While some are mere fragmented bones, other corpses appear staggeringly well-preserved despite dying hundreds of years ago.The saints supposedly belong to the world of the incorrupt - a Roman Catholic belief that Divine Intervention allows some humans to avoid decomposition after death as a sign of their holiness.
Incorruptible bodies are often said to have the odour of sanctity, exuding a sweet or floral, pleasant aroma.
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| The incorrupt body of St Pope Pius V, who died in 1572, |
To qualify as incorruptible, traditional belief dictates that the body should not have been embalmed or mummified to achieve preservation but should remain in tact naturally.
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| The 'incorrupt' St Camillus de Lellis. |
Despite this, many of the saints have been preserved through other trickery since being taken from their original resting places - and many are encased in wax, silver or bathed in carbolic acid.
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| The incorrupt but now skeletal body of St Francesca Romana, also called Santa Maria Nova. Francesca was deemed incorrupt a few months after her death in 1440 |
St Victoria, a fragmented skeleton, was hauled out of the Roman catacombs at the mere suggestion she might be a martyr.
She would not have recognised her name, story, and even clothes she was dressed in as they were pieced together or invented entirely by the Church.
Then there is Francesca Romana, who is little more than a skeleton dressed in a nun’s habit. Francesca was deemed incorrupt a few months after her death in 1440.
When her tomb was reopened two centuries later, she was nothing but bone.
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| The 'incorrupt' body of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi is displayed in the San Crisogono church in Rome |
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