The Mysterious Incorruptibles

The Phenomenon of Incorruption in the Bodies of Saints

Mar 26, 2009

Many of the saint's bodies after death remained intact and did not decay according to natural law.

According to the laws of nature, when a person dies, the body decays, becoming corrupt and withering away.

But there are saints in the Catholic Tradition whose bodies have defied all laws of science and have been preserved in ways which do not concur with the natural law. Science is as yet unable to explain them. Catholics believe that this incorruption of their bodies is a sign of predilection, of holiness as Jesus had said that corruption would touch those of His just.

St. Bernadette Soubirous 1844

Perhaps the most famous incorruptible in Catholic Tradition is St. Bernadette of Soubirous, the famous mystic who saw the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes and found the spring according to her words.

But sources are mixed on her actual incorruptibility. Having died in 1844, she was exhumed three times. Each exhumation yielded some signs of decomposition, but after the third, it was said that her body was covered with visible patches of mildew and a great volume of crystals and calcium salts. Her body at that time was considered mummified - a natural phenom. Her skin was black and her eyes and nose were sunk in. She appears completely incorrupt in a reliquary at the shrine. But apparently this is due to a wax coating which was prepared to cover her face and hands.

If you compare her picture at death with those of her now, you can see the obvious differences.

This great Doctor of the Church was also an incorruptible. Nine months after her burial, the sisters wondered about the condition of her body because an aroma of roses surrounded her tomb. They made the decision to exhume her body and found that the coffin was collapsed, rotting and filled with molds.

Dampness filled the coffin and it also smelled. Her clothing had fallen to pieces and dirt had fallen onto her body. But beneath all this stench, her body appeared as if she had been buried just the night before. They reclothed her and noticed a rosy fragrance penetrating throughout the whole monastery.

Her body was examined by doctors three years after death who declared the condition to be a miracle. In their report, they said, “For after three years, without having been embalmed, it was in such a perfect state of preservation that nothing was wanting to it in any way, and a wonderful odour issued from it.”

St. Charles Borromeo 1584

It was during St. Charles Borromeo’s beatification process that it was discovered that his body had remained incorrupt despite having been buried under pavement in an area which was found to be corroded, naturally humid with moisture going all the way down to the corpse.

Despite the condition of the coffin, his body was completely incorrupt twenty years after his burial.

Others Known to Have Been Incorrupt

There are approximately 102 known incorruptibles in the Catholic Tradition. I clarify this because incorruptibility has been reported with Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist and Jewish saints alike.

Among them include St. Catherine of Siena, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, St. Charbel, St. Josapahat, St. John Vianney, St. Francis Xavier, St. Catherine Laboure and many more.

The copyright of the article The Mysterious Incorruptibles in Catholic Saints is owned by Marilynn Hughes. Permission to republish The Mysterious Incorruptibles in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.