WINONA, Minn. — Chad Cagle can’t say whether he believes Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster is a saint or not, or even if she’s actually incorrupt — even though the 28-year-old took a long, spontaneous detour over the Memorial Day weekend, driving nearly 500 miles from Winona, Minnesota, to Gower, Missouri, just to see the exhumed nun’s body firsthand.

“I was planning a take-it-easy weekend,” he told the Register, but after hearing about the recent unearthing of the Benedictine nun’s body, and how the sisters at the order she founded had discovered her body mostly intact — and that a public viewing was being allowed over the next hours — he hastily began mapping out a route to the remote Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus.

Wrapping up a Saturday guitar lesson with a student, the music instructor found a hotel about an hour from Gower online, and the next morning, he left southward on an unprecedented adventure. 

Reaching the monastery grounds early Monday morning, Cagle joined hundreds of other pilgrims gathered to witness, pray over and touch Sister Wilhelmina’s body prior to a procession and ceremony, and, finally, encasement in the abbey sanctuary.

As he watched the sisters carrying their foundress to her new resting place, even as he wondered what this moment might mean, it struck him. “You could tell that [the sisters] were very happy about this, and I could see that they were the kind of happy that it takes real work and grace to have,” Cagle said, adding, “And I saw that they really loved her.”

Despite the Church’s need to carry out scientific investigations to confirm suspicions of incorruptibility and holiness, he said, “The sisters attest to her personal sanctity, and I just thought, ‘No matter what happens, these sisters knew her. They have faith and know that if they stick to the right path, they’ll see her again.’”

 

 

From Wisconsin and Illinois

Jerilyn Owen of Mishicot, Wisconsin, traveled to Gower in a 12-passenger van with friends — a journey representing another unexpected change of plans.

Owen and her husband, Dan, had been visiting Preston and Kym Allex, just north of Chicago, to celebrate the first Communion of Ambrose Allex, 8, at a Saturday vigil Mass on May 27.

They had planned to spend another day with the family of 10 to take in an art show on Sunday before heading home. But a morning text from Kym had her rerouting, checking her bags to see if she had enough clothing. Kym had inquired whether she knew about Sister Wilhelmina and would want to join the family in driving to Missouri to visit her body — that very day.

“I had seen it on Facebook earlier, but had no idea people could go down and see her,” Owen said. “I quickly got ready and jumped in the van.” Her only worry? “Normally I over-pack, but I didn’t this time. I just had a carry-on bag and that extra pair of underwear your mom always tells you to bring,” she said, laughing.

En route, they began researching what they might expect in Missouri, discovering a planned ceremony the next day. Deciding to stay for it, they made a quick “pitstop” for toothbrushes and other necessities.

“It was a beautiful ride down, with anticipation building up inside of us,” Owen said, admitting she doesn’t usually like spontaneity. “Everyone was so welcoming, even though we were coming into their special territory; the place that means so much to them.”

Volunteers were on hand, including Knights of Columbus, to guard the Benedictine sister’s body and take photos of the pilgrims with the body, along with some law enforcement and media. And while the whole experience was moving, as Owen described it, she was especially taken by the sisters and how they regarded their foundress.

“When we came back on Monday, the sisters were graveside, praying the Rosary,” she said, noting their “angelic voices.” 

“I’m our cemetery sexton, so this brings that to a deeper meaning for me. I’m behind the scenes at all our funerals, doing the livestream and working with the people the day of,” she continued. “That’s maybe why God called me to experience that.”

 

A Skeptic at Heart

Though describing himself as a fervent Catholic drawn to things like relics and incorruptible bodies — topics which he teaches to teens as a religious-education instructor — Preston Allex, CFO of Relevant Radio, also said he’s “a skeptic at heart” and is holding back on that “super joy” until hearing the Church’s assessment.

But he was intrigued enough to pack up his bustling family on a whim to see the sister’s body. “I just jumped in, hoping this would mean something for the Church,” he said, “and that the experience would inspire my kids to be closer to the faith as they grow up.”

Preston heard that some visitors were crying after being near the body, and he observed many people on their knees. “They were very moved, including some who’d left the Church years before and were feeling called to come back in a significant way,” he said. “It was definitely a spiritual experience.”

He pointed to the biblical story of the hemorrhaging woman who touched Jesus’ garment as significant here. “If she is eventually canonized as a saint, anything that touched her hands or cloak would become a third-class relic.”

Preston was also impressed how, despite the warm temperatures and that the body had been “out” for some time by the time they arrived, there was no foul smell. “There’s no logical reason why she hadn’t decomposed over the last four years — let alone in that basement while we were standing there.”

Whatever people might make of it, he said, “I don’t think something like this can be ignored; I just don’t,” specifying those without faith who might dismiss it outright as a divine sign.

 

Anyone Can Be a Saint

His mother, Patti, of Horace, North Dakota, had been helping with the kids the week prior while he and Kym were traveling and was excited to hear about Sister Wilhelmina. She was, perhaps, the main thrust for the trip, after the family began second-guessing the decision to go.

“I said, ‘I think it would be really awesome!’” Despite trying to depart Saturday evening, the kids were tired from the long day, so the family waited until Sunday. But Patti indicated it was worth the wait, saying that, after her turn being near Sister Wilhelmina’s body, she got back in line a second time.

“We also walked to the gravesite where they dug her up,” she said, explaining some of the background. “They were just going to move her into the church, but the nuns were in shock when they saw her foot [instead of bones].”

“It was amazing,” she said of being near her body. “Her whole habit, everything was intact. And her nails — I kept looking at her nails. They were so perfect!”

God allows these kinds of things, she said, so we can “see with our eyes that this person was really special in life,” increasing our hope in heaven. “There’s something about it that changes how you feel inside about your faith.”

Patti is pleased that the first potential incorruptible saint in America could be African American.

 

Still Unpacking It All

Owen said that as she has shared about the trip, people are intrigued. “This morning, I had a hair appointment with my stylist who is Catholic but had not heard about it,” and she was fascinated by the photos Owen shared.  

Their waitress at an eatery along their route home also was inquisitive, Owen said, asking questions about what this could mean for her father who recently died. 

The experience also has prompted Owen to reflect on losses she has experienced, including a daughter, age 2, 28 years ago, along with her dad, grandfather and, in March 2022, her mother. 

“My mom was fearful of death, and I’d always promised her I’d be there to dress and care for her [body],” she said. “It brought back some of those very beautiful memories — the last ones I had of my mom” before burial, she recalled. 

“Death is part of our life and can be very beautiful,” Owen continued, noting that God entrusts us with our children and to our parents, but doesn’t promise we’ll have them our whole earthly lives. “Ultimately, we’re all God’s children, and that’s who we go back home to. We’re not meant to stay here.”

She also commented on the timing, with the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” in California mocking the Christian faith and religious life in another part of America at this moment. 

“From what I read, her reason for starting this new order at age 70 was because her former order was going away from [tradition],” she said. “Now, we have Sister Wilhelmina in full habit, four years after her passing and that, too, appears to be incorrupt. Is this, in some way, God’s reaction to that [mockery], showing what the devout life really is and that they are brides of Christ?”

Owen is eager to share about her trip with the religious-education students she teaches in the fall.

“It’s so neat to see that God chose Sister Wilhelmina, a Black sister dedicated to the Latin Mass and the habit … to be noticed right now.”

Cagle said he’s waiting to hear more from the Church, and learn more about Sister Wilhelmina, whom he has come to appreciate as a fellow musician, having listened to the popular, recorded chants she and her sisters produced on his Spotify app on the trip down. 

“I didn’t go for this reason, but it’s also been kind of fun to feel like you’re on the edge of the wave, on the ground,” he added. “I’m not usually on the front of [exciting] things like this.”

This story was updated after posting.