The Crown of Thorns in the lives of the Saints

I just finished listening to Brother Dominic's religion class in Kentucky on tape.  He was talking about this woman - Marie Rose Ferron - and this book "She Wears a Crown of Thorns.  I looked it up on line thinking that I could purchase the book.  The first site that came up was Amazon for the amazing price of $199.99!!!!!  Yes - $200 for a paperback book!  The cheapest I found it was $29.99 in horrible condition.  So I kept searching and found this overview which will have to do for now.  She was the 10th of 15 children.  Her mother "assigned" a Mystery of the Rosary to each child so she got the Crucifixion.  It appears she lived up to her mystery.  She is a very inspiring young lady!

The Crown of Thorns in the lives of the Saints

The Crown of Thorns

Like the Stigmata, the Crown of Thorns is a extraordinary mystical gift of God given to select victim souls, that they might participate more fully in union with Jesus for the conversion of sinners. A good portion of the Stigmatics have also bore the Crown of Thorns, such as St Julian of Norwich, St Catherine of Siena, Domenica Lazzeri [who's crown of thorns puncture wounds were once counted and there were exactly 40 puncture wounds], Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich and Therese Neumann to name just a few.

One very recent American mystic who lived in Woonsocket, Rhode Island named Marie Rose Ferron (1902-1936) was given the Crown of Thorns along with the Stigmata beginning in 1927. [Marie Rose Ferron is pictured with the Crown of Thorns marks visible in the photo above] Her case was studied extensively by numerous persons, including physicians, clergy and others from various backgrounds. One of her spiritual directors, Father Onesime Boyer wrote a popular book about Marie Rose entitled “She Wears a Crown of Thorns”, Benzinger Brothers, 1946. Concerning Rose and the Crown of Thorns we read:

“On January 10, 1928, I [Father Boyer] received a letter stating:
‘Rose has four little holes in her forehead, two in front and one in each temple; she feels as if her head were breaking open. Father Paradis and Mr. G. L. Desaulniers were with us. For them, it was, without doubt, something supernatural. While she was speaking, she fainted away three times; her mother took advantage of it to show us her wounds: they were all bleeding.'

“Once I asked Rose how the thorn stigmata were made- I wanted to know whether she found them already made after ecstasy or if she could feel them developing. When I asked her that question she already had seven of them. 'During their development,' she said, 'I feel them active. The impression is that of a hair being tightly pressed against the skin and boring a hole, as a gimlet would do.' [A gimlet is a small hand tool used for drilling or boring small holes -ed.]

“The stigmata which Rose had in the back of her head, prevented it from resting on the pillow; so she was often seen with her arm under her neck; sometimes, it was replaced by small cushions. Frequently, she would use neither; her head then was bent forward, as though she had a kink in her neck. She was seen to remain for hours in that position. While it was depressing to see her that way, she never for a moment showed the least sign of discomfort. Even when the exterior signs of the other stigmata had disappeared, if she rested on her pillow, she felt the invisible thorns penetrating deeper.

The thorn stigmata never completely disappeared. When Rose uncovered her head, we could always see them, although they were not so active as before. But when her sufferings were at their height, the stigmata turned red and a kind of serum oozed from them.
On June 23, 1929, one of my correspondents wrote:
“A Missionary came to see Rose. While he was there, Dr. McLaughlin walked in. The Missionary wanted to see Rose's forehead, he thought it would help him during his missions. The Doctor said to her: ‘Rose, I do not want to hurt your feelings, but if you do not mind, I will show him your forehead.'

With her permission, he explained to the Missionary how he knew the ridges and punctures were the stigmata of the crown. ‘Never mind, Rose,' said the Doctor, ‘I will do my best for you, I will fight for you!'
"Towards the end of November, 1929, the writer [Father Boyer] was in Rose's room, waiting till she came out of ecstasy. There was a lady with us, who had been helping Mrs. Ferron to dress her. I was then told by the mother that Rose had a crown. 'It is like two heavy cords,' she said, 'that encircle her head.' The outlines of the crown were quite visible on Rose's bandage which she always wore tightly fitted to her forehead. I was offered to see them; but I refused, more to show her that I attached no great importance to such signs.

"On January 3, 1930, Father Leonard called on her. In his notebook, he tells us that the crown consisted of two branches well outlined, produced by heavy swelling of the flesh; they were an inch apart and intersected, over each stigma.

"When the stigma of the crown disappeared, one branch of it still remained, and although it was reduced in size, it was still very visible. After her death, a photograph was taken of Rose [see photo above]. An examination of the picture will give a good idea of what the crown looked like. The other branch, which was an inch away from the one which is visible, ran parallel to it, both crossing each other right above each stigma and then winding their way around the head. The fact that the branches of the crown appeared over a year after the thorn stigmata, and yet, were aligned with the latter in perfect symmetry is most remarkable. Out of that combination emerged a beautiful crown. The frontispiece is a reconstruction of the crown to show how it appeared in 1929.”