There are Saints whose bodies did not decay after death, and the Roman Catholic Church kept a record throughout history. The bodies of these saints are said to be incorrupt.
Each of these bodies is most times put inside a church altar with a glass front so that it can be seen.
Here is a list of some Saints with an incorrupt body:
St Bernadette of Lourdes
Bernadette Soubirous died in 1879. She was born in Lourdes, France. She reported eighteen apparitions of “a Lady.” The Church doubted it. From February to July 1858, despite the initial doubts from the Roman Catholic Church, these claims were thoroughly investigated and later declared to be worthy of belief. After she died, her body did not decay, it “remained incorruptible”, and the shrine at Lourdes became a popular site for pilgrimage. It attracting millions of Catholics each year.
St John Vianney
This Saint Died in 1859. St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney was born on May 8, 1786, he was a French parish priest who later became a Catholic saint. He also became the patron saint of parish priests. He is most times referred to, even in English, as the “Curé d’Ars” (the parish priest of the village of Ars). He became famous for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish due to the total spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings. He died on August 4, 1859.
St Silvan
St. Silvan Died circa 350. There has not been much known about Saint Silvan except that he was martyred. Considering his body is over 1,600 years old, it is remarkably preserved.
St Teresa Margaret
Died in 1770. Saint Teresa Margaret was born on July 15th, 1747. On March 19, 1934, Pope Pius XI canonized Blessed Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart. The new saint is almost unknown outside of the Carmelite Order. Her life was quiet and hidden. She died on March 7, 1770, at the age of 22, having spent five years in the Carmelite monastery in Florence. She performed no attention-getting deeds, nor did her reputation reach the wider world have lived in silence and virtue.
St Vincent de Paul
Died 1660. Saint Vincent de Paul was born on April 24, 1581. He studied humanities at Dax with the Cordeliers and graduated in theology at Toulouse. He helped the poor and less privileged. He was ordained in 1600, remaining in Toulouse until he went to Marseille for an inheritance. Returning from Marseille, he was captured by Turkish pirates and sold into slavery. After converting his owner to Christianity, Vincent de Paul was set free in 1607. He then returned to France and served as a parish priest near Paris. In 1705, the Superior-General of the Lazarists requested that the process of his canonization might be instituted. On August 13, 1729, Vincent was declared Blessed by Benedict XIII, and canonized by Clement XII on June 16, 1737. In 1885 Leo XIII gave him as patron to the Sisters of Charity.
St Zita
Saint Zita (c. 1212 – 27 April 1272) is the patron saint of maids and domestic servants. She is also appealed to in order to help find lost keys. Zita often said to others that devotion is false if slothful. She considered her work as an employment assigned her by God, and also as part of her penance. She obeyed her master and mistress in all things as being placed over her by God. She always rose several hours before the rest of the family and prayed a considerable part of the time while others slept. She Died in 1272.
St John Bosco
Died 1888
Saint Don Bosco, born Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco on August 16th, 1815, known in English as John Bosco, was an Italian Catholic priest and teacher, who put into practice the dogma of his religion, using teaching methods based on love rather than punishment. He placed his works under the protection of Saint Francis de Sales; thus his followers styled themselves the Salesian Society. He is the only Saint with the title “Father and Teacher of Youth”, he died on January 31st, 1888.
St Veronica Giuliani
Saint Veronica Giuliani (Veronica de Julianis) (1660-July 9, 1727) was an Italian mystic. She was born at Mercatello in the Duchy of Urbino. Her baptismal name is Ursula. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, she showed signs of sanctity from an early age. Her legend states that she was only eighteen months old when she uttered her first words to scold a Shopman who was serving a false measure of oil, saying clearly: “Do justice, God sees you.” Saint Veronica Giuliani Died 1727.
Blessed Pope Pius IX
Died 1878
Pope Pius IX was born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti on May 13th, 1792. He reigned as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from his election on June 16, 1846, until his death, Pius IX was elected as the candidate of the liberal and moderate wings on the College of Cardinals, following the pontificate of arch-conservative Pope Gregory XVI. Initially sympathetic to democratic and modernizing reforms in Italy and in the Church, Pius became increasingly conservative after he was deposed as the temporal ruler of the Papal States in the events that followed the Revolutions of 1848. He died on February 7th, 1878.
Pope St John XXIII
Pope Saint John XXIII (Latin: Ioannes PP. XXIII; Italian: Giovanni XXIII), born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli on November 25th, 1881. He died in 1963. He was elected as the 261st Pope of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City on October 28, 1958. He called the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) but did not live to see its completion, dying on June 3, 1963, two months after the completion of his final encyclical, Pacem in Terris. He was beatified on September 3, 2000, along with Pope Pius IX, the first popes since Pope St. Pius X to receive this honor. He was canonized by Pope Francis alongside Pope John Paul II on 27th April 2014.
