From the devoutly religious to the plain-curious, thousands of people have descended on a convent in a small Missouri town where the exhumed remains of a nun was found almost perfectly intact.
Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB, an African-American nun who founded Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles at age 70, passed away in 2019 at age 95. Her coffin was exhumed on May 18 when the discovery was made.
According to Catholic Key Magazine, Lancaster was entombed in the outdoor convent cemetery in Gower, Missouri. Her body was being relocated to a shrine in St. Joseph.
In Catholicism, when a nun or priest, for example, pass away and it is discovered that their body has not experienced normal decay, it is considered incorrupt. These circumstances often lead to pursuing sainthood for the deceased.
Lines of people have waited over the weekend to visit the nun’s body. The crowds have been so overwhelming the convent has reportedly advised visitors to bring chairs for the long wait.
Sainthood for Lancaster is reportedly not in the process yet.
More about the life of Sister Lancaster can be found here.
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