Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-10-21

will be Catholics, and there may even b.
one or more agnostics among the commit
| teemen.
Hundreds of people thronged around tn.
Stuckenborg house last Friday, anxious tc
obtain admission and see with their owl
eyes what so many people believe to bo 8
miracle. Among them were several ply.
siciaps and one woman who said she ha6
come from Dayton, Ohio, to see the stig
mata. All were disappointed. Every door
and window of the little house was KEEP,
tightly closed. Not even shutter was
opened. No one on the outside knew when
the manifestations began nor when they
were at an end.
Within, according to the statement oil
Father Kaffo to mo afterward, IN extraor-
dinary scene was taking place. Mrs. Stuck
enborg had attended to her household du.
ties as usual all the morning. She was
cheerful, and to all appes RANGES in the best
of health. A few minutes befors three o.
clock she walked into the front room Of the
cottage where all the manifestations are
said to have taken place.
THE MANIFESTATION.
Almost Immediately she complained that
quick, sharp pains had begun darting
through her hands, her feet, and the spot
on her left side just above her heart. Her
agony seemed to be SO great that her face
and limbs were contracted, and in less than
three minutes after the first signs were
manifested she fell over on the floor uncon-
scious. She was placed on the bed and her
body became rigid. At the same time the
five marks resembling the stigmata became
clearly defined: Ordinarily they appear to
be dark red spots, which can hardly be
seen. As soou as she became unconscious
they began to redden perceptibly. Thirty
minutes later blood began to Ooze slowly
from the spots, although the skin seemed
unbroken.
The woman's arms when she became un.
conscious were stretched at right angles
from her body, forming q cross. They re.
mained rigid and in this position until the
trance came to an end.
The spots in the hands were of the size
of woman's thumb nail and directly in
the centre of the palm. They were shaped
like an irregular five sided figure. The
marks on the feet were precisely similar.
They were located slightly toward the toes,
on the high bone of the instep, and the
blood that oozed out trickled slowly of
over the side. The mark on the left side
was of different shape. It was just above
and Q little back of the heart. In appear
ance it was like an incision from dull
knife, being one inch long and narrow.
Blood flowed from this in larger quantities
than from the other wounds.
When the trance ended the blood ceased
to flow. The spots, which at times were
elevated slightly and at others seemed to
be like fresh wounds, began to disappear
The skin was not broken, and no pain re
NAMED. All this time she had been lying
under the eyes of the physician and priest,
and they we're utterly unable to detect any
thing that savored of either fraud or deceit
DIR. Ouohterlong carried away some of the
blood, and said he would analyzs 1t as the
first step in his investigation.
THE DOCTOR PUZZLED.
{ DR.. Ouchterlong declined to talk to me
when called to ask his opinion of the case,
Clearly he is puzzled, but he will say moth.
ing until he submits his report to Fsthel
Raffo. Both Vicar General Bouchet and
Father Raffo declare that there is no doubt
as to the extraordinary nature of the mani
festations. They say they cannot account
for the phenomena, but Go not believe as
yet that there is anything supernatural in
the case. They hope at least to find some
natural explanation of what is a very mys-
terious occurrence. They do not deny that
the manifestations may be of divine origin,
and both declare their belief that Mrs.
Stuck enborg is perfectly sincere in her &C.
tiOns.
The woman has had singular history.
She has been married about five years. Her
husband is a moulder aud is an ordinari y
intelligent working nau. He is a devont
Catholic and it was through him that his
wife was converted. She is said to have
been betrayed shortly after she came to
this city and to have lived for three or four
years in unlawful houses. Stuckenborg
met and married her, and her life since
then has been most exemplary. Neither
her husband nor the other mem bers of her
family deny these stories of her fast life,
though they decline to talk about them.
The priests say they have heard them, but
they have no bearing upon the case, as they
are certain she is now good and pious wo-
man. Mary Magdalen was reformed
oourtesap, they add.
THE woMAN's RELIGIOUS LIFE.
About three years ago Mrs. Stuckenborg
began attending the Church of the Immac-