Question: In your informative reply to the question of how Jesus was taken from the cross (April 2026), you state categorically that the nails were driven through his wrists. I find this puzzling, because the stigmatists have had the stigmata in the palm of the hand. Please explain.
Answer: The forensic research of crucifixion methods suggests that victims were more likely nailed through the wrist rather than the palm, as the palm alone would not support the weight of the body, unless ropes were also used to tie the arms to the crossbeam.
Likewise, the feet were most likely nailed to the upright — and for this we actually have physical evidence from Jerusalem, discovered in 1968. The heel bone of a crucifixion victim, named Yehohannan ben Hagkol, from the 1st century AD was found with a nail still lodged in it.
But in the Christian tradition, especially in art and devotional items, the wounds of Jesus Christ are almost always shown in his hands.
The stigmata — such as those received by St Francis of Assisi or St Padre Pio — should not be understood as forensic recreations of the crucifixion. Rather, they are mystical participations in Christ’s suffering, shaped by the recipient’s prayer, imagination and the devotional imagery familiar to them.
Since saints for centuries had prayed with images of Christ crucified with wounds in his palms, it is not surprising that their own wounds would appear in the same way. The stigmata reflect the suffering Christ as contemplated, not the anatomical mechanics of Roman execution.
The difference is not really a contradiction. Rather, it’s two perspectives on the same mystery. One asks, “How was a body fixed to a cross?” The other asks, “How is Christ’s suffering revealed and shared?”
Answered by Günther Simmermacher
Published in the July 2026 issue of The Southern Cross magazine
- Are Stigmata Historically Accurate? - November 3, 2026
- Shrines around the World: Our Lady of Ta’Pinu - November 3, 2026
- God’s Many Graces - November 3, 2026
