A Dubious Holiness

BBC News reported yesterday that the body of Padre Pio would be prepared by experts before being placed in a glass coffin and soon offered to the faithful for veneration. An archbishop witnessing the exhumation said that the holy man’s nails looked as if “they had just undergone a manicure.”

That might sound somewhat strange for a hierarch to say especially about a saint. But what I thought was stranger still was the fact that some of Padre Pio’s relatives remain adamant about not removing the body from its resting place.

I suppose, as an Orthodox Christian, I’m somewhat dumbfounded by this as Orthodox would generally be humbled and filled with spiritual joy upon hearing that someone from our local church is to be canonized much less if that person were to be a close relative (!).

But, so be it…..Anyway, Padre Pio was said to have had stigmata (wounds like those suffered by Jesus Christ during His crucifixion, on his hands, feet and side). The wounds apparently bled throughout his entire life.

I’ve always been puzzled by the stigmata. I reread an article published in Orthodox Life (No. 3, 1999) by Fr. George Macris in which the spirituality of Francis of Assisi is compared with that of St. Seraphim of Sarov. In describing the process Francis went through upon receiving the stigmata, which he desires in prayer, the author explains:

“…Francis desires Divine instigation of the experience and thirsts to experience this not just with his soul, but with his body. Thus, surrendering himself to ecstatic prayer, he did not renounce his body, but was inviting earthly, or bodily sensations, i.e. physical sufferings…”

The article continues saying how his prayer was answered and he received a vision and so on. But the author continues:

“The experience of Francis of Assisi is remarkable and of singular interest to Orthodox Christians, since…nothing similar is encountered in the experience of the Orthodox Church with a long line of ascetics….As a matter of fact, all of the things Francis experienced in the process of his stigmatization are the very beguilements the Church Fathers repeatedly warned against.”

The main difference in the spirituality of these two holy men is, I somehow gathered from this study, the fact that one’s approach was with a humble and contrite heart while the other’s lack of humility can be seen precisely in the stigmata.

I must admit, though, I’m still quite baffled by the entire notion of the stigmata and if anyone out there can enlighten me a bit I welcome your comments.