From Apologetics and Catholic Doctrine, by Archbishop Michael Sheehan, A new edition revised by Fr Peter Joseph, The Saint Austin Press, London, 2001. pg 225-6.
Incorrupt bodies of the Saints. The saints are the special friends and servants of God. Often God has signalled His favour by miracles during their lifetime, but also by miracles connected with their bodies after death- those bodies which were temples of the Holy Spirit, bodies in which they glorified God, and which are destined for a glorious resurrection at the end of the world. The bodies of more than one hundred Saints, Blessed and Venerable have remained incorrupt over a long period of time without the application of any preservatives or treatment. The first known case is the virgin martyr St Cecilia who died c. 177 AD..
"Most of the incorruptibles ... are neither dry nor rigid but quite moist and flexible, even after the passage of centuries. Moreover, their preservations have been accomplished under conditions which would naturally foster and encourage putrefaction, and they have survived stances which would have unquestionably necessitated and resulted the in the destruction of others."(8) Some have eventually decomposed after years of exposure, but dozens of them are still on display in churches and chapels, permanently defying the laws of nature.
Two of the more extraordinary cases are those of St Andrew Bobble (d.1657) and St Charbel Makhlouf. St Andrew was tortured at length, hideously mutilated and finally put to death by a sword. "His body was hastily buried by Catholics in a vault beneath the Jesuit church at Pinks, where it was found forty years later perfectly preserved, in spite of the open wounds, which would normally foster corruption. Although his grave had been damp, causing his vestments to rot, and in spite of the proximity of decaying corpses, his body was perfectly flexible, his flesh and muscles soft to the touch, and the blood which covered the numerous wounds was found to be like that which is freshly congealed."(9)
St Charnel was buried shortly after his death in 1898, but after a mysterious light appeared about his tomb for the next forty-five nights, his body was exhumed four months after death, and was found to be in perfect condition, although it was floating on mud in a flooded grave. Thereafter, his body remained in perfect condition and exuded a slow constant flow of liquid, a mixture of perspiration and blood, until it was interred again in 1927. In 1950 it again started to exude a liquid that found its way into the oratory where pilgrims came to pray. The tomb was re-opened and still the body was as fresh as on the day of death. So it remained until it finally decomposed in 1965, the year of his beatification. Thus did a hermit, who sought only prayer, penance and solitude, become one of the best known figures in all the Middle East. "He who humbles himself will be exalted."(10)
The book cited by no means contains an exhaustive list. Several others have been found since its writing, and other incorrupt bodies belong to holy people not yet officially recognised by the Church. Two more of recent note are Sr Rita Dolores Pujalte and Sr Francisca Aldea, matyred by the revolutionaries in Spain in 1936 and beatified in 1998. Their incorrupt bodies are in Villaverde near Madrid.
8 J.C. Cruz, The Incorruptible, TAN Books, Illinois 1977, p.33
9 Idem, p.36
10 Lk 18:14
