Good Friday and the Stigmata

The Catholic Thing, 29 March 2024

The Christian vocation to be “another Christ” was lived to such an extent by Francis that the very term alter Christus was applied to him early on.

Good Friday in St. Peter’s Basilica always has a Franciscan dimension.

The homily is not given by the Holy Father, but by the preacher to the papal household, by custom the only one permitted to preach to the pope. The office dates to the Counter Reformation (1555), when it was thought necessary to have someone to inspire (harangue?) the Roman Curia to personal and ecclesial reform. Since 1753, the office has been entrusted exclusively to Capuchin friars.

The current papal preacher, Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, will deliver his 45th Good Friday sermon this year. His first was in 1980, upon his appointment by St. John Paul II. Reappointed by both Benedict XVI and Francis, he will turn 90 this year. In 2020, Francis made him a Cardinal (non-voting and not a bishop) in honor of his exemplary service. A collection of his Good Friday sermons was issued recently by Word on Fire, The Power of the Cross: Good Friday Sermons from the Papal Preacher.

The Franciscans are marking a series of octocentenaries in these years: 800 years since the approval of the Rule (1223), the first nativity scene at Greccio (1223), the stigmata of St. Francis (1224), and the death of il Poverello (1226). The stigmata are a fitting subject for meditation on Good Friday. St. Francis received the stigmata near the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14th), which is to Good Friday what Corpus Christi is to Holy Thursday. From now until then, more attention will be paid to the significance of the stigmata.

St. Francis is held to be the first to receive the stigmata, physical wounds – painful and sometimes bleeding – of the Crucifixion of Jesus. There have been dozens of stigmatists since, the large majority of them female mystics. The two most famous are Francis and Padre Pio.

The word comes from St. Paul, “I bear on my body the marks (stigmata) of Jesus” (Galatians 6:17). Other translations use “brand marks,” suggestive of a cattle brand. The sacred wounds of Christ are our Christian brand.

Over the centuries there has been speculation about whether Paul the Apostle had the stigmata. Paul writes elsewhere of filling up “in my flesh” (Colossians 1:24) sufferings, but traditionally neither verse has been interpreted to mean the physical stigmata.

The Collect from the Franciscan Mass for the Feast of the Stigmata (September 17th) explains the spiritual meaning of the painful gift given to St. Francis:

Lord Jesus Christ, who reproduced in the flesh of the most blessed Francis, the sacred marks of your own sufferings, so that in a world grown cold our hearts might be filled with burning love of you, graciously enable us by his merits and prayers to bear the cross without faltering and to bring forth worthy fruits of penitence.

Why did Providence appoint St. Francis to receive the stigmata first? Perhaps it was his literalism; he began by repairing the fabric of the church of San Damiano when he heard the Lord speak to him: “Repair my church.” It would seem right that Francis would then imitate Christ Crucified in a physical way. Perhaps the reference to the “fruits of penitence” captures the reason, for Francis undertook formidable penances.

Cardinal Cantalamessa explained the importance of penance to Francis in his 1983 Good Friday sermon. How long has Cantalamessa been preaching? That year he referred to the 800th anniversary of Francis’ birth. In two years, will be the 800th of his death!

Continue reading at the The Catholic Thing.