Pilgrims flock to Missouri to see the impeccably preserved body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster
The nun is one step closer to being canonized after how her exhumed body, four years after burial, showed no signs of decay.
Pilgrims flock to Missouri to see the impeccably preserved body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster.
< p>Sister Wilhelmina, founder of the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, in Gower, Missouri, died at the age of 95 in May 2019.
She was buried without embalming in a cracked wooden coffin. , which exposed her body to moisture.
When her remains were exhumed on May 18 for transfer to the monastery chapel, which was supposed to be her last refuge, the Benedictine sisters expected to find the bones.< /p>
Instead, however, the sisters found an intact body and clothing, according to the Catholic News Agency.
Due to the high level of condensation, a layer of mold has formed on it. The rest of the body was unharmed.
According to the sisters who were present at the exhumation, the ribbon, crucifix and rosary were intact, as was the coverlet.
“We think that she is the first African American, who was found incorruptible,” said the current abbess of the community, Mother Cecilia.
Her job was to open the coffin and examine the body.
Full, intact foot
“I thought I saw a completely intact, intact foot, and said, 'I didn't just see that.' she said. “So I took another closer look.”
“I mean, it just felt like the Lord was doing it,” the abbess added.
“ Right now we need to hope. We need it. Our Lord knows it. And she was such a testament to hope. And faith. And trust.”
While the body seemed unchanged, the coffin's lining fell apart.
The skeletal remains usually weighed around 20 pounds.
But Sister Wilhelmina's body weighed somewhere between 80 and 90 pounds.
p>
The Catholic Church assigns “incorruptibility” to corpses that have been found to have survived. from disintegration as a result of divine intervention.
“The Blessed”
According to the Catholic writer Joan Carroll Cruz, there are 102 saints or “blessed ones” recognized by the church as incorruptible.< /p>
Bishop James Johnston of Kansas City said the evaluation process for Sister Wilhelmina has not yet begun.
“The condition of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster's remains understandably generated widespread interest and raised important questions,” the diocese said in a statement. statement.
“At the same time, it is important to protect the integrity of Sister Wilhelmina’s remains so that a thorough investigation can be carried out.”
Several hundred pilgrims who have visited the monastery in recent days have been allowed to touch the body of Sister Wilhelmina.
The sign next to it says: “Please be careful when touching the sister's body, especially her feet.”
>Glass Case
On Monday, the body will be placed in a glass case.
< p>One visitor, Michael Holmes, told Scripps News: “We are here to see a miracle. For some of us this happens once in a lifetime and we have never been so close to a possible saint who lies uncorrupted.
“It proves to me that the Catholic, that the Holy Scripture is real, the gospel is real, God is real God takes care of us.”
However, Nicholas Passalacqua, assistant professor and director of forensic anthropology at Western Carolina University, warned.
“In general, when we bury a body in our human decay facility , we expect the body to be skeletonized in about five years,” he told Newsweek.
“So, for this body that was buried in a coffin, I personally don't find it too surprising that the remains well preserved after only four years.”
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