The perfectly incorrupt body of St. Bernadette Soubrirous (1844-1879). She saw a vision of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes in 1858. She was exhumed in 1909 and again in 1919 before being placed in a casket of gold and glass at Nevers.
The incorruptibles
One of the most intriguing and mysterious subjects I have ever studied in my career as a funeral director was that of the incorruptibles within the organization and history of the Roman Catholic Church. The concept of an incorruptible is totally a Roman Catholic idea, for the notion is rarely heard of in the Protestant tradition and in other world religions.
So what is an incorruptible? Basically, it is a dead human body which does not decay, where decomposition seems to be miraculously halted. The first time I was exposed to the concept of the incorruptibles was when I was traveling in France and visited the Chapel of Saint Bernadette at the mother house in Nevers. I was astounded at what I saw.
St. Bernadette, who had died in 1879, was reposing in a coffin of gold and glass and she looked beautiful, even though her body had never been subjected to any type of embalming treatments.
When she died on April 16, 1879, she was buried on the convent grounds behind the mother house. St. Bernadette's remains were first exhumed 30 years after her death, when she was being considered for sainthood in the church. On September 22, 1909, in the presence of representatives appointed by the postulators of the cause (the cause being her consideration for sainthood), two physicians and the sisters of the religious community, the coffin was removed by workmen from the place where it had been entombed 30 years before.
Opening the lid, they discerned no odor, and the body lay exposed completely devoid of any decomposition. The clothing was damp, and sawdust and charcoal surrounded the body, but the arms and face were completely unaffected and had maintained their natural skin tone. The teeth were barely visible through the slightly parted lips and the eyes appeared somewhat sunken. Her hands held a rosary which had become rusty, and the crucifix which lay upon her breast was coated with patina. While the sisters were removing the damp robes, they discovered that the body was entire and without the least trace of decomposition (or corruption).
The second exhumation of St. Bernadette took place at the end of the process for sainthood, on April 3, 1919. The remains were again found in the same state of preservation.
I remember standing in front of the glass casket and cynically thinking that this was another Lenin or some trick from the wax museum. Upon my return to the United States, I contacted the president of one of the leading embalming chemical companies in the world and told my experience. He was as unbelieving as I was and promised me he would get to the bottom of this "charade."
He called a leading official in the Roman Catholic Church in the city where he lived and had a lengthy conversation with the bishop. He then called me and very meekly told me that the church took this subject of incorruptibility very seriously and that he was going to leave the subject alone-he did not want to tangle with the church.
Who are the incorruptibles?
It first should be explained that the term "venerable" is a title given to servants of God after the Congregation of Rites in Rome concludes that they have practiced virtue to an heroic degree. This is the first step toward sainthood. "Blessed" is an official ecclesiastical title, preliminary to sainthood, which the church bestows after finding that God has testified to the individual's sanctity in the form of miracles performed for others through their holy intercession.
Further, it needs to be mentioned that prior to bestowing these titles, the church makes a formal identification and examination of the remains. Incorrupt bodies, while not necessary for sainthood, are medically and scientifically examined.
The list of incorruptibles reminds us of the long and rich history of the Roman Catholic Church. The list includes saints who died in the year 177 A.D., approximately 144 years after the death of Jesus the Christ. Some of the blessed of the church are St. Agatha, St. Wunibald, St. Ididore, St. Hugh of Lincoln, St. Zita, St. Andrew Franchi, St. Catherine of Bologna, St. Francis Xavier, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Philip Neri, St. Francis de Sales, St. Bernadette Soubirous ... Well, the list of saints goes on and on. In fact, no one publication has been able to list all of them, or even the ones who qualify as being called incorruptible.
So what is an incorruptible? Some people incorrectly classify the incorruptibles as being natural mummies, but natural mummies are almost always rigid and extremely dry. Most of the incorruptibles, however, are neither dry nor rigid, even after the passage of centuries.
The phenomenon of incorruptibles simply baffles the experts, and even the most cynical observers are forced to reckon with issues of the supernatural and faith. Even when their burials were delayed because the devout were reluctant to be separated from their object of veneration, the bodies of many eventual saints refused to decompose.
The unembalmed body of St. Bernadine of Siena, for instance, was left exposed for 26 days, that of St. Antela Merici for 30 days, that of Theresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart for 15 days and that of St. Antoninus for eight days, to name only a few such postponements. Hence for Pope John Paul II's unembalmed body to be kept for eight days was not an unusual practice in the least.
The failure of attempts to destroy the bodies of some incorruptibles defies explanation. Lime was placed in the caskets of St. Francis Xavier, St. John of the Cross and St. Pascal Baylon. In all three cases, despite these aggressive destructive methods, pure preservation prevailed.
In the case of St. Francis Xavier, his body was beautiful 142 years after death, despite the amputation of his members for relics and the rough handling of the body when it was forced into a grave too small to accommodate its normal length. St. John of the Cross's body remains perfectly flexible even to the present day.
All embalmers are familiar with the destructive force of moisture on the remains, but again, the incorruptibles defy this maxim. For instance, nine months after her death, St. Teresa of Avila was found in a coffin with the top rotted away, permitting damp earth to cover her body. Although her remains were clothed in dirty and rotten fragments of fabric, her body was not only fresh and perfectly intact after its cleansing, but was mysteriously fragrant as well.
What does it all mean?
The reports and accounts of the incorruptibles are countless and well-documented. The skeptic, however, will ask the important question: How have these holy remains stayed unharmed though buried under rough and rugged conditions? What can account for the presence of clear, sweet-smelling oils which have flowed at one time or another from most of the bodies of these holy people?
Physicians, scientists, embalmers and pathologists are baffled when confronted with the task of explaining these strange phenomena. Explanations have ranged from the effects on the body of radioactivity or ascetic diets to the reports being pure hoaxes. However, no explanation works without the presence of faith in the process of sainthood. For those who insist on a natural explanation for everything, no argument will suffice to erase their doubts.
So what about the lack of embalming treatments for Pope John Paul II? Could it be that the powers in the Vatican are taking into consideration the possibility of Pope John Paul II fitting into the profile of an incorruptible?
One thing is certain: Those at the Vatican are under no obligation to reveal their thinking. The Vatican is a theocracy, not a democracy. In the end, only time-Vatican time-will tell whether Pope John Paul II will be identified as an incorruptible.
I was quoted after the pope's death as saying that the Vatican might be fast-tracking him for sainthood. I smiled when I read that quote, for inside the working of the world's largest Christian body, the concept of "fast-tracking" is not the same as in corporate America. Fast-tracking on Vatican Hill might mean 40, 70, 100 or even 200 years.
Regardless, the fact that Pope John Paul II's body was not embalmed may have lasting spiritual and historic significance for the eternal veneration and embrace of his memory. The story of Pope John Paul II and his continuing impact on the world might just be beginning, as has been the case with Pope John XXIII and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
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Copyright ICFA 2005
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