Mary Wilhelmina Lancaster
Mother Mary Wilhelmina of the Most Holy Rosary | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | Mary Elizabeth Lancaster April 13, 1924 St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
| Died | May 29, 2019 (aged 95) Gower, Missouri, United States |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Catholic |
Mary Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB (born Mary Elizabeth Lancaster, later taking the religious name Mary Wilhelmina of the Most Holy Rosary; April 13, 1924 – May 29, 2019), was an African-American Catholic nun from rural Missouri who founded the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles.[1][2]
Her remains are a case of spontaneous mummification, and have been seen as incorrupt since her exhumation in May 2023.[3][4] She was previously a member of the Oblate Sisters of Providence.
Life
Mary Wilhelmina was born Mary Elizabeth Lancaster on April 13, 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri.[5] She was a descendent of enslaved African-Americans from Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.[2] She joined the Oblate Sisters of Providence, a congregation of black religious sisters in Baltimore, Maryland, when she was 17 years old and adopted the name Wilhelmina.[5] After joining the congregation, Lancaster was a schoolteacher in the eastern United States for over 50 years.[6]
In 1995, at the age of 71, disturbed by what she saw as the modernistic loosening of standards and lax observance of the Rule of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, she left and founded the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 2005, the sisters' community, which attends the Tridentine Mass and prays using the 1962 edition of the Roman Breviary, moved to Gower, Missouri.[7] They are well known for their Billboard chart-topping albums of Gregorian chant.[8][9][10]
Lancaster died in Gower on May 29, 2019, aged 95.
Exhumation
Four years after her death, the Benedictine Sisters exhumed Lancaster's body on the feast of Louis de Montfort (who greatly influenced Mariology), so her remains could be re-interred in their church. The sisters expected to find bones, but after a few days of digging, they lifted up the simple wooden coffin and quickly noticed a massive crack down the middle of the lid. On opening the coffin, prioress of the order, Mother Cecilia, discovered their foundress' remains and religious habit were almost perfectly intact.[11] Jack Klein, owner of Hixson-Klein Funeral Home in Gower and issuer of her death certificate in 2019, confirmed Lancaster was not embalmed and that the wood coffin was not placed into any outer burial container.[12][13] As such, she was regarded by many as incorrupt, traditionally a sign of sainthood.
Since Lancaster's body was enshrined in glass within the abbey church in 2023, a steady stream of pilgrims has visited her remains by the thousands.[14] In 2024, the Diocese of Kansas City–Saint Joseph published the results of an investigation of her body, finding an atypical lack of decomposition. Nevertheless, they declined at the time to open a cause for sainthood.[15]
References
- ^ Sara Kraft (6 June 2019). "Sister Mary Wilhelmina". Catholic Key. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ a b Graham, Ruth; Currid, Katie (9 September 2023). "A Miracle in Missouri? The Nun Who Put Her Abbey on the Map". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ Kelsey Wicks (24 May 2023). "Who was Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, whose body is now the center of attention in Missouri?". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ Giulia Carbonaro (31 May 2023). "Wilhelmina Lancaster's Nuns Explore Possible Sainthood Case". Newsweek 90.
- ^ a b "Who was Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, whose body is now the center of attention in Missouri?". Catholic News Agency.
- ^ "'Miracle' Missouri nun overcame racism in life and the elements in death". KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR. June 21, 2023.
- ^ "'She was and is the ambassador of peace': The life and legacy of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster". KSHB 41 Kansas City News. June 7, 2023.
- ^ Hollingsworth, Heather. "Chart-topping Missouri nuns to release Lent album". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
- ^ Valente, Judith. "Benedictine nuns bring back monastic music". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
- ^ "Missouri Singing Nuns Top Charts". KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR. 2013-01-07. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
- ^ Kelsey Wicks (22 May 2023). "A miracle in Missouri? Body of Benedictine Sisters' foundress thought to be incorrupt". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ Hugh Kerr (May 31, 2023). "Thousands travel to see 'incorrupt' remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ Joe Bukuras and Shannon Mullen (26 May 2023). "Morticians mystified by Sister Wilhelmina's body: 'Something special going on there'". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ Graham, Ruth; Currid, Katie (2023-09-09). "A Miracle in Missouri? The Nun Who Put Her Abbey on the Map". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
- ^ "Investigation: Mother Wilhelmina Lancaster's lack of decomposition 'atypical'". Black Catholic Messenger. 2024-09-04. Retrieved 2025-05-29.