The Incorruptibles: A Study of Incorruption in the Bodies of Various Saints and Beati

by Joan Carroll Cruz

Book Overview

Continuously popular since it first appeared in 1977, TheIncorruptibles remains the acknowledged classic on the bodies of saints that did not undergo decomposition after death. Many remained fresh and flexible for years, or even centuries. After explaining both natural and artificial mummification, the author shows that the incorruption of the saints' bodies fits neither category but rather constitutes a much greater phenomenon that...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0895550660
• ISBN13: 9780895550668
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Tan Books
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A little Macabre, but intriguing

Intriguingly Macabre, but very fascinating. Not in a chapter form, more like a list of saints lives along with their incorruptibility in death. You could read daily as in reading about one or more a day. Not a book you’ll read through. More like one you’ll read in-between other books.

Absolutely Amazing and Inspiring

This is an incredible book! It is extremely well researched and very thorough. I was not at all familiar with this phenomenon until I bought this book, and I found it so fascinating. The book goes through all the [surprisingly] many Saints whose bodies have remained incorrupt - it tells a bit about their lives and about their burials. It details the finding of their bodies incorrupt and the current state of the bodies. Mrs. Cruz goes into some detail on the science behind what makes this phenomenon so utterly amazing [and obviously of Supernatural origins], but she does it in a way that remains interesting and easy to understand. This book is very faithful to the teachings of the Catholic faith and I found it incredibly faith strengthening. I think it would be difficult to maintain doubt when faced with such compelling evidence. This book is almost 30 years old now. I would LOVE to see a revision with better photography and some information on how the incorruptibles may have been investigated with modern scientific measures. Regardless, this is a fantastic book that I highly recommend to every Catholic and anyone else who is interested.

Fascinating

This is an excellent book. I have had the grace to see first hand two of the incorruptibles whose stories are detailed here by Joan Carrol Cruz (Saint Catherine Laboure and St. Bernadette Soubirous), and not even this wonderful book can prepare you for the experience. While her research is sound, even first rate, Cruz has an easy to read prose that does not descend to the dry and academic. Although Cruz's style is reverent, at times even bordering on devotional, this is an excellent book for Catholic and non-Catholic alike, skeptic and believer.

Even for the skeptic an interesting study

This is quite an amazing book and one of my favorites. I personally believe it is bad science to try prove or disprove religious truths and religion is still smarting from trying to use religion to dispute scientific truths. That being said this book in a way makes for an exception to that adage. The book is about the saints and the beatified whose bodies have not decayed and whether you are a religious person or not I think you will find it a quite interesting phenomena. The book starts by discussing the natural decay of buried flesh, mummification and certain natural conditions (such as in peat bogs) in which the bodies of the dead will be preserved. After this discussion Cruz presents a case by case study of the bodies of the saints and the beatified who escaped corruption despite the conditions in which they were buried. With each case there is a brief biography of the individual. The number of cases in which the bodies of saints escaped decay is actually very remarkable. Included in the book are some astounding photographs. A very thought provoking read. Jim Connell "Hallstatt Prince"

You Will Be Amazed.

You Will Be Amazed."The Incorruptibles" by Joan Carroll Cruz, Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford, Illinois, On the very first page of her introduction, Joan Cruz specifies that she understands that she is treating a very special case in the preservation of the bodies of saints. First, she notes that there are three classifications of preserved bodies: (1) deliberately preserved, (2) accidentally preserved and (3) the incorruptibles. Ancient Egyptian mummies are probably the most familiar examples of deliberately preserved bodies; many of us have seen them in various museums. In her introduction, Ms. Cruz presents more details than most of us want to know about the modern techniques of embalming and its impact on the body of the deceased. (Pages 27 to 32). Accidentally preserved bodies include the more or less well known cases of bodies found in peat bogs in Denmark, Ireland and Scotland (page 32). Ms. Cruz presents the interesting case of Bremen Cathedral, Germany, where the cellar burial place tends to mummify any body left there. Experiments were run using the bodies of animals or fowls, hung in the open-windowed cellar, and the bodies of these animals became mummified. The incorruptibles, however, are those bodies which have been preserved only since Christian times and their preservation is ..."even more baffling..." since it "...seems to be neither dependent upon the manner of burial nor on the temperature or place of interment". Joan Cruz makes a case for the intervention of God as a sign of favor to His saints. The mystery is "...further compounded ... (with) ...the observance of blood and clear oils" which flow from these incorruptibles. (Page 27). Her introduction to the book is a clear and pressing statement as to why the 100+ cases she presents are different from mummifying the bodies or from accidental preservation. After her excellent introduction, Joan Cruz then presents, in chronological order, slightly more than a hundred documented cases of individuals whose bodies had been preserved from corruption after their death. In many of the cases, she provides photographs of the dead bodies, with, perhaps, the most striking and the most beautiful being that of the nun and saint, St. Bernadette Soubirous, (1844-1879), whose body has been preserved intact, "...without embalming or other artificial means", since 1879. This is a wonderful book, which will make anyone think again on his mortality, if the book is read with an open mind.

Proven miracles

For all those who have ever doubted the power of God, this is a must-read book. With over 100 Saints included in this book, the author has spent numerous years researching and documenting the miracle of incorruptibility. No modern science can explain this phenomenon, and as the pictures inside this book will show, these are actual bodies who, after years of death, still retain incorruptible body parts.Once of the best examples is the life of St. Bernadette Soubrious of Lourdes, France, whose body is still perfect, even after being dead for over 120 years. No modern-day medicine or artificial means has been used on the body, only the miraculous power of God to show that yes there are Saints and these Saints are residing in Heaven praying for the rest of humanity. If this book is not enough for skeptics, they can travel to the different parts of the world to see these Incorruptible Bodies with their own eyes. Highly recommended book, and a great travel companion for those going to Europe.