Rare Footage of Pope St. Pius X's Incorrupt Body
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| St. John XXIII and Monsignor Loris Capovilla with the incorrupt body of St. Pius X. |
In 1913, Pope Pius X suffered a heart attack from which he never fully recovered. On the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, [August 15, 1914] he became ill for the final time. His condition was exacerbated by the outbreak of World War I. Following a second heart attack, he went to his eternal reward on August 20, 1914.
Pius X was buried in an unadorned tomb in the crypt beneath St. Peter's Basilica. Papal physicians customarily removed organs from the deceased pontiff's corpse as part of the embalming process. Pius X prohibited this practice in his burial, as have successive popes. Forty years after his death, Pius X's body was exhumed as part of the beatification process and found intact. Below is rare footage of St. Pius X's incorrupt body in which his face is adorned with a bronze mask. St. John XXIII is seen venerating his predecessor's earthly remains along with various princes of the Church among others.
Comments
The unidentified priest is (now) Cardinal Loris Capovilla, still alive at 100!
I've corrected the caption. Thank you.
saints ooze fragrant oil which is collected and
given to the faithful. Too bad Western saints do
not seem to do this so that we can know what is
under the "wax cover over a body."
"Outside of Russia" in San Francisco
some decades ago, next to the body
of (now) Saint John Maximovitch was
a collection of vials filled with "his"
oil. I actually bought one. They did
not worry about simony, I gather. Of
course I could not "prove" in the chapel
there, being watched by a stern monk,
where the oil had actually come from.
you can put "Brian V.H." ...
I am not good with computers.
It would appear that there are several "types" or "classes" of incorrupt saints--some are found incorrupt 40, 60 or even more years after their death, and then at some time after their bodies are found, the natural decay process sets in. One such example is Venerable Jacinta Marto, one of the children who saw the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima. She was found incorrupt approx. 30 years after her death (I believe she died c. 1920 and was found incorrupt c. 1950), but at some time after that, her body went through the normal decom-position process, as did St. Charbel Makhlouf at some point c. 1965 (67 years after his death).
For more information about these saints, please refer to the excellent websites "mystics of the church" and "miracles of the saints"
From reading about very many of these saints, it would appear that the ones who eventually do go through normal decomposition are those whose lives and heroic examples speak to certain times, places, and/or issues. Those who remain incorrupt often tend to, in addition, leave a large body of writings, or a very important body of writings (not necessarily large in number), which speak to all ages. However, in all instances, those saints whose bodies are/were incorrupt lives lives of heroic virtue, heroic penance, often surviving extraordinary opposition during their lives not only from enemies of the Catholic faith, but often from their own religious orders and/or superiors.
Such saints are an inspiration to all of us.
- St. Jerome
There are saints who have been coated with wax in order to prevent the oxidisation effect; and others who have been discovered in that 'sleep like' state with no protective measures at all! Little Nellie of Holy God (who is currently a Blessed, not yet a beatified) was found in that state. It is claimed that her hair had even grown a little since she was laid to rest.