The Exact Number of Wounds Suffered by Christ, As Revealed to a Medieval Saint

You’ve probably heard of the “five wounds of Christ,” so you might think that’s the answer to the question of how many wounds Christ suffered during his passion. But that’s not right.

The “five wounds of Christ” refer to the wounds he received specifically from crucifixion: one for each hand and foot, and then the piercing in his side with a lance. This is not the total number of wounds he suffered during his entire passion.

Remember, Christ was flogged, beaten, crowned with thorns, and carried his cross in addition to the crucifixion itself. That’s a lot of suffering for the sins of the world.

Regarding how many wounds Christ’s suffered in total, we look to St. Gertrude the Great, an amazing Benedictine nun, mystic, and theologian of 13th century Germany.

She received many supernatural experiences of Christ during her 46 years of life and was a key person in the development of devotion to Christ’s sacred heart.

During one of these mystical visions, Christ revealed to her the number of wounds he received in total during his passion: 5,466.

As a result, she recited a certain prayer of praise to God 5,466 times each day in honor of each wound for our salvation. Soon after, another devotion developed in which a person would recite a prayer 15 times a day for a year, or 5 days a day for three years, both which would result in saying the prayer 5,475 times, which is close to the total number of wounds of Christ.