The body of St Teresa of Ávila, a doctor of the Church, remains incorrupt after her death more than 400 years ago on October 4, 1582, Ávila Diocese in Spain reported. Source: CNA.
“Today the tomb of St Teresa was opened and we have verified that it is in the same condition as when it was last opened in 1914,” the postulator general of the Discalced Carmelite Order, Fr Marco Chiesa said on Wednesday.
The remains of the revered Spanish saint rest at the Carmelite Monastery of Alba de Tormes.
Fr Miguel Ángel González, the Carmelite prior of Alba de, explained how the procedure was carried out:
“The community of Discalced Carmelite mothers, together with the postulator general of the order, the members of the ecclesiastical tribunal, and a small group of religious moved the reliquaries with stringency and solemnity to the place set up for study. We did it singing the Te Deum with our hearts full of emotion.”
The diocese explained that the event took place as part of the canonical recognition of the remains of St Teresa of Ávila, requested from the Vatican on July 1 by the bishop of Salamanca, Luis Retana, with authorisation granted by Pope Francis through the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
The process of studying the body, the heart, an arm, and a hand, the latter of which is preserved in the Spanish town of Ronda and which has been taken to Alba de Tormes for research, is taking place this week.
Chiesa pointed out that the images preserved from the 1914 examination are in black and white, so “it is difficult to make a comparison,” although “the parts uncovered, which are the face and the foot, are the same as they were in 1914.”
“There is no colour, there is no skin colour, because the skin is mummified, but you can see it, especially the middle of the face,” he noted. “The expert doctors can see Teresa’s face almost clearly.”
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St Teresa of Ávila’s body remains incorrupt after almost 5 centuries (By Walter Sánchez Silva, CNA)
