Today is the feast day of one of my patrons, St. Vincent de Paul. My middle name is Vincent after my grandpa. Vincent de Paul was a French priest who lived in the 1600s. He was know for his charity work with the poor, and he started two religious orders that to this day are both dedicated to works of charity. He is in fact the patron of all charitable works.
The picture is of his actual body as it looks today. He has remained incorrupt since his death in 1660. If you ever get a chance to visit his church in Paris you can view his body just as it appears above.
If you don't mind, please say a prayer today for me, for all other Vincents, and for all those who do works of charity.
3 comments:
St. Vincent de Paul's body is not incorrupt. His bones are inside a wax replica of St. Vincent. Yet, his heart does remain incorrupt in the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal where St. Catherine of the Miraculous Medal does lay in a state of incorruption, although her hands are made of wax. JMJ
When you visit St. Vincent's tomb you can see that there is wax on the body, but I have never actually heard that the body is entirely wax. I have heard some other explanations for the wax.
One is that when incorrupt bodies were first found, no one why they were like that. In an attempt to keep them that way they put wax on them for preservation. They didn't realize the body would stay that way on its own.
Another reason is that, without the blood pumping and the bodily functions working, the eyes would begin to sink into the skulls. The wax kept everything on the outside in place, because the inside was no longer doing its job.
I will look into this some more, and see if I can find some information specific to St. Vincent.
I meant to say this in the first comment: Shan I know you are right about the heart. It is in a differnt location.
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