gravity. The phenomenon was carefully
witnessed on 8-7-1927 by a reporter from "Berlin Hefte' at Therese's home. He was present during the
Passion on that day. He reported: -
"Soon a drop of blood which increased in size formed at one of the foot stigmata. It grew and grew in size
until finally it dropped from the wound. Gravity would have commanded that the drop of blood flows
downwards. But it didn’t. It flowed almost directly upward towards the toes, exactly as happened almost
2000 years ago on the Cross of the Christ"
This is then the story of a great woman Saint of this century, who defied all the egoistic psyche of modern
science and modem thinking. She proved that the Lord of your Love has His eyes on you. He can come to
you in unpredictable ways.
Dr. Otto Buchinger on Therese Neumann
" I must declare that despite all care and watchfulness, we were unable to arrive at any conclusion or
explanation as to the fasting of Therese Neumann or as to the phenomenon of Stigmata. There is no
indication that hysteria is here at work. What we can conclude but that in the truly devout stigmatist of
Konnersrenth there is - whether we like it or not – something spiritual which causes these phenomena. All
honour to our science and its methods but there is something at work which defies rational explanation."
("Wirkliches and Wirhendes." - quoted by Dr. Marcus Bach in "The Circle of Faith" Hawthom, 1956.)
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