Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster Biography: Mind-boggling Discovery

Publish date: 2024-05-06

The extraordinary tale of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster biography has captured the attention of people around the world in recent days. 

Lancaster, a Catholic nun who founded the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles religious order, passed away peacefully in 2019 at the age of 95. 

However, her remains have been exhumed, and much to the amazement of both the nuns and the faithful, little sign of decay has been evident. 

As a budding focus of interest and intense curiosity, thousands of devoted Catholics have been making the journey to Gower, Missouri, where the Catholic nun’s remains have been displayed.

Early Life and Vocation

Wilhelmina Lancaster, who was born in St. Louis as Mary Elizabeth Lancaster on April 13, 1924, was the second of five children of Oscar and Ella Lancaster. 

Her call to religious life occurred when she was just nine years old, following her first communion. 

According to an autobiography shared by the religious order she founded, Lancaster wrote that she experienced a vision in which ‘Our Lord asked me if I would be His.’ 

She immediately agreed, and then He instructed her to ‘meet Him every Sunday at Holy Communion.’ 

For Lancaster, that moment was pivotal, and she decided to become a nun when her priest asked her if she had considered religious life. 

As a young girl, she wrote to the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore expressing her desire to pursue her vocation. 

However, she had to wait until she finished high school before progressing any further in her call to religious life.

Growing up in a segregated St. Louis was challenging for Wilhelmina Lancaster. 

She faced adversity when she was taunted with the racial nickname ‘chocolate drops’ while in a white neighborhood on her way home from school. 

To avoid enrolling her in a public school, her parents founded St. Joseph’s Catholic High School for Negroes, so she had the opportunity to continue her education. 

Lancasters’ parents helped establish the school, and she graduated as its valedictorian. 

She went on to enter training with the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 1941, taking her vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience with the order on March 9th, 1944, and then selecting a new name, ‘Wilhelmina,’ in honor of her pastor, Fr. William Markoe, who encouraged her to pursue her vocation.

Years with the Oblate Sisters of Providence

Over her 50 years with the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Lancaster worked as a school teacher, and archivist and was involved in the Mount Providence Center of Music and General Culture. 

She fought tirelessly to preserve the order’s traditions, specifically the use of the full habit, at a time when some sisters were choosing to move away from the habit and modernize their dress. 

Lancaster believed that doing so was an essential aspect of her vocation to religious life. 

She constructed parts of her habit from a plastic bleach bottle, which proved to be a lifesaver when a troubled student threw a knife at her, and it was deflected by the stiff, high-necked collar of the garment. 

Despite resistance, Lancaster was an ardent supporter of the full habit and constructed her own, which inspired many other sisters to revive full habits within the order.

Founding the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

Lancaster’s strong will and conviction concerning traditional religious practices ultimately led her to found the Benedictine order in 1995, named the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles. 

This strict contemplative order follows the Rule of St. Benedict and is flourishing under her legacy. 

The order has a more significant focus on uninterrupted prayer, particularly the chanting of Gregorian chant, as well as maintenance of a strict daily prayer routine which is strictly adhered to by all its members. 

Lancaster’s leadership skills, as well as her devotion to the Church’s traditional practices, helped lay the foundation for a thriving monastery. 

She gave birth to a religious order that will likely continue to make a significant impact on the faithful and religious scholars for decades to come.

Exhumation of Sister Wilhelmina’s body

The exhumation of Sister Wilhelmina’s body was unexpected, and the discovery of its state of preservation set off a flurry of interest and curiosity. 

Nuns of the order had not anticipated that her body would be so intact, believing that they would only find bones since she had been buried in a simple wooden coffin and had not been embalmed. 

She was found with a perfectly preserved religious habit, which amazed everyone involved. 

The nuns had not meant to publicize the discovery, but news of it soon spread. 

Monastery issued a statement revealing their plans to place her body in a glass shrine in their church. 

The local diocese has stressed that her remains should not be treated as relics or venerated in any way until an investigation is completed, though it is unclear what the investigation

The Mystery of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster’s Unblemished Remains

Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster biography and remarkable preservation have sparked widespread interest and raised important questions among the faithful. 

Lancaster’s body was discovered to be unblemished, which has been perceived by some as a potential miracle, as the body remained relatively fresh even after being left in the ground for almost two years.

The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, who operated the convent where Lancaster lived and died, have allowed visitors to touch her body while it was still visible. 

On Monday, they placed her body in a glass shrine in the convent’s church, where visitors could still see her body but not touch her.

Faith drives visitors to flock to see the unblemished remains

Thousands of people have flocked to the town of Gower, Missouri, where they have come from all over the country to see and touch Lancaster’s body. 

Volunteers and local law enforcement have helped manage the crowds. 

Samuel Dawson, who is Catholic and visited Kansas City with his son, shared observations of his visit, where he saw hundreds of people outside, some from out of state, and found it to be very peaceful and reverent.

The religious order, which has been managing the flow of visitors and monitoring the situation, stated that the nuns ‘wanted to make her accessible to the public… because in real life, she was always accessible to people.’

Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has also released a statement noting that the condition of the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster has understandably generated widespread interest and raised important questions. 

They have requested to protect the integrity of the mortal remains of Sister Wilhelmina and allow for a thorough investigation.

Verification of incorruptibility and the Sainthood process

Lancaster has not yet reached the required minimum of five years since death for the sainthood process to officially begin. 

Still, it should be noted that incorruptibility has been verified in the past, but it is uncommon and requires a well-established process to pursue the sainthood cause. 

This process has not been initiated in Lancaster’s case yet.

The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, noted that Lancaster had expressed her desire to be buried among her community on the convent grounds. 

Thus when plans were made to add a St. Joseph shrine at the convent, she was moved, and when exhumed, her body was found to be well-preserved.

Rebecca George, an anthropology instructor at Western Carolina University in North Carolina, noted that the “mummification” of un-embalmed bodies is common at the university’s facility and the bodies could stay preserved for many years if allowed to. 

Coffins and clothing also help to preserve bodies, she said. 

It is remarkable that Lancaster’s body has been preserved even without the aid of advanced preparation techniques or being kept in a coffin.

Preservation is not all that rare

According to George, the preservation of un-embalmed bodies is not as uncommon as people may think. 

She stated, “Typically, when we bury people, we don’t exhume them. We don’t get to look at them a couple of years out,” adding that with 100 years, there might be nothing left. 

Thus, when just a few years are taken into account, it is not unexpected to find that bodies may remain well-preserved even after death.

However, despite the possible scientific explanations, the Catholic faithful continue to marvel at the unblemished remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, intimately touching this almost timeless figure to explore the mystery and wonder of incorporation. 

The rarity of her incorruptible body will continue to be at the heart of this debate and fuel a widespread debate about the mysteries of faith.

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