Freedom from decay of a corpse that has been reported to extend for weeks, months, and even years in spite of the absence of any artificial preservative process such as embalming, freezing, or placement in a sealed metal coffin. In the Western Christian tradition, incorruptibility has been reported in the case of several saints, most prominently St. Francis de Sales, who died in 1622 and whose body remained undecayed for a decade; St. Francis of Paula, whose body was preserved for 55 years; and St. Francis Antonius of Florence, whose body was reported uncorrupted 130 years after death.<\/p>\n
Accounts of such events raise several questions. Science has yet to investigate and explain such incidents, the very difficulty of obtaining such a corpse (which takes on the characteristics of a sacred object) for investigation being a significant problem. Theologically, the argument that such incidents are evidence of miracles has its own problems. While there are numerous incidents of incorruptibility, some of the most notable saints St. Francis of Assisi or St. Catherine of Siena, for example have not been granted such a grace. On the other hand, while not as well known, incorruptibility has also been observed among leaders of other religious traditions, as has the related experience of an unnatural perfume issuing from such bodies instead of the smell of decay.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Freedom from decay of a corpse that has been reported to extend for weeks, months, and even years in spite of the absence of any artificial preservative process such as embalming, freezing, or placement in a sealed metal coffin. In the Western Christian tradition, incorruptibility has been reported in the case of several saints, most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-i"],"yoast_head":"\n