Nun whose body shows little decay since 2019 death draws hundreds to US town
- People flock to a small Missouri town to view the recently exhumed body of a nun
- Body has barely decomposed after burial without any embalming four years ago
This story contains an image of the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster.
Hundreds of people flocked to a small town in Missouri this week and last to see a nun whose body has barely decomposed since 2019. Some say it’s a sign of holiness in Catholicism, while others say the lack of decomposition may not be as rare as people think.
Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster was exhumed in April, according to a statement from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in Gower, Missouri.
The nuns had been preparing for the addition of a St Joseph shrine, and that involved “the reinterment of the remains of our beloved foundress, Sister Wilhelmina,” the statement said.
When they exhumed Lancaster, they were told to expect only bones, since she had been buried in a simple wooden coffin without any embalming four years ago.
Instead, they discovered an intact body and “a perfectly preserved religious habit,” the statement said. The nuns hadn’t meant to publicise the discovery, but someone posted a private email publicly and “the news began to spread like wildfire”.
