Chapter 5

Looking at Undecayed Saints (Incorruptibles)

In This Chapter

Looking good after death

Showing God’s favor

Asmall handful of saints have the extraordinary holiness of having been incorruptible, meaning that their bodies didn’t decay or decompose the way a body normally does after death. Their bodies weren’t embalmed or otherwise preserved, yet they remained intact long after decomposition normally would set in. In this chapter, we introduce some of these saints, sharing details of their lives and experiences as well as the circumstances in which their bodies were unearthed and examined.

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Lourdes, France (1844–1879)

Beatified: 1925

Canonized: 1933

Patron: those suffering from poverty

Feast day: April 16

The Virgin Mary made 18 visits to a poor, uneducated girl in France at a time when Catholicism was still viewed with suspicion. Although she was born into a prosperous wheat-milling family, Bernadette Soubirous’s fate changed at an early age. Her parents fell on hard times when she was 13 and eventually made their home in a one-room building that was once the town jail but had been deemed unfit for housing prisoners.

Because of her impoverished upbringing as a teen, Bernadette didn’t receive Holy Communion at the appropriate age and was quite a bit older than those with whom she served in preparation. She was often ridiculed for her lack of knowledge and understanding in both the spiritual and secular disciplines.

Bernadette’s first apparition came on a trip to the town dump with her sisters to collect firewood. She didn’t know the woman who came to her until after her first few apparitions, when she came to know the woman dressed in white with a blue sash as “The Immaculate Conception,” a term that meant little to a girl of low intellect living in a remote Pyrenees village.

At this time in France there remained a residue of anti-Catholicism from the French Revolution. Processions, religious devotions, and especially shrines marking apparitions weren’t approved by the extremely secular government. For years, Bernadette underwent examinations, tests, and observations from both government leaders and the Church. Eventually, authorities determined that her apparitions were authentic.

Bernadette entered the Sisters of Notre Dame of Nevers, the same order that staffed her parish. She died from complications due to chronic asthma and tuberculosis of the bone, a horribly painful disease.

Bernadette was buried at the motherhouse chapel in Nevers on April 16, 1879. Her body was first exhumed in 1909 in front of doctors, representatives for the cause of her canonization, and the sisters of the order. Upon exhumation, they found no decay on Bernadette’s body; only the clothing, the wood around the casket, and the rosary she held had perished. The casket was opened again in 1919, and the body of the future saint was found in the same condition as it was in 1909. Today, you can visit the motherhouse of the Sisters of Notre Dame of Nevers and venerate the saint in a beautiful glass retainer located in the chapel.

St. Catherine Laboure

Fain-les-Moutiers, France (1806–1876)

Beatified: 1933

Canonized: 1947

Feast day: November 25

Zoe Laboure was a French farmer’s daughter whose mother died when she was 8. Zoe entered the Sisters of Charity on the Rue du Bac in Paris on the same day a celebration was being held as the relics of St. Vincent de Paul were transferred to the convent chapel. (As you can read in his section later in this chapter, St. Vincent de Paul had influenced Sister Louise de Marillac to establish the Sisters of Charity.) Upon entrance to the Sisters of Charity, Zoe took the name of Catherine.

The same evening that she entered the order, Sister Catherine began receiving apparitions. The first was the Lord bidding her to chapel; then came the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary gave Catherine a task that was quite challenging for a young postulant, particularly at a time when France and the French Catholic Church were recovering from the devastating effects of the French Revolution and weren’t inclined to be impressed with a nun receiving miraculous visits from heaven.

The Blessed Virgin instructed Catherine to create a medal with the image of Our Lady of Grace stomping on a serpent and the words, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” On the back of the medal, two hearts were to represent the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Those who wore the medal with devotion would receive great graces from God.

Fifteen hundred medals were made in 1832; by 1834, more than 130,000 had been made. Out of humility, Sister Catherine didn’t want her name to be attached to the medal or the miraculous information. After the first medals were cast, Sister Catherine returned to normal convent life in obscurity; only her confessor and the Mother Superior knew of Catherine’s apparitions. It was only eight months before Catherine’s death, under specific instructions from the Mother Superior, that the facts regarding the medal and the miraculous information were revealed for posterity.

Sister Catherine died in 1876 and was buried in the crypt of the chapel. In 1933, Rome announced her beatification and, following routine, the casket was excavated. The outer wooden casket had deteriorated while the inner casket, made of lead, remained intact. The third, wooden casket began to crumble upon opening, but the future saint’s body was in good condition and intact. The body of St. Catherine was transferred to the motherhouse chapel on the Rue du Bac, where her religious life had begun.

In this chapel, pilgrims can see St. Catherine Laboure in her blue habit with white coronet at the side altar. To the side of the high altar is the blue chair that the Blessed Virgin sat in when she appeared to St. Catherine.

St. Charbel Makhlouf

Bika’Kafra, Lebanon (1828–1898)

Beatified: 1965

Canonized: 1977

Patron: Lebanese Catholics

Feast day: September 5

Following his ordination into the priesthood at age 31, Father Charbel joined a monastery of strict observances and lived his life in solitude as a hermit.

Hermits generally take a vow of silence and live alone in small buildings known as hermitages. They generally come together for work, meals, and prayer, but live alone in an effort to solidify their relationship with God. During Father Charbel’s solitude, he practiced extreme penances of fasting and wearing a hair shirt to further discipline his body and make him even freer to love and worship God. His reputation for holiness increased, and people began to seek him out for prayers and blessings.

In 1898, Father Charbel suffered a fatal stroke. His tremendous love of the Holy Eucharist was apparent in that the host had to be physically removed from his hands after the stroke. He was buried in the monastery cemetery without being embalmed. Indeed, he wasn’t even placed in a casket because it was customary for the poor order to place their deceased members directly into the earth. When Father Charbel was buried, a bright light shone from his grave for more than 45 days. This marvel necessitated that his body be unearthed and examined. Despite abundant rain and no embalming or hermetically sealed casket, the body was in excellent condition. In addition, oil resembling blood dripped from his pores in such abundance that the monks had to change Father Charbel’s habit twice a week.

In 1927, the body was examined again and was still in excellent condition. Father Charbel’s body was then laid to rest undisturbed until 1950, when oil exuded from the crack of the tomb. Again, the body was examined, and again it was in perfect condition, pliable and oozing this oil. Father Charbel was beatified in 1965 and canonized in 1977. At the time of his beatification, the Blessed Charbel’s body began to deteriorate. Today, only the bones of the saint remain, clothed in the vestiture of a priest with wax hands and face. His body is displayed in the St. Maron Monastery in Ananaya, Lebanon.

St. Francis de Sales

France (1567–1622)

Beatified: 1662

Canonized: 1665

Patron: journalists and writers

Feast day: January 24

Despite his father’s discouragement, Francis de Sales pursued the virtuous order of religious life early on. After ordination, he served as a missionary to the Lake Geneva region, an area that had fallen to the radical Calvinist Protestants. With the help of pamphlets explaining the Catholic faith, Father Francis recatechized the region of Chablis.

Upon the death of the Bishop of Geneva, Father Francis was named his successor. He continued to work to reeducate people about the Catholic faith and authored The Introduction to the Devout Life, a practical guide for Catholics to give up old sinful habits and bring them in closer union with God. The guide is still used in spiritual direction and read by those who want to advance in the spiritual life.

Along with then-Sister Jane Frances de Chantal (see the next section), Francis founded the Visitation Sisters of Holy Mary. He also established a congregation of men known as the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, who were devoted to preaching parish missions-retreats, staffing colleges, and working in parishes. His legacy had a powerful influence on other men and women in the centuries that followed, including St. John Bosco, founder of a congregation dedicated to the education of poor boys. This community, the Salesians, follows the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales.

Francis de Sales was canonized in 1665 and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1877 (see Chapter 13 for more on what this means). His body was laid at rest in the Visitation Convent in Annecy next to St. Jane Frances de Chantal. When his body was exhumed in 1632, it was in perfect condition, but in subsequent years only the bones were found. Today, St. Francis de Sales can be venerated at the Basilica of the Visitation in Annecy, where his bones are placed under bishop’s clothing and a wax mask covers his face.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal

Dijon and Moulins, France (1572–1641)

Beatified: 1751

Canonized: 1767

Patron: people who feel abandoned and people with in-law problems

Feast day: August 12

Unlike many saints, Jane Frances didn’t immediately turn to a life of religious service. Her mother died when she was quite young, leaving her upbringing to her father. Jane married the Baron de Chantal, and for nine years she lived a peaceful and religious life as a good wife and mother of four children. A hunting accident claimed the life of her husband, leaving Jane Frances to sink into a deep depression.

Upon the urgings of her father, Jane devoted her life to her children as well as to the poor and sick in her area. She also ministered to the dying, to whom she offered much comfort, and continued to practice works of charity, mortifications, and prayer. Following a Lenten retreat and hearing the great Francis de Sales (see the preceding section), Jane wanted to enter the cloistered Carmelite Nuns. Francis became Jane’s spiritual director, regulating her penances and devotional practices and sharing with her his vision of a new community of sisters, the Visitation Sisters of Holy Mary. Jane expressed great interest in helping Francis to establish this new community.

Jane overcame many obstacles in seeing the dream become a reality. She left her son with her father and took her three daughters to the convent. Within a year, one daughter passed away; the other two eventually married. The deaths of her father, son, son-in-law, and many sisters from the plague added to Jane’s suffering. In 1641, Jane died at the age of 69 in the state of grace and was buried near St. Francis de Sales in Annecy, France.

In 1722, her tomb was unearthed, and with the exception of some mold on her habit, Jane’s body was perfectly intact. During the French Revolution in 1793, the relics of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Francis de Chantal were carried by boat and hidden during the night for protection until the restoration of the church in 1806. In the restoration, the relics suffered much, and only the bones remained of the two saints. St. Jane was canonized in 1767 and her relics are on display for veneration at the Basilica of the Visitation. The bones are dressed in the habit of the order and a wax mask covers her face.

St. John Marie Vianney

Dardilly and Ars, France (1786–1859)

Beatified: 1905

Canonized: 1925

Patron: parish priests

Feast day: August 4

John Marie Vianney was born in the South of France just before the French Revolution. A national church was created after the Revolution, and priests or religious persons loyal to the Roman Catholic Church were banned from serving and were often martyred as a result.

By the time John Vianney wanted to enter the priesthood, seminaries and most Catholic institutions were closed. After the restoration of the hierarchy of the Church, instruction of candidates for the priesthood was left to parish priests and later to the bishops of the dioceses. Education of candidates was sporadic and fell short of typical preparation in the great seminaries and institutions of higher education.

John received his religious education under these circumstances. That, and the fact that he was a poor learner, created doubt that he would ever be ordained. Churches and entire parishes were without priests, however, and bishops felt the urgency to ordain men, even if the new priests weren’t intellectually equipped. John Vianney was ordained in 1818. He began his ministry under tutelage of a very holy pastor, and upon the death of his pastor, Father Vianney became pastor of a small, abandoned parish in Ars, France.

The town was remote and Catholic only in name and revealed the full effect of the French Revolution. The church building and priest house were in great disrepair, people didn’t attend church services, men frequented the bars and brothels to the abandonment of their families, and children weren’t properly educated in the Catholic faith. Father Vianney took the challenge and, little by little, began to turn things around in Ars. He repaired, cleaned, and restored the church building. He began catechism classes for the children and wrote a catechetical book easy enough for the children to grasp. Along with a wealthy patron of the village, Father Vianney even founded a school for girls. He went to village bars and dragged husbands back to their families, preached magnificent but down-to-earth homilies, and conducted parish missions — a type of retreat that resulted in a boom of confessions.

All his efforts to restore the Church community came at quite a cost for John Vianney. Clergy in surrounding towns soon became jealous and maliciously maligned him. He was personally attacked by the devil when he tried to sleep. His health deteriorated due to extreme penances and denial of nourishing food. Yet, people from Ars and around the region came to the village to seek the Cure of Ars for confession and spiritual direction. Habitually, Father Vianney would stay in the confessional for eight to ten hours a day.

John Vianney died after receiving the Sacrament of the Sick, commonly known as the last rites, on August 4, 1859. In 1904, his body was unearthed. Though a bit dried and darkened, his body was entirely intact. After his beatification, St. John Vianney was placed in a gold reliquary in a newly constructed shrine. Today, his body lies in a glass casket above the high altar in a newly constructed basilica near the old parish church in Ars.

St. Josaphat

Volodymyr, Poland (Lithuania) (1580–1623)

Beatified: 1643

Canonized: 1867

Patron: Ukraine

Feast day: November 12

Josaphat entered religious life at a time of strife within the Church. He had been baptized in the Ruthenian Orthodox Church, but that branch of the Orthodox Church later reunited with Rome. The reunification was a source of hostility and derision among the Orthodox, who still call the groups that have reunited with Rome the Uniates.

It was in this environment that young Josaphat entered the Basilian Order of Religious Men. He was soon ordained a bishop and later an archbishop. Despite the dangers, he labored and preached for the reunification of the Orthodox Church to Rome, which caused him political and personal strife.

Josaphat was killed and thrown into a river, and when his body was retrieved a week later by faithful followers, it was in good condition. It didn’t show the normal signs of deterioration that would be evident after a week in water. Twenty-seven years after his death, while the body was being prepared for a new elaborate reliquary, fresh blood flowed from the saint’s mortal wound. Because of the many wars in the region, the body was moved to St. Peter’s in Rome and can be seen today in this basilica. With the passage of time and many moves, Josaphat’s body has seen some deterioration in the face but otherwise remains in good condition. Pope Leo XIII canonized Josaphat in 1867 and, because of his successful proselytizing among the Orthodox Church, he was given the title “the Apostle of Union.”

St. Lucy Filippini

Corneto-Tarquinia, Italy (1672–1732)

Beatified: 1926

Canonized: 1930

Patron: schoolteachers

Feast day: March 25

Lucy Filippini dedicated her life to the education of poor girls, establishing a community of sisters further dedicated to that pursuit in the 17th century.

Cardinal Barbarigo, aware of the piety of the young Lucy, was instrumental in bringing her to an institute for teachers, where she excelled in study, devotion, and service. She later founded the Maestre Pie Filippini, or the Religious Teachers Filippini, an organization that helped expand the pontifical community and establishment of schools for girls.

Pope Clement XI summoned Sister Lucy Filippini and her sisters to launch a school in Rome. The number of students far surpassed the available space, and the community soon expanded throughout Italy, offering education to young, poor girls at a time when education wasn’t mandatory.

Sister Lucy Filippini died in 1732. Her body was uncovered in 1926 and found to be nearly undamaged, save for minute deterioration on her face. Her body is located under the Baroque Domo of St. Margaret in Montefiascone, in a chapel carved out of an earlier church. Opposite St. Lucy Filippini are the remains of Cardinal Barbarigo.

In 1910, Pope Pius X responded to the needs of Italian immigrants to the U.S. by sending five sisters to America to staff parochial schools with the Maestre Pie Filippini. In 2010, the community will celebrate 100 years in America. The provincialate of the Religious Teachers Filippini is located in Morristown, New Jersey, and they retain the same charisma of St. Lucy. The sisters are now located in Italy, the U.S., Ireland, England, Brazil, and India.

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

Florence, Italy (1566–1607)

Beatified: 1626

Canonized: 1669

Patron: Naples, Italy

Feast day: May 25

Sister Mary practiced an ascetic way of life, often denying herself food other than bread and water. She suffered numerous attacks from the devil in the areas of chastity and gluttony. He would tempt her with impure thoughts, which she immediately rejected, and he would also tempt her to overeat, even when she wasn’t hungry. At other times, she experienced extreme dryness in her prayer life that left her with no compensation at all. It wasn’t until later in life that Mary Magdalene began to experience the spiritual phenomenon of ecstasy and on several occasions was found to be in an almost comatose state.

As novice mistress and director of the young nuns at the monastery in Florence, Sister Mary Magdalene encouraged the sisters to exercise the penances that she imposed upon herself, but she also cautioned that they strive for a balance in prayer, work, and relaxation. She acknowledged that not everyone was called to the extremes, as she was.

Sister Mary Magdalene died in 1607 and was entombed underneath the high altar in the monastery’s chapel. A year after her death, she was exhumed, and her remains were still intact. Her body soon began to emit a fragrant oil, a phenomenon that continued for 12 years. Three additional unearthings took place, the final one in 1663; Sister Mary Magdalene’s body remained flexible.

Today, the relic of the saint lies in the chapel of the monastery in a glass casket for all to view. She’s clothed in the Carmelite habit discalced (without shoes). Although her face is now colored, the flesh, muscle, and bones of her head, feet, and hands (that which is exposed to the public) remain intact.

St. Philip Neri

Florence, Italy (1515–1595)

Beatified: 1615

Canonized: 1622

Patron: Rome

Feast day: May 26

A young man born and raised into wealth, Philip Neri gave it all up at the age of 17 when he left home and chose to serve the Lord rather than pursue a career in business.

Philip went to Rome and found the city in great physical and spiritual deterioration. There were many slums, and children of the city often ran amok. Suffering from the ill effects of the Renaissance, the city of Rome saw a decline in papal authority and in the education and sense of loyalty of the clergy. Philip committed himself to the re-evangelization of the city.

He began with the youth. Philip established pilgrimages for the children during the middle of the day, when they were most likely to get into mischief. He took the children to the seven churches of the city, talking to them all the way. Eventually, the children began to confide in Philip.

The practice of the pilgrimages to the seven churches is still followed today, especially on Holy Thursday, with the visits to seven repositories. (Repositories are temporary mini-chapels where a smaller tabernacle is used to keep the Blessed Sacrament after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening until the Easter vigil on Holy Saturday evening, thus leaving the main tabernacle in the church empty.)

Philip also reached out to young businessmen, offering weekly informal talks on theology and religion, which eventually led to the men staying for prayers. The gatherings were moved to a larger facility to accommodate the growing number of attendees.

After his ordination into the priesthood, Philip remained a champion of the Catholic faith, becoming an instrument for many to return to the sacraments and the Church. He instituted the devotion known as Forty Hours, in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the altar of a church for 40 hours while continuous prayer is made. This devotion to the Holy Eucharist is based on the 40 hours Jesus spent in the tomb from his death on Good Friday until his Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Some parishes in the diocese are assigned a 3-day (40-hour) time slot on the calendar every year where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the altar for public adoration. He also established a group of priests, known as the Oratorians, for which liturgy and youth conferences were a hallmark.

Philip died in 1595. Four years later, his body was exposed and was found to be in good condition despite damp conditions. His body was embalmed in 1602, when it was moved to the new Oratorian Church, or Chiesa Nuova, where it still rests today. In 1622, Pope Gregory XV canonized St. Philip Neri and gave him the title “The Apostle of Rome.”

St. Rose of Lima

Lima, Peru (1586–1617)

Beatified: 1667

Canonized: 1671

Patron: Latin America and the Philippines; gardeners

Feast day: August 23

After ten years of disagreements with her parents regarding her desire to live as a cloistered nun — and her parents wishing to see her married — Rose of Lima was finally allowed to join the Third Order of Dominicans.

The order was a pious organization designed for laypeople, and it allowed Rose to continue to live at home while following the Rule of St. Dominic and wearing a habit. She eventually moved to an outer house on the property where she could practice her religious virtues.

As their fortunes began to wane, Rose helped support her family. She continued to practice her charity to those less fortunate by opening a small clinic in her family home to provide essential medical treatment to the poor.

From the days when she would disfigure herself by rubbing pepper on her skin, hoping to keep potential suitors at bay, Rose always practiced mortifications on herself. She continued to do so while in the order, but with the permission of her priest-confessor. In addition to the many penances, self-denials, and prayers, she wore a crown of thorns over her veil. Eventually worn out by her penances, charitable work, and long hours of meditation, Rose died in 1617 at the age of 31. She was canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X as the first saint of the New World.

Eighteen months after her death, her body was unearthed and found to be in excellent condition. Signs of deterioration were present, however, when her body was exhumed again a few decades later. Today, her relics are on display in the Dominican Church of Santo Domingo and in a small shrine church built on the spot where she lived.

St. Veronica Giuliani

Mercatello, Duchy of Urbino, and Citt’di Castello, Italy (1660–1727)

Beatified: 1804

Canonized: 1839

Feast day: July 9

Sister Veronica developed a somewhat mystical devotion to the Passion of Christ in the early years of her religious life. After some disagreement with her father regarding her desire to become a cloister nun rather than marry, she was finally allowed to enter the Capuchin Order of Nuns based on the reform rule of the Poor Clares.

Sister Veronica experienced many mystical phenomena as a cloister nun, most notably the vision of the Lord offering the chalice of suffering to her. The apparitions and the impression of the stigmata of Christ led to a formal investigation by the bishop of the diocese who observed her wounds.

For a time, Sister Veronica was isolated from any outside influences and couldn’t even receive Holy Communion. The isolation was a heavy cross for her to bear, yet the young nun endured the trial with patience and obedience, eventually being allowed to return to convent living.

Sister Veronica served for 34 years as a novice-mistress and forbade her young charges from dwelling on or reading any forms of extreme, mystical, theological works. Eventually, she was elected abbess of the order; she took care of the mundane problems of the convent with the same fervor she gave her spiritual life, thus living a well-balanced religious life while keeping her sufferings and stigmata private.

Following her death, Sister Veronica’s body remained incorrupt until the Tiber River overflowed its banks in a terrible flood. Now the bones of the saint are preserved with a wax facial mask and the habit of her order. Her heart is kept separately and miraculously remains in very good condition. Her remains are at the Monastery of St. Giuliani (Monastero Santa Veronica Giuliani) in Città di Castello, Italy.

St. Vincent de Paul

Gascony, France (1580–1660)

Beatified: 1729

Canonized: 1737

Patron: charitable societies

Feast day: September 27

Immediately upon ordination, Vincent’s life was dedicated to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, notably among the sick, the poor, and the galley prisoners in France. To better meet those needs, he founded the Congregation of Missions, more commonly known as the Vincentians. The priests worked among the poor in missions and helped establish seminaries to provide proper education for future clergy.

Vincent’s work inspired St. Louise de Marillac, who cofounded the Daughters of Charity (also known as the Sisters of Charity). These sisters worked in hospitals and among the destitute. In the U.S., the Sisters of Charity are known through St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who established an American branch of that community. The Daughters of Charity is what the worldwide religious community of women is known by today. It includes both the American and French sisters as well as those all over the world.

Vincent died at the age of 80 and was buried in the St. Lazare Church in Paris. In 1712, his body was exposed and found to be in good condition except for some decay in the face. However, when the body was exhumed again, there was additional damage because of a flood. His bones are now encased in wax in the provincial headquarters of the Congregation of the Missions in Paris. His perfectly preserved heart is at the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity on the Rue du Bac in Paris.

Frederic Ozanam was inspired by Vincent’s work and in 1832 created the St. Vincent de Paul Society. This society, made up of laymen and women, quietly performs the corporal works of mercy among the destitute in local parishes.

St. Zita

Monte Sagrati and Lucca, Italy (1218–1271)

Canonized: 1696

Patron: servants

Feast day: April 27

Born to devout Catholic parents, Zita was a pious girl at a very young age. When she was 12, she moved into the home of a wealthy wool merchant in Lucca, Italy, as part of the cleaning staff. She considered her work part of her prayer life. She attended daily Mass, recited morning and evening prayers, and slept on the bare floor for penance.

Zita’s colleagues didn’t initially understand her devotions; some were jealous, and others felt guilty for not practicing their own faith. She was persecuted for her piety, to the point that a male colleague made advances toward her and she was forced to physically defend herself. Her employers at first refused to believe her side of the story that she was an innocent victim and object of lustful and indecent intentions. They and many of her fellow servants preferred to believe the worst and presumed she had led the man on or had wanted to seduce him. She was totally chaste and pure but refused to answer their lewd interrogations because they had already decided she was guilty. Her innocence was later established and she was vindicated.

Zita’s reputation for charity soon spread throughout Lucca. During a famine, people lined up for food, and Zita gave away almost all of the family’s dry beans. She’d intended to restock the pantry but didn’t get the chance before the master of the house decided to take stock of the beans and sell them at market. Fearful that she would be fired or thrown into jail because of the missing food, Zita prayed, and, miraculously, the dry beans were restored.

Zita died at age 60 and lies in state at the local parish of San Frediano in Lucca. Her casket was opened three times, the last time being in 1652. Each time, the body remained perfectly incorrupt. Today, the saint’s body remains the same except for a bit of dryness and darkness to the skin.