Nun whose body barely decayed since her death years ago draws thousands to Mo. monastery

The body of a Missouri nun who died in 2019 has barely decayed, and for the past two weeks, visitors have flocked to the monastery in Gower where her remains are displayed.

Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, founder of the Catholic order of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, was exhumed in April with plans to reinter her in a shrine dedicated to St. Joseph.

Instead of the bones that church officials had been led to expect when the grave was opened, they found Lancaster’s body nearly intact. Some sensed a miracle, especially since the devoted sister had been buried un-embalmed, in a simple wooden coffin, in the “highly moist clay of Missouri” when she died four years ago Monday at age 95, the order said.

Thousands of people have poured in to visit the abbey in Gower, Missouri, about 40 miles north of Kansas City. They are there to touch and view the body after the release of a private email “created an unexpected twist to our plans” for a dedication with just the nuns, the Benedictine order said in a statement.

“We had no intent to make the discovery so public, but unfortunately, a private email was posted publicly, and the news began to spread like wildfire. However, God works in mysterious ways, and we embrace His new plan for us.”

Lancaster’s preservation afforded an opportunity “to contemplate the great gifts God gives us every day, especially the ones that are literally hidden from our eyes,” the diocese said. The sisters believe she is the first Black woman whose remains are “incorrupt,” meaning they have not decomposed, the Kansas City Star reported.

The order celebrates the Virgin Mary with the motto, “Emulating the hidden life of Mary as love in the heart of the Church.” The nuns are known for their award-winning, classical-chart-topping, Gregorian chants and angelic voices.

Their foundress is to be reinterred in the glass St. James Shrine inside the church. People will still be able to visit, take dirt from her grave and view her, but not touch. Her exhumation is not a sign that they were pursuing sainthood, even though that is commonly the first step toward doing so.

“The condition of the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster has understandably generated widespread interest and raised important questions,” said Bishop James V. Johnston, Jr. of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese, in a statement. “At the same time, it is important to protect the integrity of the mortal remains of Sister Wilhelmina to allow for a thorough investigation.”

Culled from Nydailynews