Didn't say why they exhumed her body.

https://www.foxnews.com/faith-...-uncorrupted-4-years
The remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster were discovered uncorrupted after being exhumed last week for the first time since the nun was buried in 2019

Published May 27, 2023 12:29pm EDT
By Timothy H.J. Nerozzi | Fox News

The body of a Benedictine nun has remained uncorrupted for four years following her burial.

Leaders in the Catholic Church contacted Rome and commissioned an investigation into the situation after the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster were exhumed last week.

Lancaster's corpse appears to show no signs of degradation or rotting despite having been buried in 2019 — a phenomenon considered a possible sign of sainthood in Catholicism.

Her body was not embalmed before her burial and her casket was made of simple wood without an exterior layer.



David Hess associate professor in the Salt Lake Community College mortuary science department told Catholic News Agency that the deceased nun's pristine condition is hard to explain.

"If the body was not embalmed, and it was still intact after four years, that one kind of throws me," he told CNA. "I would have expected the body to be decomposed, maybe not all the way down to bone, but at least severely decomposed."

Bishop Vann Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph released a statement on the investigation into Lancaster's condition.

The bishop urged prayer and sobriety as the Catholic Church begins looking into the circumstances.

"The condition of the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster has understandably generated widespread interest and raised important questions," said the prelate. "At the same time, it is important to protect the integrity of the mortal remains of Sister Wilhelmina to allow for a thorough investigation."

He continued, "I invite all the faithful to continue praying during this time of investigation for God’s will in the lives of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles; for all women religious; and all the baptized in our common vocation to holiness, with hope and trust in the Lord."

The deceased nun's body has been on open-air display for visitations and veneration by Catholic pilgrims.

Lancaster was the founder of the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles.

Her order plans to hold a precession in her honor and enclose the body in a glass case to better accommodate pilgrims making their way to the monastery in Gower, Missouri.

Bizarre.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Didn't say why they exhumed her body.

From the Order’s website: “Our Abbey had been planning the addition of a St. Joseph Shrine within the oratory for quite some time, including the reinterment of the remains of our beloved foundress, Sister Wilhelmina. Last month, in preparation for the construction of the shrine, we exhumed her, having been told to expect bones in the highly moist clay of Missouri, as she was buried in a simple wooden coffin without any embalming whatsoever four years ago.”

A way to attract attention, people and $$?

Hmmm. Somethings fishy here. It stinks. Aplogies to the good Nun.

"Corrupted" is a strange word to use. She surely is showing signs of decomposition. An image search shows a lot more pictures from different angles and her skin appears to be coated with something waxy, or maybe plastic of some sort. She also appears to have a very deflated torso compared to the pictures of her in later life. Her body is in remarkable condition for being in the ground for four years, but I wouldn't go so far as to buy into "no signs of degradation or rotting" and I believe there's likely a simple explanation.

Known as an adipocere or "wax" corpse. Lack of oxygen, low temperatures, wet soil etc. may lead to the body's fatty acids turning into water-insoluble adipocere within tissue, hardening within three to six months and giving the corpse a soap-like consistency, preventing normal decomposition. Four years is really nothing. Such bodies have been exhumed after 45 years with hardly a sign of corruption, and will retain individual facial features for much longer.

No comment here as to origin or autheniticity. Every few years a possible "miracle" pops up. I visited Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Peasants were crawling on their knees for miles to the Church. They were hoping for a miracle to cure their ills. The Church was built on the site of a miracle declared by the Catholic Church.

It may be some kind of a miracle but in fact its just morbid. Bury the old girl already!

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
It may be some kind of a miracle but in fact it’s just morbid. Bury the old girl already!

Well she was buried, then they dug her up to move her and intern her inside the church.

She must have been a very good person to dig up. When I'm gone I doubt anyone will visit wherever I end up. Yea, I'm that kind of person. A little pathetic, but there's probably lots of people like that.

Strange. I've never heard of any of this and we watch our local news every night.

So, they dig her body up, put her on display and they don't tell anyone why they did that. Say what?

Like so many words such as “phobic,” “corruption” has more than one meaning beyond how it’s most commonly used today.

Handel’s Messiah that was written in 1741 includes the line, “And the dead shall be raised incorruptible,” meaning not decayed or decomposed.

As for this, for centuries the [Catholic] Church has had a tradition of preserving and venerating holy relics, including the body parts of saints and saintly personages.

And that, too:

quote:

Originally posted by BansheeOne:
Known as an adipocere or "wax" corpse.

Plus: Not that it necessarily has anything to do with this case, but finding that someone’s body had not decomposed normally after burial has been frequently cited among the reasons to canonize them as a saint.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Strange. I've never heard of any of this and we watch our local news every night.

So, they dig her body up, put her on display and they don't tell anyone why they did that. Say what?

Iirc she was being interred in the Church proper because she was such a great person (I’m not catholic so I lack the correct wording) and when the exhumed her body they found she was “uncorrupted” which has led to the person being granted Sainthood, in the past.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
No comment here as to origin or autheniticity. Every few years a possible "miracle" pops up. I visited Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Peasants were crawling on their knees for miles to the Church. They were hoping for a miracle to cure their ills. The Church was built on the site of a miracle declared by the Catholic Church.

It is more than just peasants that go there. I have been a few times now, and I was there earlier this year. If true, and I tend to have faith that it is, the story around the appearance of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego is rather amazing. Not to mention the image of Her.


There is nothing wrong seeking miracles, as long as you have the right mindset (God's will be done), it's not the focus of your life, and you put your emphasis on right living.


Whether the Nun's case is a miracle or not I do not know. People shouldn't dismiss the possibility outright, but they also shouldn't hang too much hope on it either.

Leading clerical persons are just a lot more likely to be found in this state because, like in this case, they may be more frequently exhumed to be reinterred in a more prominent place. Round here, it's actually not uncommon for "normal" deceased to turn up like this, because plots in German (and probably many European) cemeteries are typically only let for the time it usually takes for decomposition - say, 20 to 30 years - then reused due to space restrictions in a densely-settled country. Remaining bones which tend to last longer are generally supposed to be reburied deeper in the same plot, or in the fill of the new grave.

Of course when you dig a new grave and find the prior tenant is still all home, you got a problem. A quarter of cemeteries here have to deal with this somewhat regularly due to various factors - high ground water, clay soil, increased use of synthetic clothing, or choice of casket, either too airtight or not stable enough to maintain a space of air for a sufficient time to let bacteriae etc. do most of the work. In this case, the casket was reported to have cracked and let soil in, and the body covered with mold. After they washed it off, they said the skin turned a darker shade, which has been reported in other cases where a corpse was exposed to fresh air after previous oxygen starvation.

You could say that the dead need to breathe to go away, too. Some cemeteries here put considerable effort into ground ventilation. There has been some criticism that others tend to shy away from the cost and just quietly dispose of "too much" remains, however; which is technically a felony, "disturbing the rest of the dead", though there is a range of states between just some bones or a near-perfectly preserved body gravediggers may come across.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:


Iirc she was being interred in the Church proper because she was such a great person (I’m not catholic so I lack the correct wording) and when the exhumed her body they found she was “uncorrupted” which has led to the person being granted Sainthood, in the past.

I'm not Catholic either but I guess that does make sense. Thanks.

I'm not doubting the lack of decomposition but I do note it would be something that the founder of an order became a saint.

I wonder about the state of the coffin. I suppose they buried the coffin in a vault underground as the normal way I suppose.

Geez...one would think they could have let her rest in peace. I understand maybe moving her casket but let her be. Anyone remember the Hearse Song by Harley Poe? Think I heard that when I was just a child.

She looks better than her mummy.