Case 001 · Incorruption · Nevers, France · 1909 to 1925
St. Bernadette's body lies in a glass reliquary in the chapel of the former Saint-Gildard convent at Nevers, where she died in 1879. Physicians reported it intact at its first exhumation in 1909, and since 1925 her face and hands have been covered with thin wax coverings made by the Pierre Imans firm in Paris.
The Church does not count incorruption among the miracles examined for beatification or canonization, and does not treat it as proof of holiness. Is incorruptibility a miracle?
Three canonical recognitions were attended by named physicians, whose findings are quoted in published accounts. No peer-reviewed examination of the body has been published. How we grade
Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was born in Lourdes on January 7, 1844, the eldest child of a struggling miller. In 1858, at fourteen, she reported eighteen apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the grotto of Massabielle.
In 1866 she joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. She died at the Saint-Gildard convent on April 16, 1879, aged 35, and was buried in the convent chapel of St. Joseph. She was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1933.
It is claimed that St. Bernadette's body has not decayed since her death, and devotional sources often describe it as incorrupt. The claim rests on three canonical recognitions of the remains, in 1909, 1919, and 1925, each in the presence of physicians.
Canonical recognition · September 22, 1909
No image made during this recognition is shown. Such images need the written permission of the bishop and the heir.
Canonical recognition · April 3, 1919
No image made during this recognition is shown. Such images need the written permission of the bishop and the heir.
Canonical recognition · April 18, 1925
No image made during this recognition is shown. Such images need the written permission of the bishop and the heir.
Treatment · 1925
Statement · Current website
Status key: Church commissioned means an examination the Church ordered, reported in its documents. Published account means a report that appears in print or online but was not peer reviewed. Published means a public statement by the body's custodian.
Bodies kept in dry, cool, sealed conditions can dry out and hold their shape (natural mummification). In damp, airless graves, body fat can turn into a waxy substance that keeps a body's form (saponification). The 1919 physicians described a body that was practically mummified, but no study has determined which process, if any, was at work, or how the 1909 washing and the 1925 relic extraction affected the body.
Cite this page
Saints and Science, "The body of St. Bernadette", Case 001, saintsandscience.com, reviewed September 21, 2026.Next
Feast day: April 16 (February 18 in France).