Patiently Enduring the Most Painful Wounds

Short Summary: Sister Anna Maria Gallo, known as Mary Frances of the Five Wounds, received the holy stigmata, confirmed by witnesses, and wore gloves to conceal her wounds.

Details

Location: Naples, Italy

Year: 1780

Prayer: nan

Verse: nan

Full Story

Anna Maria Gallo became a Franciscan Sister and took the name Mary Frances of the Five Wounds. She was known by her sisters to gracefully endure great sufferings over her years. These sufferings later included the reception of the holy stigmata (five wounds of Jesus), providentially to her previously chosen name. Her stigmata was attested to by many witnesses, including Rev. Dean Pascal Nitti, who testified saying, "I have seen them in her hands, have touched them, and, like the Apostle St. Thomas, have inserted my finger in them. The wounds were right through her hands; for my index finger being inserted in the wound met my thumb placed on the opposite side of her hand, an experiment I often repeated in later years during the Fridays of Lent, at which time the Sacred Stigmata were most perfect. I know from the Saint's own admission, to which I obliged her in virtue of holy obedience, that she had them also on her feet and side." The sister would wear gloves to conceal her condition. Many of her blood-stained garments were retained by the community as relics, and can be seen for veneration to this day.

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