Louise Lateau (1850-1883) of Bois d'Haine in Belgium was one of the few individuals experiencing “stigmata”.
Stigmata, in Christianity, are marks on a person's body resembling the wounds suffered by Jesus Christ in the crucifixion and inflicted presumably by a supernatural agency.
Observations of stigmata have included not only wounds of the hands and feet and of the side, such as those received in the crucifixion, but also those impressed by the crown of thorns and by the scourging. In some cases the stigmata have been only subjectively felt and could not be seen by others.
Louise Lateau was subjected to a thorough medical examination by the Belgian Academy of Medicine, which could not explain the phenomenon scientifically.
The first and most remarkable example of stigmata is that of St. Francis of Assisi. Many other cases have been recorded, notably the one of the German nun Anna Katharina Emmerick (1774-1824).