Saint Paul

In the first century after Christ's death, the Apostle Paul wrote in his Letter to the Galatians (chapter 6, verse 17): "...for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." In the original Greek, the term "marks" was written as "stigmata" (from "stizw," meaning to prick or pierce) - a word commonly used by the Greeks and Romans to describe puncture marks or marks on the bodies of slaves and soldiers bearing the name of their master.

The word is also used to describe religious tattoos. A devoted follower of a cult often had a symbol tattooed on their body, signifying their allegiance to a particular god or goddess. During periods of persecution, Christian martyrs were sometimes marked with the name of Christ on their foreheads. Some Christians marked themselves with a cross or the name of Christ on their hands or arms.

Scholars have largely interpreted Saint Paul's claim as referring to the scars he received from his own suffering at the hands of those who opposed him and the teachings of Jesus. Paul called himself a subject of Jesus Christ. The marks of his suffering, scourging and stoning, were also visible in the same places on his body (see 1 Corinthians 11) as evidence of his devotion to his master.

However, this statement has also been interpreted as referring to the real marks on the Apostle's hands and feet, which were of supernatural origin and were similar to the wounds of the crucified Christ, as visual evidence of what he had to endure.

Moreover, until the 13th century, there are no known descriptions of wounds mysteriously appearing on people's bodies, resembling crucifixion.