Emily Chan
For nearly 450 years, the body of St. Teresa of Avila has been encased inside her silver coffin. Her tomb has now been opened for the first time in 110 years, allowing scientists to analyze her remains.
Remarkably, her body has not shown any signs of significant decay, even though no special preservation efforts were made at the time of her death.
“Today, the tomb of St. Teresa was opened, and we have verified that it is in the same condition as when it was last opened in 1914,” said Father Marco Chiesa of the Carmelite Monastery of Alba de Tormes on August 28.
St. Teresa died on October 4, 1582, in the village of Alba de Tormes in the province of Salamanca, which is located in western Spain. Her body has remained there ever since. The new analysis of St. Teresa’s remains was carried out over the course of four days, overseen by the Diocese of Avila and the Order of the Discalced Carmelites.
These two groups have been responsible for keeping her coffin safe for almost five centuries. In July, Pope Francis granted permission for the tomb to be opened, answering a request from Luis Retana, the Bishop of Salamanca.
The Diocese of Avila took great measures to make sure St. Teresa’s remains were protected from thieves. Many years ago, they installed three locks on the outer gate of her tomb. They added three more locks to the tomb’s door and put four locks on the actual coffin. Each lock requires a different key to open.
When all the locks were removed, the coffin was moved to a place set up for study. Experts carefully examined her remains and took several photographs and X-rays. They also compared the new photographs to images that were taken in the early 20th century.
Since the images were in black and white, it was difficult to make a comparison, but the researchers were able to determine that the uncovered face and foot were the same as they were in 1914.
“There is no skin color because the skin is mummified, but you can see it, especially in the middle of the face,” noted Father Chiesa. “It can be seen well. The expert doctors can see Teresa’s face most clearly.”
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