A bizarre incident is currently happening in Ogbodu village in Enugu Ezike, Igbo Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State. A Catholic nun and member of the Religious Order of Virgins, Martina Offorka, is bleeding mysteriously on the feet, palms and eyes. Not only that, she is also reported to have Holy Communion inside her mouth, with claims that it was given to her mysteriously.
The Sun reports that the reverend sister who hails from Ifite in Anambra State, has been experiencing these strange occurences for over half a decade now, especially during the Lenten period.
The reverend sister runs the Divine Wound Motherless Babies Home in Ogbodu Enugu Ezike, as well as a motherless babies home and a nursery/primary school. She also leads a prayer group which the Sun investigation revealed prays for Priests and the Religious. This is also where the said mysterious bleeding usually occurs.
Attempts by the Sun newspaper to interview her proved abortive but the leader of the prayer group, Evangelist Elisha Ayogu, gave an insight on how the mysterious occurence started in the life of the religious sister.
“I’ve known Sister Martina Offorka for some years. Since I’ve known her, she has been experiencing this Passion. I came to know her well when I finished my school of Evangelism at Issieluku in Edo state. After my graduation, I went for prayer in her prayer group and continued attending prayers with them, until the group had a change of leadership and made me their leader. Since then, I have been coordinating the activities of the group.”
Asked when the said Passion usually happens, Evangelist Ayogu said it occurs Tuesdays and Thursdays during Lenten season.
“It happens every Tuesday and Thursday during Lenten season. During that of last year, which was my first experience of being physically present, it took us by surprise. We were singing and praying when suddenly she handed over the microphone to me. She rushed inside her room and shouted, writhing in pain. Blood started gushing out from her feet, eyes and palms. I rushed to clean the blood from her body, but was prevented by other older members of the group on the grounds that it is not everybody that cleans the blood. According to them, the blood is not that of a human being or Sister Martina. But it is the blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
On the quantity of blood the nun might be loosing during the bleeding, the leader of the group said he could not estimate the quantity that flows out of out her during the painful experience.
“I cannot explain how much blood she looses during this painful experience. All I know is that during [the Passion], Sister Offorka gives out spiritual revelations which border mainly on repentance. She usually tells people that doubt the reality of the blood to test it clinically. But what surprises me is that when you sniff the blood, you will see that it scents like the altar wine. Another mysterious thing about this Passion, as experienced by Sister Martina, is that she does not transfuse blood to make up for the blood lost during the Passion. Neither does she take any medication for the pains she undergoes.”
However, by midnight, Sister Martina started experiencing her usual Passion. By 5 AM, when I went to see her in her room before the coming of the Parish priest, I heard her saying ‘Amen’ like we usually say when Holy Communion is being given to us.Lo and behold, I saw Holy Communion inside her mouth, even though no priest was inside the room with her. In fact, it was only her that was inside her room that early morning. Again, it is usually a priest that removes the Holy Communion from her mouth, especially the ones I have witnessed. Last year, after the Passion, the priest who removed the Holy Communion from her mouth told us that the Holy Communion looked exactly like the one we receive. That everything written on the one we receive is also written on that one too. What I don’t know is whether the communion is kept with other communion inside the Tabernacle.”
Evangelist Ayogu didn’t say what happens to the Holy Communion if it was kept inside the tabernacle. Is it later given back to the nun? Is it shared among the communicants? Or is it received by the priest? These are some of the questions agitating the minds of the public which the leader of the prayer group couldn’t provide.
In any case, despite all these questions begging for answers, the group has continued to grow in leaps and bounds, so much so that it plays host to thousands of both Catholic faithful and other Christians who come every week to ask for God’s favour through prayers.
Asked if the nun has at any time told him why she has been having such an experience, Evangelist Ayogu said no but added that he has tried to find out through prayer the authenticity of the Passion, and the spiritual messages he has gotten so far confirmed to him that Sister Martina is a true child of God.
Reacting to this development, the Administrator, Nsukka Catholic Diocese, Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Eugene Odo, said though the church has gotten the information about the incident, the Diocese is watching the claim of Stigmata (the technical Roman Catholic term for the experience) by the nun.
We have heard about the case of Sister Martina Offorka who claims to be having such experience. The fact is that the church is still watching and praying about the claim. One thing about the Stigmata is that it is not the claim that makes one a Stigmata. Some who have such experience are declared Stigmata years after their death. Even Jesus Christ our Saviour, people started recognizing him after his resurrection. We are looking at a good life, not miracles. Miracle is not attestation to the good life of the person doing the miracles,” Fr. Odo said.
While confirming that such experiences are common in Catholicism, he explained that it is a replay of the suffering of Jesus Christ on individuals, especially during Lenten season. He gave the example of Catholic faithfuls who have physically manifested the Stigmata like St. Padro Pio of Pitrelcina and, more famously, St. Frances of Assisi.
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