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Saint Bernadette – The Incorruptible Saint
Saint Bernadette appeared to be in deep slumber while clutching tightly to her rosary since April 16, 1879. It was miraculous that her body is still perfectly intact even after more than 130 years after her death. Before the discovery, her body was buried for more than 30 years. When she was exhumed, it was then discovered that her body never decomposed.
The doctors and surgeon who examined her body made the following observations.
“The coffin was opened in the presence of the Bishop of Nevers, the mayor of the town, his principal deputy, several canons and ourselves. We noticed no smell. The body was clothed in the habit of Bernadette’s order. The habit was damp. Only the face, hands and forearms were uncovered.”
“The head was tilted to the left. The face was dull white. The skin clung to the muscles and the muscles adhered to the bones. The eye sockets were covered by the eyelids. The brows were flat on the skin and stuck to the arches above the eyes. The lashes of the right eyelid were stuck to the skin. The nose was dilated and shrunken. The mouth was open slightly and it could be seen that the teeth were still in place. The hands, which were crossed on her breast, were perfectly preserved, as were the nails. The hands still held a rusting rosary. The veins on the forearms stood out.”“Like the hands, the feet were wizened and the toenails were still intact (one of them was torn off when the corpse was washed). When the habits had been removed and the veil lifted from the head, the whole of the shriveled body could be seen, rigid and taut in every limb. It was found that the hair, which had been cut short, was stuck to the head and still attached to the skull, that the ears were in a state of perfect preservation, that the left side of the body was slightly higher than the right from the hip up. The stomach had caved in and was taut like the rest of the body. It sounded like cardboard when struck. The left knee was not as large as the right. The ribs protruded as did the muscles in the limbs.”
“So rigid was the body that it could be rolled over and back for washing. The lower parts of the body had turned slightly black. This seems to have been the result of the carbon of which quite large quantities were found in the coffin.”
In witness of which we have duly drawn up this present statement in which all is truthfully recorded. Nevers, September 22, 1909, Drs. Ch. David, A. Jourdan.
Saint Bernadette’s naturally preserved body may have rivaled to that of Rosalia Lombardo and Eva Peron’s body. But we can never be so sure since I haven’t seen a photo of her exhumed body. A waxen face mask was used to cover her actual face which has a blackish tinged with both the nose and eyes has sunken appearance. It was done with best intention so the pilgrims and visitors will be spared from being exposed to something morbid. It would have been nice to be able to see what the actual corpse look like. Make sure to visit the links below to know more about the life and death of Saint Bernadette.
Source:
- http://www.catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/ba_bernadette_intro.htm
- http://jesus.angelsfeather.com/viewpost_441773.asp
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Tags: preserved saint, sleeping beauty of lourdes
Saturday, April 11th, 2009 at 3:32 amand is filed under Mummy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
