THE BODY OF ST. BERNADETTE DOES NOT DECAY, ACCORDING TO THE FAITHFUL WHO BELIEVE IN THE MIRACLE OF "THE INCORRUPTIBLES" - SEVERAL SAINTS WHOSE BODIES LIE VIRTUALLY UNCHANGED SINCE THE DAY THEY DIED. BERNADETTE WAS BORN IN LOURDES, FRANCE IN 1844. AS A YOUNG GIRL SHE WAS WITNESS TO APPEARANCES OF THE BLESSED MOTHER. SHE LATER JOINED THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF NEVERS AND LIVED IN THE CONVENT UNTIL HER DEATH IN 1879. SINCE HER DEATH, HER BODY WAS EXHUMED THREE TIMES AND EACH TIME WAS SEEN TO BE PERFECTLY PRESERVED. THE LAST TIME IT WAS EXHUMED, IN 1925, THERE WAS A SLIGHT DISCOLORATION ON THE BODY, SO A LIGHT WAX COVERING WAS MADE FOR HER FACE AND HANDS - AND THE BODY WAS NEVER REBURIED. IT REMAINS ON DISPLAY IN THE CHAPEL OF THE CONVENT OF ST. GILDARD AT NEVERS. SEVERAL OTHER SAINTS BELONG TO THIS GROUP OF INCORRUPTIBLES AND WHOSE BODIES ARE ON DISPLAY FOR PUBLIC VIEW, INCLUDING ST. JOHN VIANNEY, ST. CATHARINE LABOURE, ST. VINCENT DEPAUL, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, ST. CLAIR OF ASSISI AND A FEW OTHERS.