THE FACTS ABOUT “DEAD ON DISPLAY” – INCORRUPTIBLE BODIES OF SAINTS AND NON-SAINTS (PART TWO OF TWO)

A continuation from: THE FACTS ABOUT “DEAD ON DISPLAY” – INCORRUPTIBLE BODIES OF SAINTS AND NON-SAINTS (PART ONE OF TWO)

Here is the continuation of incorruptible bodies of saints and the non-saints.

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St. Agnes was born in 1268; and at the age of nine, she entered the monastery of Montepulciano. Four years later, the pope requested that she assist in establishing a new convent in Procena; and at the age of fifteen, she became the superior of the convent. St. Agnes, blessed with many visions, received the Holy Eucharist from an angel and held the Infant Jesus in her arms. She died in the year 1317, and her body was incorrupt for nearly 300 years. Parts of the remains of her body are now enclosed in a figure, but her visible hands and feet are still incorrupt and can be viewed at the Church of St. Agnes in Montepulciano, Italy.

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Saint Teresa Margaret, died 1770                                                                                                                                                                            St. Teresa Margaret's incorrupt body is on display in the Monastery chapel

On March 19, 1934, Pope Pius XI entered Blessed Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart in the register of saints. In Germany, the new saint is virtually unknown outside of the Carmelite Order. Her life was quiet and hidden. She died on March 7, 1770 at the age of 22, and of this short lifespan, she spent five years in the Carmelite monastery in Florence. She performed no brilliant, attention-getting deeds, nor did her reputation reach the wider world. She spent her life living quietly and with virtue.

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Saint Vincent De Paul, died 1660

Saint Vincent De Paul studied humanities at Dax with the Cordeliers and he graduated in theology at Toulouse. Vincent de Paul was ordained in 1600, remaining in Toulouse until he went to Marseille for an inheritance. On his way back from Marseille, he was taken captive by Turkish pirates to Tunis, and sold into slavery. After converting his owner to Christianity, Vincent de Paul was freed in 1607. Vincent returned to France and served as priest in a parish near Paris. n 1705 the Superior-General of the Lazarists requested that the process of his canonization might be instituted. On August 13, 1729, Vincent was declared Blessed by Benedict XIII, and canonized by Clement XII on June 16, 1737. In 1885 Leo XIII gave him as patron to the Sisters of Charity.

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Saint Silvan, died circa 35

There is little known about Saint Silvan except that he was martyred (killed for his faith). Considering his body is over 1,600 years old, it is remarkably preserved.

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St. Etheldreda

St Etheldreda’s Catholic Church, Ely, England

Just her hand is on display.

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St. Francis Xavier

Basilica of Bom Jesus, Goa India                                                                                                                                                                          

Most of incorrupt body on display in a silver casket.

St. Francis Xavier - Died 1552 and was discovered incorrupt, despite the fact that lime was placed in his casket to expedite decomposition. His body was also said to have bled normally one and a half years after death during an examination by a physician. The body is now in the in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on December 2, 1637.

St. John Vianney

Shrine of St. John Vianney, Ars, France                                                                                                                                                                    

Beloved parish priest of Ars, died 1859, exhumed 1904.

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St. Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney (May 8, 1786 - August 4, 1859) was a French parish priest who became a Catholic saint and the patron saint of parish priests. He is often referred to, even in English, as the “Curé d’Ars” (the parish priest of the village of Ars). He became famous internationally for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish due to the radical spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings.

St. Padre Pio

San Giovanni Rotondo, Southern Italy

Died 1968. Exhumed and temporarily on display from April 24, 2008 to mark the 40th anniversary of his death.

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Padre Pio, a humble Capuchin priest from San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy , was blessed by God in many wonderful and mysterious ways. The most dramatic was the stigmata. Padre Pio bore the wounds of Christ for fifty years!

Pope John XXIII

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

On display in a glass casket.

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Pope John XXIII (Latin: Ioannes PP. XXIII; Italian: Giovanni XXIII), born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (November 25, 1881 – June 3, 1963), was elected as the 261st Pope of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City on October 28, 1958. He called the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) but did not live to see it to completion, dying on June 3, 1963, two months after the completion of his final encyclical, Pacem in Terris. He was beatified on September 3, 2000, along with Pope Pius IX, the first popes since Pope St. Pius X to receive this honor.

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Blessed Paula Frassinetti

Chapel of the Convent of Santa Dorotea in Rome, Italy

Died in 1882, exhumed 1906

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St. Rita of Cascia

Basilica of St Rita, Cascia, Italy

The patron saint of hopeless cases, died 1457. Her body has been seen in different positions in the glass case and her eyes have opened and closed unaided.

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St. Sperandia

Benedictine Convent, Cingoli, Italy

Died 1276, exhumed eight times, the last in 1952. Said to exude a sweet fragrance ("odor of sanctity").

St. Vincent Pallotti

Church of St. Salvatore, Onda, Italy

Died 1850, exhumed 1906 and 1950.

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St. Vincent Pallotti - Died in 1850 and was exhumed and found incorrupt and ...

St. Zita

Basilica of St. Frediano, Lucca, Italy

Died 1278.

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The mummified body of St. Zita, Florence and Tuscany, Italy. Lucca, Italy

Saint Zita (c. 1212 - 27 April 1272) is the patron saint of maids and domestic servants. She is also appealed to in order to help find lost keys. Zita often said to others that devotion is false if slothful. She considered her work as an employment assigned her by God, and as part of her penance, and obeyed her master and mistress in all things as being placed over her by God. She always rose several hours before the rest of the family and employed in prayer a considerable part of the time which others gave to sleep.

Notable Non-Saints on Display

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Jeremy Bentham

University College Lobby, London, England

Utilitarian philosopher, died 1832, requested in his will to be preserved and displayed.

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Lenin

Lenin Mausoleum, Russia

Died 1924, wanted a simple burial, but has been on display ever since his death.

(There's also a Buddhist example of the miracle in Siberia.)

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The exhumed body of the the Khambo Lama (d.1927), still in the lotus

position in a Buddhist monastery in Siberia.

REFERENCE

http://www.semperaltius.com/incorrupt_saints.htm

http://overcomeproblems.com/incorruptables.htm

http://www.catholicapologetics.info/library/gallery/incorrupt/incorrupt.htm#Introduction