According to a translated press release, the body of a medieval Catholic saint was recently exhumed, leaving archaeologists and experts completely amazed at the condition of his body.
On August 28, the Diocese of Ávila announced that the tomb of Saint Teresa of Ávila (also known as Saint Teresa of Jesus) had been opened for the first time since 1914. religious reformer during the Counter-Reformation, he drastically improved the Carmelite orders among men and women. He died in 1582.
The tomb was opened for the first time in 110 years by a group of Carmelite nuns of St. Therese, as well as monks and priests, to study the saint's body – namely her heart, hands and arms.
“The process to reach the silver urn [contains] The body of Saint Teresa is very complex,” explained the statement. “First of all, the marble slab had to be removed from the grave. Later, in the room to be placed under the main relics of the saint, and with the presence only of the scientific medical team and members of the ecclesiastical court, the silver tomb was opened. However, Father Miguel Ángel González assured that the expedition was completed “rigorously and solemnly” with a “heart full of emotions”.
When researchers opened St. Teresa's urn, they were shocked to discover that her body had barely aged since it was last venerated in 1914. “The exposed parts, the face and the feet, are the same as they were in 1914,” noted Father Marco Chiesa. “There is no color, no skin color, because the skin is mummified,” he explained. “But it's visible, especially in the middle of the face.” The expert doctors can see Teresa's face almost clearly,” added Chieso.
The examination of St. Teresa's body also revealed some medical ailments from which she suffered. “We know that for the past few years, he's been struggling to walk with the pain he's described,” Chiesa said. “Sometimes, when we look at a body, we discover more than what a person had [spoken about]. Analysis of the foot [relic] In Rome we saw the presence of calcareous spikes that make walking almost impossible.”
But Chiesa added: “He walked [to] Alba de Tormes, then he died, but his desire was to continue and move forward, despite the physical defects.”
Although the analysis of the body of St. Therese of Ávila is still in its early stages, experts say the process is bringing them closer.[knowing] the holy one is better, his offerings, [and] in the last years of his life”, as well as inform them about the preservation tactics of other relics.