By Matters India Reporter

Peravoor: A teenage boy in Kerala claims that he has received stigmata, body marks that resemble the five crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ.

Abin Joshi, en eighth grader at Peravoor, a village in the Kannur district of the southern Indian state, experienced severe on November 7 before blood began to ooze from his hands, feet and side of chest. He is the son of Joshi Mundackal, the sacristan of the local parish.

The stigmata appeared several days after yellow liquid before to come out of a statue of the Blessed Virgin kept in the family during the evening rosary. The next day, blood started coming from the eyes of the statue.

As blood and tears continued to flow from the started in the following days, the parish priest took the statue to the church and gave the family another one.

Abin started getting visions where the Blessed Virgin asked him to pray.

On November 7, when he was in the school, Abin began to experience severe pain in the body along with head ache. The Blessed Virgin reportedly told the boy to go home immediately. She also told him that he would receive the wounds of her son. The stigmata disappeared after some time, it was reported.

The parish comes under the Archdiocese of Tellicherry.

A priest of a neighboring village told Matters India that the Church has taken a wait and see approach to such phenomenon. “We have decided not to give publicity to such things,” he told Matters India requesting anonymity.

However, the news about the phenomenon has become viral in social media platforms.

Abin is the younger of two sons. His elder brother is a seminarian of the Congregation of St Theresa, an indigenous congregation.

A neighbor of the family said the

In Christian tradition, the stigmata are the five piercing wounds Jesus suffered during the Crucifixion. The wounds have been the focus of particular devotions, especially in the late Middle Ages, and have often been reflected in church music and art.

The five wounds comprised one through each hand or wrist, one through each foot, and one to the chest.

Two of the wounds were through either his hands or his wrists, where nails were inserted to fix Jesus to the cross-beam of the cross on which he was crucified.

Two were through the feet where the nail passed through both to the vertical beam.

The final wound was in the side of Jesus’ chest, where, according to the New Testament, a soldier pierced his body with a lance in ensure he was dead. The Gospel of John states that blood and water poured out of this wound.