The book “The Incorruptibles: A Study of the Incorruption of Various Catholic Saints and Beati,” published in 1977, is considered the premier work on the incorrupt saints and blessed. In it, author Joan Carroll Cruz briefly describes the lives and physical conditions of 102 incorrupt saints, though other sources list more incorrupt saints than this.
Drawing from these sources, Rhode Island Catholic discovered numerous parishes within the Diocese of Providence which were named for saints found to be incorrupt. Here are some brief facts on these incorruptibles.
St. Francis Xavier
East Providence
• Co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and Spanish missionary to the East Indies, Japan and India in the 1500s; died while on a mission bound for China. His body was packed in lime to hasten decomposition and make it easier to transport his bones. Exhumed and moved several times, each time found to be incorrupt. His body now rests in a silver casket in Goa, India (though missing various extremities); exposed every 10 years for veneration.
St. Catherine of Siena
Little Compton (Warwick, now closed)
• Italian mystic and Dominican sister, bore the stigmata, ministered to the sick during the Black Plague, persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from Avignon, died in 1380 at age 33 from a painful seizure. After death, her head was taken to Siena (where it remains on display to this day) and her body remained in Rome, though some relics were removed and given to other Dominican sisters.
St. Vincent de Paul
(Coventry and Bradford)
• French priest who founded the Congregation of Priests of the Mission (Vincentians), focused on service to the poor; died in Paris in 1660. His body was found to be mostly free from decay 52 years after his death; later found decomposing due to an underground flood. Bones now encased in a wax figure, incorrupt heart in gold reliquary, both in Paris.
St. Francis de Sales
North Kingstown
• French priest who helped lead Counter-Reformation, appointed Bishop of Geneva, died at 56, declared a Doctor of the Church in 1877. His body was embalmed and placed on display in Lyon; exuded a clear oil periodically. Ten years after death, his body was found preserved, but later had decomposed to only bones, now in repose at Annecy.
St. Teresa of Avila
Providence (Now closed)
• Reformer of the Carmelite Order, experienced visions and levitations, died in 1582, declared a Doctor of the Church. After burial, a pleasant scent emanated from her grave (as it had surrounded her in life). Upon exhumation, though mildew had crept into the coffin, her body was found incorrupt without artificial means, and remained preserved through multiple examinations, still exuding a fragrant aroma. Her heart is also incorrupt, with a supernatural wound.
St. Edward the Confessor
Providence (Now a Mission Church of St. Anthony Parish)
• Anglo-Saxon king of England; devout in faith and considered a just ruler, died in 1066. His body was exhumed in 1102 and discovered to be incorrupt; by 1685, when his tomb was reopened, his body had decomposed to a mere skeleton.
St. Madeleine Sophie (Barat)
Tiverton (Now a Mission Church of St. Catherine of Siena, Little Compton)
• French saint; founded a house of the Society of the Sacred Heart, which grew to roughly 100 houses in Europe and America; died on Ascension Thursday 1865. Twenty-eight years later, her body was found entire and recognizable, her extremities and tongue still flexible. Similar at future exhumations in 1904 and 1934.
St. Rita
Warwick
• Italian widow, Augustinian nun and mystic from the 15th century. When she died, her cell was filled with a sweet perfume. Over 150 years later, her body was found to be perfect, with eyes said to open unaided and her body to change position, with the scent still occasionally emitted. Interred in a convent in Cascia.
St. Rose of Lima
Warwick (Now a chapel within St. Rose and Clement Parish)
• First canonized saint from the New World, Dominican sister, died in 1630. Self-inflicted penitential scarred and emaciated body was interred, but 18 months later discovered whole and fresh. Incorruptible nature was not permanent, however, though her body still exhaled a pleasant scent in 1630.
St. Clare of Assisi
Westerly
• Follower of St. Francis of Assisi, foundress of the Poor Clares, protected her convent from attack with the Blessed Sacrament. Originally discovered to be incorrupt, though later exhumation revealed only the skeleton remained perfectly intact. On display at the Basilica of St. Clare in Assisi, covered in wax figure.
St. Pius X
Westerly
• Pope from 1903-1914; vehemently opposed modernism in the Church, known for his humility and simplicity. Exhumed in 1944 for the canonization process, his body was found incorrupt. Today, his remains lie beneath the Chapel of the Presentation in St. Peter’s Basilica.
St. Agatha
Woonsocket
• Early Church martyr, years unknown; mentioned in Canon of the Mass. Buried in Catania and moved to Constantinople in the 11th century, then later returned. Her incorrupt body is now kept in different reliquaries in Catania.
St. Charles Borromeo
Providence and Woonsocket (Now a Mission Church of St. Joseph Parish)
• Born into Italian nobility; helped lead the Counter-Reformation in the 16th century in Italy, including involvement in the Council of Trent. Died in 1584, his body was discovered preserved 20 years later and remains so today, though his face is now covered with a silver mask, laid to rest at the Duomo of Milan.
St. Stanislaus Kostka
Woonsocket
• Young Polish nobleman who received visions of saints and angels and decided to join the Jesuits. Died at 17 before professing vows. A fragrance emanated from his tomb upon opening two years postmortem and his body was incorrupt at that point. Year later, normal decay had set in.
