PROVIDENCE — What could draw thousands of people to a remote town of about 1,500 in northwestern Missouri in the middle of the summer? For numerous Catholics this year, it was to view the body of a nun who most had never heard about before. Exhumed in May, four years after her death, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB, foundress of the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, was discovered preserved from decay. She may be the first African-American woman identified as incorrupt.
She is not the only saint protected from physical decomposition. Sometimes called “the incorruptibles,” dozens of saints and the blessed remain enshrined in similar condition in various places throughout the world, often on display in churches dedicated to them. But what does this incorruptibility mean? And what does it tell faithful Catholics?
For centuries, people have used different methods to preserve the bodies of deceased persons, with varying degrees of success. Long, involved embalming processes can make a body appear lifelike. However, unlike mummified or embalmed bodies – like that of famously displayed Vladimir Lenin, whose body requires tremendous maintenance – incorrupt saints have little to no postmortem preservation.
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That does not mean the remains appear in the exact physical condition that they did during that person’s life or even at his or her death, however. It simply means that the person’s body appears free from typical decomposition without artificial means of preservation. Some saints have remained incorrupt throughout the centuries, others have begun to decompose after a certain time, their skin turning a dark shade or even moldering in some places. Sometimes a body can decay due to the actions of those who discover it, perhaps by washing the body out of misguided reverence or through poor handling or unknowingly introducing pollutants.
But incorruptibility speaks to the Catholic soul, as evidenced by the current flood of pilgrims in Missouri.
“It’s important to clarify that there’s no intrinsic connection between being incorruptible and being a saint,” said Dr. Paul Gondreau, theology professor at Providence College. “It’s what we call a miraculous grace, and those graces can be given to anyone, regardless of their sanctity.”
In an interview at his office with Rhode Island Catholic, he pointed out some of the “faith-based lessons” these incorrupt saints teach, the first of which is that miracles still happen.
“Miracles give an important witness to the existence of God, especially important in a world that is becoming ever increasingly more secular and wants to deny God’s existence, that these things can happen.”
These incorrupt physical bodies also affirm the reality of Jesus’ life and resurrection. They offer testimony to the legitimacy of the Catholic faith; namely, that “we exist historically, that our faith is grounded in historical events, that Jesus really did walk and talk among us. And that there is very close intertwining of the physical and the spiritual, the temporal and the eternal, the natural and the human and of the divine,” Gondreau said. Beyond the miraculous aspect, however, is an existential one, demonstrated by the incorruptibles.
“First and foremost, it’s a lesson on the truth of the human person and how we’re constituted – namely, a body and soul. … We are spirits and bodies, spirits joined to bodies,” he said.
Throughout history and particularly in modern society, Gondreau continued, humanity has tended toward a desire to split the two into separate entities, “but the Church in its wisdom states … that a human being, while a composite being of body and soul, matter and spirit, is fundamentally one. And that’s, I think, the most cash value we can get out of the incorruptibles — is that the body’s not just a shell. And it’s not a husk, it’s not a piece of luggage, it’s not accidentally that we just carry it for a certain time.”
Gondreau’s excitement grows as he speaks about this divine truth. With his field of expertise in the humanity of Christ, alongside his personal experiences viewing the bodies of such incorrupt saints as Bernadette Soubirous, the Lourdes visionary, Gondreau has extensive knowledge of the nature of the human body. In his classes, particularly his marriage course, he imparts to his students “how the body is central to our human identity” – a lesson so critical today. “And the incorruptibles give very, very important witness that the body is an essential part of our human identity.”
Contrary to various heresies the Church has faced through the centuries against the physical body, she teaches, based on biblical truths, that the human form is good and created purposefully by God. In fact, it is so good Christ took on human form in the Incarnation and lived a human life. Gondreau noted that even in Jesus’ ministry, he raised people from the dead, though to a mortal life, fated to die again. Yet in rising from the dead himself, one man “changed human history.”
At the end of the world, all humanity will be reunited with their bodies. That is why the Church puts great emphasis on the care and treatment of a deceased person’s body. What strikes him the most about the incorruptibles, Gondreau said, “is that you’re just confronted with the fact that there they are, waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for the end of time, waiting for Christ to come on the last day. And when our bodies will be raised from the dead.”
Even in his resurrected form, Jesus gave humans a glimpse of the properties their glorified bodies may possess in heaven. According to the Church, these properties, Gondreau stated, include luminescence – “there will be a particular light in our bodies, coming from our souls” – and the ability to move “without any difficulty or labor.”
Gondreau concluded his discourse by articulating the inevitable reality that each human person – body and soul – will face their eternal destiny, hopefully united with Christ in heaven. That said, those bodies that are reunited with their souls in heaven will be glorified as Christ’s upon his resurrection.
To be reminded of the finite and yet immortal nature of humanity, Gondreau recommends viewing any of these incorrupt holy men and women, one of whom can be viewed more locally in Missouri. “The destiny of the human body is a glorious one. So, we’re kind of confronted with that when we behold the incorruptibles.”
