Dear Parishioners,
In the last few weeks, thousands of people have been traveling from across our nation, and even from Canada, to a destination in the Midwest that until recently has been unknown. Most of the travelers are religious people, but others are skeptics looking for a reason to believe in what the Church teaches, or even the existence of God. Their destination is a Benedictine monastery located close to the border of Missouri and Kansas. They want to see and touch the body of Sr. Wilhelmina.
The interesting part of the story is that Sr. Wilhelmina died four years ago on May 29. After death, her body was placed in a wooden coffin and buried directly in the ground. Her body was not embalmed and she was dressed in the traditional habit, with the veil on her head, just as she wore each day at the monastery. Two months ago, her fellow sisters exhumed her body to move it to a new shrine inside the monastery, which is a common custom for founders of religious orders.
The shocking discovery when opening her coffin was that her body and religious clothing were completely intact. The wooden lid of the coffin had partially collapsed, allowing dirt and water inside. The cloth lining of the coffin had disintegrated and her body was covered in mold, yet under it all was her perfectly preserved body and religious clothing (habit). Her habit was made of natural fibers and her veil was of the same material as the lining of the coffin.
What is God telling us, especially in her perfectly preserved veil? It too should have decomposed since it was of similar material to the coffin lining. God is telling us that reality is more than the physical matter we see and touch. The most important aspect about the cloth veil was its spiritual value, which is what allowed it to overcome death and decay. It became more than a piece of cloth in being dedicated to the things of God.
If this is true of the veil, what is God telling us through her preserved body? That we will only overcome death and decay through the spiritual life. We are not simply products of evolution with emotions and feelings. Sr. Wilhelmina pursued holiness each day of her life, and we have another reason to do the same.
(OSV News photo/Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles)
(OSV News photo/Megan Marley)