1. Introduction

Magdalena Gornik (also Gornikova Lenčka or Alenka; 19 July 1835 – 23 February 1896) was a Slovenian Roman-catholic mystic, theologian and stigmatic.

2. Early Life

Magdalena Gornik was born on July 19, 1835 at 4 Janeži 4 (today #11), to parents Jožef and Ana Gornik. That day, she was carried to the local church of Our Lady of the Snows for her baptism by her godparents Mihael Levstek and Marjeta Košir. She was baptised by Matevž Ravnikar (Poženčan), the chaplain on Gora. She was named for Mary Magdalene. She was also called Lenka, Alenčka or Lenčka, but signed her name as Magdalena.

2.1. First Holy Communion

The chaplain of the mountains, Jožef Žagar, provided the first Holy Communion to children at age twelve. The decree of Pope Pius X on early Holy Communion Quam singulari of 7 August 1910 commanded that children should be admitted to their first Holy Communion already in the "years of discernment", around age seven.

Gornik received communion from Žagar in 1847. The biographer of her youth, Janez Plaper, wrote:

"[...] that the most holy God, at that first entrance into her pure heart, "kindled such a burning love for her that her bodily strength began to fail. She could hardly manage the few steps to her place in the pew. There she fell to her knees and for a quarter of an hour gazed motionless at the image of Our Lady of the Snows above the altar. When she stood up to leave the church after Mass, she heard a voice:

'Tell no one what you have experienced.'

Astonished by the voice, she thought that the other girls could hear it too.

'No,' she heard the mysterious voice again, 'they don't hear the voice, you do. I am the one you have just eaten.' A short time later, she left the church with the other girls."^[1]

3. Mystic Events

3.1. Ecstasies

Gornik is alleged to have experienced her first ecstasy at age 13, on 11 August 1848. From 24 August 1848 until her death on 23 February 1896, she was to have an ecstasy every evening, as well as on Fridays in Holy Week and at every Holy Mass. The offsets followed the ecclesiastical year. In the ecstatic state, her body was insensitive to external stimuli.

Later, Gornik was able to describe everything that had happened during the ecstasy. The shifts were linked to seeing and suffering; stigmata would open up to her.

3.2. Visions

Gornik claimed to have had visions throughout her life. The content of her visions varied. She is said to have had her first apparition in the spring of 1847 and her last one the day before her death.

In her visions, Gornik is said to have seen and spoken with angels, saints, the Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity. The angels, she said, instructed her in the adoration of Mary and God and wept over the people's unbelief. The Virgin is said to have spoken to her about the virtues, about prayer, encouraged her to endure suffering patiently and invited her to meditate on the Passion and death of Jesus; Mary became an intercessor for the people with her Son.

On Fridays and during Lent, she witnessed the Passion of Jesus. During Lent, she shared in the Last Supper and witnessed Jesus' crucifixion and death. At Easter she witnessed Jesus' resurrection and then his ascension. Sometimes she is said to have watched the Holy Mass in the local church from her home through a vision.

3..3 Mystical Communion

Gornik supposedly received both sacramental communion (as any believer can receive) and mystical communion (as some saints do). She received mystical communion only in suspension. Then she was given it by Jesus, by a priest-saint or by an angel. Many people, including priests, are said to have seen the Holy Host suddenly appear in her mouth, and shortly afterwards they saw the special chalice.

3.4. Stigmata

Gornik is said to have received stigmata in November 1848 on her hands, feet and side, when she was thirteen years old. She wrote:

"The week before Advent 1848, I got wounds. I knew it three weeks before. All three of them - Jesus, Mary and St Francis - told me that I would get them. On Wednesday at eleven o'clock I got the sores. Thin streams of blood came out of the sky and into my arms and legs; a thick stream came out of the sky and into my right side. It hurt a lot. Since then, my wounds have bled every Friday; in 1849, they bled every Wednesday. Every day they hurt from three to four in the afternoon."^[2]

She kept her wounds hidden for a long time; even her family did not know about them. By 1855, she bore visible wounds on her body. In a vision, when she allegedly saw Jesus crowned with thorns or otherwise suffering, the wounds of the crown of thorns were said to have opened on her forehead. During Holy Week, the wounds of scourging would open on her body. The wounds were allegedly examined by doctors, observed by priests and visitors, without signs of deception.

3.5. Xenoglossy

In her state of ecstasy, Gornik is said to have engaged in xenoglossy, understanding and speaking languages she had not learned or heard. She is said to have mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldean, and other languages, including non-European languages.

3.6. Prophecies

On 2 August 1848, Gornik is said to have predicted the flight of Pope Pius IX from Rome. At the beginning of November 1848, she mentioned this to Jernej Krže from Vinice. In the same month, on 24 November 1848, the Pope had to flee Rome for Gaeta because of the political situation. She also reportedly predicted various plagues, disasters and calamities.

4. Letters

Handwritten Magdalene's letter from 1851. https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?curid=1272193

Gornik left handwritten letters, and handwritten reports of people who observed her and wrote reports to the diocese and newspapers provided accounts. How she was affected by the opposition and with what spirit she accepted it, is shown by this handwritten letter she wrote to the fifty-year-old Franciscan friar Tobija Vernik in 1851:

"Oh, I know very well that I have many adversaries. Thanks be to God that for His sake I am despised. It is true that God visits us with much suffering, but let us thank Him well that He visits us here, and let us ask Him to purify us here after His pleasure, and to spare us graciously in the other world."

5. Death and Veneration

Magdalene was buried in this tomb in Gora, alongside her relatives. https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?curid=1206436

Gornik died on 23 February 1896. Her relatives, due to their poverty, were allegedly worried about the funeral feast. Gornik told them not to worry because God would see that everything would be alright, after which the cold weather on the day of the funeral led to a small number of attendants.