Hundreds of people are daily, traveling to rural Gower, Missouri, to behold the body of Reverend Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster who died and was buried four years ago and yet the body, though not preserved, is still intact and is not decomposed.
She died on 29 May, 2019, aged 95 years and was buried with a simple wooden coffin in the monastery premises in Gower almost immediately.
The body was not embalmed and she wore a habit, a Reverend Sister’s attire, made of natural fibre.
On 18 May, 2023 the monastery was digging up the remains, with the intention to re-bury the bones inside the chapel, only to discover that the body, with her habit, was still intact.
There was damage to the wooden coffin and the body was exposed to mould which entirely covered it but, it did not decay.
This has attracted huge media attention. The American news medium CNN even did a report on it on Sunday, 28 May, 2023.
Sister Wilhelmina, an African-American, was the Foundress of Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles.
She started the order in Missouri in 1995 at the age of 70 and it received a formal recognition from the Vatican in 2014.
Reverend Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster was born Mary Elizabeth Lancaster on 13 April, 1924 as the second of five children.
She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and entered the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 1941 where she adopted the name Wilhelmina.
Bishop James Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas, St. Joseph, is having a scientific investigation into the matter. He said, “It’s important to protect the integrity of the mortal remains of Sister Wilhelmina to allow for a thorough investigation.”
A resolution of the matter as a miracle will hasten the beatification and eventual canonisation of Reverend Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster as a Saint in the Catholic Church.
On death, the human body starts deteriorating a few hours later as blood flow stops. Carbon dioxide builds up and the internal organs start decomposing within 24 hours. This is called self digestion or Autolysis and is the first of four stages of decay.
Bloat occurs within three to five days as the second stage.
The third stage is active decay of the flesh which is followed by Skeletonisation or decay of the bones leaving just the skull and femur.
The entire process is usually under a year in normal circumstances when the body is buried. It can be much shorter if the body is exposed and further degraded by insects and worms.
The case of Sister Wilhelmina, on the face value, appears strange as the body was not mummified or preserved and was buried with a habit and ordinary wooden coffin four years ago in normal soil.
photo credit: Benedictines
