Incorruptibility

The body of Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado (1643–1731), Monastery of St. Catherine of Siena found to be incorrupt by the Catholic Church (Tenerife, Spain).

Incorruptibility is a Catholic and Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their holiness.

Incorruptibility is thought to occur even in the presence of factors which normally hasten decomposition, as in the cases of saints Catherine of Genoa, Julie Billiart and Francis Xavier.[1]

  1. ^ Quigley, Christine (2005). The Corpse: A History. McFarland. p. 254. ISBN 978-0786424498.