Church of the Crucifix, Siena

The Church of the Crucifix is located at the Shrine of St. Catherine in Siena, Italy. The importance of this church, and its very reason for being, lie in the presence of the wooden crucifix from which Saint Catherine received the stigmata (from the Greek stigma: mark), which are the wounds similar to those inflicted on Jesus Christ during His crucifixion.

This miraculous event took place in Pisa, where Catherine had gone in 1375 at Pope Gregory XI’s request for the purpose of persuading the Lords of the city not to take part in the anti-papal league. In the Legenda Major, Raymond of Capua narrates that on 1 April of that year, while she was deep in prayer in the church of Santa Cristina, Catherine saw five blood-red rays, aimed at her hands, feet, and heart, streaming down from the crucifix in front of which she was kneeling. She immediately asked God for the stigmata to be invisible, and before the rays could reach her they changed color, becoming resplendent with light. They remained visible only to the Saint for the rest of her life, miraculously appearing at the moment of her death. The validity of Catherine’s stigmata was only recognized officially in 1623 by Pope Urban VIII, after a debate lasting about two centuries.

The following pictures show the inside of the church and the aforementioned wooden crucifix.