The nature of incorruptability and incorruptible relics

[Paul Cowan]

I was reading this blog from Michael (http://orthodoxseminarian.blogspot.com/2008/09/priests-forever.html)from St. George in Houston who is attending seminary at St. Vlads and I was struck by this picture.

Not so much is introspection of being buried in his vestments, but I was struck by the hands of St. John Maximovich. What makes him and others incorruptible? Is it their skin does not dissolve away to reveal bare bones? Being from America, we do not have much access or desire to see dead people so this is not just morbid curiosity.

I have seen body parts on Athos that are also black. Why are they black? Are there others aspects of incorruptability than bare bones? Have incorruptible saints become "corruptible" later in time?

Paul

[John Wilson]

Saint Nektarios' body remained for twenty years almost exactly as it had been the day he was buried. When I say "almost exactly", I refer to the fact that his hair and fingernails had continued to grow. After twenty years his flesh then completely dissolved. A woman who had been a spiritual child of his was distressed that this had happened after his body remaining completely incorrupt for so long, but St Nektarios revealed to her in a dream that it occurred so that his relics could be distributed throughout the Church. Our parish in Thessaloniki was blessed to have relics of St Nektarious Pentepoleos, Saint Arsenios of Cappdocia and St Nicholas Planas.

John

[Kusanagi]

When i was baptised and learnt about the incorrupt nature of relics i was expecting them to be like St Alexander of Svir whose body looks like he is still alive, not moistureless or flesh disintegrated and left with the bones.
It's been 500 years since he has passed away. Completely whole, some say its because he was touched by the Holy Trinity.

[Ilaria]

When I knelled before St John the Russian I was touched to tears when I saw his ear; you, know, it seemed to me that the ear is more corruptible than other parts of the body...remembering that he was also burned by the turks...

but what about the relics found in such a marvelous way at Neamt monastery? have anyone heard?
in the '80s,not far from the church, the land began to spill over; they start digging, to see what there was...and they found the holy relics of an unknown saint.. and it was during the communist regime!
the relics are exposed in the church - named "the unknown saint" - though it was believed that these might be st Paisios's relics, the research revealed the relics are older than his time.
anyway, this are God's wonderful works, we can not explain.
but how can one explain that there are people seeing such marvels and remain untouched, unchanged...

[David Withun]

While I can't answer the question of why St. John's skin has turned dark (lack of nutrients and moisture, maybe?) I can attest that his body has indeed not decayed. There is much more to the decaying process than darkening and/or shriveling.

Unfortunately, I've seen more than my share of bodies in various stages of decomposition. The first thing you notice is always the smell. I'm not sure when the smell sets in, but I know that it doesn't take long. If, as the pictures I've seen seem to show, St. John's body is exposed to the air, it must not have a smell. Believe me, you'd know it if you smelled it; it's not subtle by any means.

There's more than just that but I'll spare you the nasty details of human decomposition. I don't know exactly how long it takes a body to decay but St. John passed in 1966 if I remember correctly, whereas some of the bodies I've been exposed to were only a week or so old and I can tell you that there's a big difference.

Hope this helps.

[Kusanagi]

but how can one explain that there are people seeing such marvels and remain untouched, unchanged...

I think Christ already mentioned this, you have eyes yet you do not see, you have ears yet you do not hear.

Probably like the parable where the sower of seeds.
Also the unknown saints relics i can say its not St Pasisios, he was too highly regarded by all to be buried and a path put on top of him afterwards.
Anyway isnt his relics in the Church, and i think Fr Ioannichie Balan wrote in his book the Romanian Patericon that in the Neamt files they have an idea who the unknown monk is.