Incorruptible bodies: coverups? explanations? defences?

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You know, if God could make Himself one of us, preserve His incarnated dwelling place (Our Lady) from the corruption of sins, endure the most outragous tortures - for our sake, He can do anything and incorruptible is only a peek of His omnipotence. Truly, if we contemplate on the Redemptive Mystery, we don’t need these incorruptibles to amaze us. Moreover, Our Lady was assumed into Heaven, both body and soul. This tells us that it is possible also to us if we are as “perfect as Our Heavenly Father is perfect”. The more one become perfect in holiness (love for God), the less likely one’s physical existence will incorrupt.

😉
 
Thx1138 said:
Hi Joe,

I believe in miracles but there are just some things about this that puzzled me…

namely… how did they know to dig up the body in the first place? they couldn’t have known there was a miracle unless they dug it up for a reason

what is the pint of a miracle that is underground?.. what if they had never been found?

why do they coat them in wax?
how did the church discount natural phenomenon in this case…did they do tests etc?

and why isn’t it more publically known in the secular world?

actually I have quite a lot of questions about this lol… I should maybe get the book some time

thanks for the book though, I’ve really struggled to find anything about them…

S
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Hi there for us to gain understandig we firstly have to accept that God made us therefore He can do with us what He wants. The second point is that we have to think spiritually NOT physicially, you are right some things seem puzziling but in the humanistic ( they call it natural) but that is wrong God tells us to think spiritually. And there lies the answer as to how great God is, and also why he needs or wants to show us His abilities to allow one persons body to not crupt. Mainly because of that persons love for God, a love that God gave them in the first place.
Hope that that helps a little.

God bless
littleone
 
In Church history, many who have served God leaving a high-profile life of service and is acknowledged as a Blessed on his/her way to venerable and canonization the Church, when available, always exhumes the remains for signs. Sometimes the discoveries are not quite what was anticipated.

In St. Bernadette’s cause, her body was exhumed some 20+ years after her death and found uncorrupted. Her clothes were mildewed , frayed and deteriorating and so she was “re-dressed” a new habit and rosary (the original had rusted and all the beads have fallen to the bottom of her casket.

After reinterment as her cause progressed, some 20+ more years later, she was found still uncorrupted. Soon, she was canonized and her uncorrupted body on view for the world to see for skeptics, unbelievers, believers and anything inbetween.

The phenomena is a manifestation that the person whose remains we can see did indeed have encounters with Our Mother in Heaven.

It is not mandatory to accept and believe these signs but you have to admit they can and do bring you closer to Heaven if your heart is open to these signs.

There is a definite message in these signs. One of them is that God has the power over death and if He can preserve one of us to an uncorrupted state He can also raise us from the dead.
 
johnstown johnn
I didn’t get to visit the incorrpt St. Catherine Laboure in Paris…some kind of faux pas in the tour.
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I visited the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal and saw St. Catherine Laboure’s incorrupt body. She is in a glass coffin in the Church, just as St. Bernadette.

There is a miracle associated with St. Catherine’s incorrupt body.

As I understand it, a riot was breaking out in the street, right outside the church where her body lay. Suddenly, he eyes opened and her praying hands turned up toward the ceiling. When witness fled into the street shouting about the miracle they had just witnessed, curiosity overtook the rioters and they went into see for themselves. The riot never resumed.

Her eyes are open and a beautiful blue. She as as well preserved as St. Bernadette.

Here’s a pretty good site with a pic of her

members.chello.nl/~l.de.bondt/IncorruptBodies.htm

Jim
 
To me, this is just more evidence to prove that the Catholic Church is the one true Church of Christ. The Church has been blessed with so many Saints and miracles - even up to the present day!

These things are signs to bring people to the Church. The miracles do not happen in other christian groups such as the CofE because they are not the Church founded by God.

Only in the Catholic Church will you find the fullness of truth and salvation…no salvation outside of the Catholic Church.
 
Dempsey1919 said:
To me, this is just more evidence to prove that the Catholic Church is the one true Church of Christ. The Church has been blessed with so many Saints and miracles - even up to the present day!

These things are signs to bring people to the Church. The miracles do not happen in other christian groups such as the CofE because they are not the Church founded by God.

Only in the Catholic Church will you find the fullness of truth and salvation…no salvation outside of the Catholic Church.
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As I read your post above, I came to realize that those other “Christian churches” have elements of catholocism and many facets are rejected. So, that is why there are so many various Protestant denominations…some accept this…some accept that…and so on.

Today, in the Catholic Church we are seeing a similar divide but within. A term “Cafeteria Catholic” seems to be another form of “protestantism.”

Anyway, the Church lives and as a manifestation of her ongoing life we have new saints.

Incorruptable remains are never scientifically explained.

Something I forgot to mention that in the first exhumation of Bernadette and when the lid of her casket was removed, a wondrous scent of roses overwhelmed everyone present. Go figure !
 
JimR-OCDS said:
johnstown johnn

I visited the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal and saw St. Catherine Laboure’s incorrupt body. She is in a glass coffin in the Church, just as St. Bernadette.

There is a miracle associated with St. Catherine’s incorrupt body.

As I understand it, a riot was breaking out in the street, right outside the church where her body lay. Suddenly, he eyes opened and her praying hands turned up toward the ceiling. When witness fled into the street shouting about the miracle they had just witnessed, curiosity overtook the rioters and they went into see for themselves. The riot never resumed.

Her eyes are open and a beautiful blue. She as as well preserved as St. Bernadette.

Here’s a pretty good site with a pic of her

members.chello.nl/~l.de.bondt/IncorruptBodies.htm

Jim
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Thank you for the site. Fortunately, for you, you were able to visit the remains of St. Catherine Laboure.

Her story of the first encounter with the Blessed Mother involved a little Angel who appeared like a 5-year-old boy bathed in light. While catherine was fas t asleep she was awakened by the whispering shouts of “Catherine! …Catherine… wake up, wake up…” She opened her eyes and saw this beautiful being of light. The angel urged her to get dressed quickly and follow; as the Blessed Mother wishes to have conversation with you.

As Catherine followed into a lighted church (attached to the convent) she knelt at the altar rail f; face downward and began praying. In moments she heard the rustle of silk and smelled the fragrance of roses. She looked up and there was the Blessed Mother seated at the chair used by the pastor.

It was at that time the Miraculous Medal was introduced by the Blessed Mother. There were several more encounters between them.
 
johnstown_johnn said:
Something I forgot to mention that in the first exhumation of Bernadette and when the lid of her casket was removed, a wondrous scent of roses overwhelmed everyone present. Go figure !
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This may be an exaggeration created by her fans.

This link gives the details of when they exhumed Bernadette’s body. No scent of roses is mentioned. However, there was no oder of decay either.

catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/ba_bernadette_intro.htm

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
This may be an exaggeration created by her fans.

This link gives the details of when they exhumed Bernadette’s body. No scent of roses is mentioned. However, there was no oder of decay either.

catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/ba_bernadette_intro.htm

Jim
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Thank you. That clears up a thing or two that I read from another accounting.

Lourdes is the most spiritual place on earth for me personally. It has redirected me more than any experience. The procession of the Blessed Sacrament is a heaven-on-earth awareness.

I’ve been to Lourdes twice.
 
johnstown_johnn said:
Thank you. That clears up a thing or two that I read from another accounting.

Lourdes is the most spiritual place on earth for me personally. It has redirected me more than any experience. The procession of the Blessed Sacrament is a heaven-on-earth awareness.

I’ve been to Lourdes twice.
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My wife and myself cried when the procession began. 20,000 people with lighted candles, saying the rosary and singing hymns like Ave Maria, between each decade. Its beyond words to describe!

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
My wife and myself cried when the procession began. 20,000 people with lighted candles, saying the rosary and singing hymns like Ave Maria, between each decade. Its beyond words to describe!

Jim
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Jesus is in their midst. That place (Lourdes) I believe is a small piece of real estate that belongs to the Blessed Mother. It is HER place.
 
Interesting sidenote. The author of the book, “The Song of Bernadette,” was a Jew who escaped the Nazis and took refuge in the village of Lourdes unbeknownst to its history. Lourdes was an out-of-the-way place and untouched by the War.

The author’s name Franz Werfel (spelling?) While there, the villagers befriended him and he toured the sites of Bernadette since she was the most chosen from that village.

Franz, after the good treatment and kindness of the people, promised, that since he is a writer, he would write the story of Bernadette if he makes it to America.

His preface page says,

"For those that do not believe in God; no explanation is possible.

For those that do believe in God; no explanation is necessary."

After he wrote the book, the story found its way on the movie screen. Not long after, Franz Werfel converted to Catholicism.

His miracle came after he arrived in America. God knew his heart.
 
Dempsey1919 said:
To me, this is just more evidence to prove that the Catholic Church is the one true Church of Christ. The Church has been blessed with so many Saints and miracles - even up to the present day!

These things are signs to bring people to the Church. The miracles do not happen in other christian groups such as the CofE because they are not the Church founded by God.

Only in the Catholic Church will you find the fullness of truth and salvation…no salvation outside of the Catholic Church.
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I like the sound of that! 🙂
 
Miracles happen all the time.

It’s just that the persons who witness them choose not to report them.

With respect to incorruptibility, look up St. Januarius, whose blood reliquifies each year. Kind of like reverse corruption of the blood.

Here’s a link:

newadvent.org/cathen/08295a.htm

Explanations are not possible. There are things we cannot explain. Many things.
 
I didn’t read all of the posts, so I’m not sure if I’m repeating something someone else already said.

No, Catholics do not have to believe in incorruptibility as a miracle, but many do. I do.

The church also teaches that we should not view this as a sign of special sanctity or holiness–for example, St. Bernadette’s body is incorrupt, but St. Therese of Lisieux’s body (who died around the same time) decomposed quite quickly. Can we really say that one of these women was more holy than the other? That’s just one example.

What I think the incorruptibles remind us of is that we are both body and soul. As Catholics we believe in the sanctity and dignity of the human body and the soul. For more on this, check your catechism.
 
The Blessed Mpother appeared to St. Catherine Laboure and St. Bernadette. Each were given a message to the world. So, when we view both saints we reflect on the messages they related to us. The messages withstand corruption.
 
Thx1138 said:
do catholics have to believe it? or can you believe it is scientific in explanation… I’m assuming it wouldn’t do to believe it was any kind of a fake as that would be implying some kind of cover up… but are you free to choose on this issue? or on miracles in the wider sense?
Jim
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We are not required to believe in it, but they’re there! I don’t know any scientific explanation. Moisture breeds bacteria, which decomposes bodies. These examples contradict that.
 
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