Nun’s Body Exhumed 4 Years After Death & Shows No Sign Of Decay

Nun’s Body Exhumed 4 Years After Death & Shows No Sign Of Decay In Missouri

The small rural Missouri town of Gower has become an unexpected pilgrimage destination after a #nun’s exhumed body showed no visible signs of decomposition — four years after her burial.

Hundreds of people have been flocking to the town 40 miles north of Kansas City to marvel at the well-preserved body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, with many calling it a “Miracle in Missouri.”

Lancaster, when she was 70, founded the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles. She died in May 2019 at 95, according to the Catholic News Agency. Last Thursday, Benedictine nuns dug up their foundress’ coffin to move it to beneath the altar in the convent’s chapel, which is customary.

 

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“We were told by cemetery personnel to expect just bones in the conditions, as Sister Wilhelmina was buried without embalming and in a simple wood coffin,” one nun told Newsweek.

But when Mother Abbess Cecilia Snell looked through a crack in the coffin, she said she saw “a totally intact foot with the sock on, looking just like it did when we buried her.” When the sisters fully opened the coffin, they were astonished to discover Lancaster’s body with almost no signs of decay.

Bishop James Johnston, of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, released a statement addressing the unexplainable events in Gower.

“The condition of the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster has understandably generated widespread interest and raised important questions. At the same time, it is important to protect the integrity of the mortal remains of Sister Wilhelmina to allow for a thorough investigation,” he stated.