It is generally taken for granted that after a person passes away, their body decomposes. But this phenomenon does not always occur after the departure of a Saint. Many times throughout history, after Saints and spiritual Masters departed this world, Their bodies miraculously showed no signs of decay, defying natural biological processes. For example, many Catholic Saints and Martyrs were found incorrupt decades or centuries after They had passed. Sometimes, a part of a Saint’s undecayed body is revered publicly, for instance, the hand of Saint Elizabeth of Aragon, and the heart of Saint John Vianney.
In her 1977 research entitled, “The Incorruptibles: A Study of the Incorruption of the Bodies of Various Catholic Saints and Beati,” Joan Carroll Cruz introduces 102 incorruptible Saints of the Catholic Church. More than half of Them rest in Italy. Others can be found in Poland, Spain, France, Belgium, Austria, India, Germany, Lebanon, and Peru. Most incorruptible Saints are displayed in glass catches to allow the pilgrims to feel Their immediate presence.
According to Father Chris Alar, incorruptibility does not mean that after being exhumed incorrupt, the Saints’ bodies will never decay. Once the bodies of the Saints are found to not have decayed when they would have been expected to if natural processes had occurred, They are considered to be incorruptible.
Saint Zita (1212-1272), an Italian Saint and patron of maids and domestic servants, is one example. She spent Her life selflessly helping people without housing and other needs and was laid to rest in a burial vault in San Frediano. When She was declared a Saint three centuries later, Her body was exhumed and found to have not decayed. “No matter what happens afterwards - and if you have to preserve it with wax or whatever - despite that, how about the fact that when they opened the tomb that it was perfect? That right there alone deserves scientific recognition.”
