The Incorruptible Saints
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The Incorruptible Saints June 2021 The Incorruptibles are saints whose bodies are miraculously preserved after death, defying the normal process of decomposition. St. Cecilia is probably the first saint known to be incorrupt, but the bodies of these saints can be found in many places throughout the world. They are not like mummies, for their skin is soft and their limbs pliable, nothing at all like the dry, skeletal remains of mummies. Under usual circumstances, nothing at all has been done to preserve the bodies of these saints. In fact, some of them have been covered in quicklime, which should have easily destroyed any human remains, yet it has no effect of these saints. Many of them also give off a sweet, unearthly odor, and others produce blood or oils that defy any scientific explanation. These saints are in a class by themselves. Even though incorruptibility does not automatically confer sainthood upon the subject, it is still properly appreciated by the Church as a supernatural occurrence. The truth is that these occurrences cannot be understood outside of Divine intervention on behalf of these saints, as the laws of nature have been suspended on behalf of the incorruptible saints. Modern science relegates the incorruptibles to the status of mummies, pretending it understands and can comfortably categorize these saints. How then do the scientists explain the fact that a year and a half after the death of St. Francis Xavier, a medical examiner placed a finger into one of the saint’s wounds and found fresh blood on his finger when he withdrew it? Or that when a finger was amputated from St. John of the Cross several months after his death, it was immediately observed that blood began to flow from the wound? Or the case of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, whose arms have frequently bled over the last 400 years? Pope St. Pius V’s incorrupt body lies in the grand basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. It is housed in a glass tomb making it possible for pilgrims to see him. He is dressed in papal garments. When I have seen him on my visits to Rome, he appears quite regal, yet very accessible, as the pilgrim may draw near to the tomb, and visit with him. I love how our Catholic Faith has traditionally done such seemingly unusual things, such as, housing the body, some call them the remains, of a beloved saint in see-through tombs to allow veneration by their devotees. This leads to the topic of June 2021 on our website: Incorruptible Saints. June 1 - St. Agnes of Montepulciano (1268 – 1317) When St. Agnes passed away, the Dominican friars attempted to obtain balsam (or myrrh) to embalm her body. It was found, however, to be producing a sweet odor on its own, and her limbs remained supple. When her body was moved years after her death to the monastery church, it was found to be incorrupt. Her tomb became the site of pilgrimages. Some fifty years later, a Dominican friar, the Blessed Raymond of Capua, who served as confessor to St. Catherine of Siena, wrote an account of Agnes' life. He described her body as still appearing as if she were alive. When Saint Catherine of Siena went to pray before Saint Agnes’ incorrupt body, the deceased saint lifted her foot for Saint Catherine to kiss. She also revealed to Saint Catherine that they would both enjoy the same amount of glory in heaven. St. Agnes was beatified in 1534 and she was solemnly canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. Her feast day is April 20th. June 2 – St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844 - 1879) Bernadette of Lourdes Over the course of 46 years, Saint Bernadette’s body was exhumed no less than three times: the first time in 1909, then again in 1919 and finally in 1925. At the first exhumation, it was quickly evident that a miracle had taken place; Saint Bernadette’s skin tone was perfectly natural. The mouth was open slightly and it could be seen that the teeth were still in place. Although the rosary in her hands had rust and corrosion in some spots, but the hands were perfect! The sisters present thoroughly washed the body and clothed it in a new habit before placing it in an officially-sealed double casket. The second exhumation, in 1919, showed no further evidence of decomposition, though her hands and face had become somewhat discolored due to the well-intended washing given by the nuns ten years before. A worker in wax was commissioned to create a light wax mask of Saint Bernadette’s hands and face. It was feared that, although the body was preserved, the changes around the face would make an unpleasant impression on the public. Now to 1946 and the final disturbing of Saint Bernadette’s resting place. One of the doctors overseeing the final exhumation, Doctor Comte, writes: "From this examination I conclude that the body of the Venerable Bernadette is intact, the skeleton is complete, the muscles have atrophied, but are well preserved; only the skin, which has shriveled, seems to have suffered from the effects of the damp in the coffin. … the body does not seem to have putrefied, nor has any decomposition of the cadaver set in, although this would be expected and normal after such a long period in a vault hollowed out of the earth." The doctor was amazed by the state of preservation of the liver: "What struck me during this examination, of course, was …the totally unexpected state of the liver after 46 years… It was soft and almost normal in consistency. I pointed this out to those present, remarking that this did not seem to be a natural phenomenon." June 3 – St. Catherine of Genoa (1447 – 1510) Catherine suffered for most of her life with an illness that was never understood or could be explained. On January 10, 1510, she lost sight and speech, and made signs to be given last rites. She recovered her senses but continued to suffer in agony. By May doctors said they could do nothing for her and that her affliction was "supernatural." Her last months were spent in excruciating pain. She could not tolerate taking any food or liquid. On September 12, black blood flowed from her mouth and her body was covered with black stripes. She bled violently again on September 14. That evening, she indicated she would Lake her Communion in heaven. She died uttering, "Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." She was seen by several persons ascending to heaven clothed in white and on a white cloud. Catherine’s body was interred in the largest hospital in Genoa, where she had done much of her work. It was disinterred nearly a year later when it was discovered that a conduit of water ran behind the tomb. Though the wood coffin was decayed and filled with worms, the body was untouched and incorrupt, and appeared to have been dried out. Her body was put on public display for eight days, and pilgrims claimed to be cured. Prior to her death, Catherine had instructed that her heart be examined after death to see if it had been consumed by divine love, but this was not done. The body was placed into a marble sepulcher in the hospital. It was moved to various locations in 1551, 1593 and 1642. In 1694 it was moved to a glass-sided reliquary placed high on an altar in a church built in her honor in the quarter of Portoria, Genova. Catherine’s body was examined by physicians in 1834 and again over a hundred years later, on May 10, 1960. Though brown, dry and rigid, her relic was determined to be free or embalming or any treatment or preservation. June 4 – St. Catherine Laboure (1806 – 1876) When Catherine Labouré died, she was placed in a triple lined coffin in the crypt of the chapel at Reuilly as a requirement back then for religious orders by Paris authorities. She declared venerable by Pope Pius XI in 1831. Her remained interred until the time of her beatification in 1933. The outer wooden coffin had already disintegrated but her body miraculously remained perfectly intact seen by several eye witnesses including representatives from the Archdiocese of Paris, the Daughters of Charity, the Congregation of the Mission, and medical examiners. A detailed medical examination of Catherine's exhumed remains concluded: "The body is in perfect state of preservation, and its joints are still supple." After a detailed examination, the body was taken to the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity in Paris. After the celebration of the beatification, the body of Catherine was placed and now lies in a glass coffin under the renovated side altar of the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris. This is one of the spots of the apparition, honoring the "Virgin of the Globe" where pilgrims have gathered to pray for her intercession, and that of the Blessed Virgin, and where numerous miracles were reported at her tomb. On July 27, 1947, she was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII. The Feast Day of St. Catherine Labouré is November 28. June 5 – St. Clare of Montefalco (1268 – 1308) St. Clare was also called Saint Clare of the Cross. When Clare was on her deathbed in 1308, she repeatedly said, "Know that in my very heart I have and hold Christ crucified." Soon after her death, her sisters were inspired to take out her heart. When they did so, a quantity of blood rushed out and was collected in a vial that had been washed and purified.