Incorruption

The Incorrupt Body of Carlo Acutis, Recently Given the Title "Servant of God" in 2013

By Bp. Joseph Boyd (Ancient  Church of the West) 

“For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.” -Psalm 16:10

A Miraculous Preservation

Today, many in our Diocese have asked me about what is our stance on incorruptible saints, especially since the unveiling of the venerable young Roman Catholic candidate for sainthood, Carlo Acutis. He was a faithful young Catholic who was known in his short life as a devotee of the Holy Eucharist, spending much of his time compiling a website documenting Eucharistic miracles. He developed leukemia and died at the tender age of 15, in 2006, having devoted himself to cheerfulness, prayer, and Eucharistic adoration. He was buried in Assisi, and started to be known as a saint through various miracles that he was connected to in strange and mysterious ways. Then, quite unexpectedly, Carlo's body was found to be in an intact and preserved condition, without the help of embalming or artificial methods of preservation, conforming to the ancient precedent of "incorruption."

Orthodoxy, or course, believes with Roman Catholicism that it is well within God's power to preserve the bodies of His saints without corruption. We believe that it is biblical, and that God does this as a way to help the faithful see His glory. It isn’t mandatory or common, but there are many stories of such things happening during the course of Christian history. We also believe, with Scripture, that God does healings and miracles through the bodies of deceased Saints - 2 Kings 13:21 “And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.”

The Body of St. John Maximovitch, Laying Incorrupt in the Holy Virgin Cathedral, San Francisco 

The Incorrupt of England

In our Anglican Patrimony in England, we once had many incorrupt bodies of saints enshrined in the various holy places and cathedrals. It was an important step in the Christianization of our originally pagan tribal identity. Through the bodies of incorrupt saints and martyrs, a heathen land devoted to pagan gods and goddesses became, over time, a new Holy Land with many righteous stories to tell of love, self-sacrifice, bravery and evangelism. The bodies of the Saints became place markers for the expectation of the coming Resurrect in Christ.

Even St. Alban, one of the early Roman martyrs from London when it was still an Italian colony, was reported to be completely visible and incorrupt before the Reformation. One of the great tragedies of the Reformation is that these bodies were not treated with common respect and decency by fanatical Protestants. Instead of burying them to rise on the Last Day, most of them were burnt and had their ashes sprinkled on water. This desecration was not only unnecessary, but a kind of “second martyrdom,” because these Christian brothers and sisters were not accorded the simple respect of Christian burial that would be shown to any penniless pauper or peasant who died during that same era. This is still a profound loss for the English-speaking world. 

A List of Famous Extant Incorrupt Orthodox Saints 

1) Saints Anthony, John, and Eustathios 

2) Saint Dionysios of Zakynthos 

3) Saint Elizabeth 

4) Saint Gerasimus of Kefalonia  

5) Saint Ioasaph of Belgorod 

6) Saint Alexander of Svir

7) Saint Job of Pochayiv 

8) Saint John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco 

9) Saint John the Russian 

10) Saint Nectarios of Aegina 

11) Saint Parascheva of the Balkans 

12) Saint Spyridon 

13) Saint Zosima

An Orthodox Holy Reliquary, Containing an Incorrupt Relic from St. Nicholas of Smyrna 

Our Theology of Incorruption and the Unity of the Church

We believe in a Ontologically One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Saints are alive and glorified in Heaven, and they interact with the Church on earth, praying for us, rooting for us, and witnessing our lives as a "Great Cloud of Witnesses." (Heb 12:1) 

The “Oneness” of the Church is through the power of the Holy Spirit, joining us to Christ in Baptism and in each Sunday’s Eucharist, and to all right-believing Christians through Christ’s Body. The Holy Spirit does this work of connection, the love and obedience to the Father's will, and it is not by the power of the Saints themselves. (I Cor 10:16-17)

The “Holiness” is God’s presence, His nature and attribute, given to the Church through the Holy Spirit’s work of grace in the Sacraments, transforming us into obedient witnesses of God’s will, faithful to the death. Those who have died as faithful witnesses to Christ have a special role in God's economy of grace and can pray for us in Heaven. (Rev 6:10) 

The “Catholicity” is that all the Churches share a common order; a Bishop who stands in the office of an Apostle, a Council of Presbyters to minister to the faithful, Deacons to serve the Altar and the needy in the Christian community, and the Laity (God’s washed, anointed, white-robed and crowned people of Faith, who love God and one another in the power of the Holy Spirit). In Heaven, the Saints keep these same roles, but in a perfected way, shining with the glory of God and crying with the Angels, "Holy, Holy, Holy!" (Psalms 110:4, Heb 7:17, Isaiah 6:3, Rev 4:8)

The “Apostolicity” of the Church is historical, tactile and traceable and is propagated from one generation to the next by the laying on of hands. Many of the actual hands of the Apostles were preserved incorrupt within the Church, and still bless us today. All Orthodox Churches can trace their origins to one of the Apostles, and we know their lives, their deeds, and even where their bodies are today. They have been preserved for us, so that the Church can stand unwavering upon the solid foundation of St. Peter's declaration - "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" (Matt 16:16)

A Diagram Showing the Location of the Bodies of All 12 Apostles

Physical Salvation

What is the lesson to be learnt from God's preservation of the physical bodies of His Saints? Christ chose physical means to save us, both in His own body, but also in his Life, Death, and Resurrection, He used physical means. He has promised the physical rebirth of our bodies after death, and the physical recreation of the world. Therefore, we have physical recourse to Salvation on Earth - through the Grace of God that is present in the Church, a physical place with physical people, through a physical act of renouncing sin through confession to our brothers and sisters, and with priests acting as witnesses to our confessions, and through a physical act of taking communion. Thus, in the flesh, we have our sins forgiven and we are brought back into the physical and spiritual communion of the Saints, who are cleansed by Christ's Forgiveness and who have turned their backs on sin. This is the Eternal Church that is both here on earth and in Heaven, which is not just a spiritual kingdom, but is a physical presence on earth, and as such, is the “firstfruits” of all creation glorified at the End of Time.