It was Pope Benedict XIV who, in his work written in 1758, De Beatificatione et Canonizatione, defined this phenomenon now known as the Odor of Sanctity.
The primary consideration regarding this phenomenon is that the odor must be both sweet and persistent, and there can be no other rational explanation as to another source from which it may be coming.
Despite this definition of the miraculous phenomenon, the perfumed scents of the saints were mentioned all the way back to the early church.
Blessed Mary of Oignies
Married against her wishes at the age of 14, Blessed Mary of Oignies was able to obtain the consent of her husband to live a celibate life and she set out to take care of lepers in her own home, a calling which her husband gave her great assistance.
It was a priest who had discovered his vocation to be such through the example of Blessed Mary of Oignies who wrote about this phenomenon in her:
“When the frost was so severe as to turn all the water into ice, she gave off a warmth so that sometimes she even perspired, and her clothes were scented with a sweet aromatic fragrance. Oftentimes also the smell of her clothes was like the smell of incense, whilc prayers were ascending from the thurible of her heart.”
St. Teresa of Avila
Having experienced many miraculous phenomenon, it is no surprise that St. Teresa of Avila – the First Female Doctor of the Church – also was known to be surrounded in a very pleasing fragrance and aroma throughout her life.
But St. Teresa of Avila was actually more interested in one of her contemporaries at the time, Catalina De Cardona, a Spanish Ascetic, who instigated so many reports of emanating such a powerful perfume that she was unable to protect herself from the crowds who swarmed to see her and to smell it.
In order to escape those crowds, Catalina would cut off pieces of her habit and give it to them so they would allow her through. St. Teresa of Avila witnessed and spoke of many other witnesses who said the smell of perfume upon her was so profound that it permeated everything she wore and her cincture, as well.
Others who Bore the Odor of Sanctity
Others who historically were known to emit such perfumes and incenses included St. Benedict, St. Valery, St. Hermann, Blessed Ida of Louvain, St. Lydwin of Schiedam, Blessed John Baptist da Fabriano, Ven. Dominica of Paradiso, St. Catherine Dei Ricci, St. Joseph of Cupertino, Ven. Joan Marie of the Cross of Rovereto, Blessed Mary of the Angels, St. Veronica Giuliani, St. Gerard Majella, St. Paul of the Cross, St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds, St. Anthony Mary Claret, Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified, Father Paul of Moll, Ven. Marie Celine of the Presentation and St. Padre Pio.
Related Reading
Readers may also enjoy learning about Levitation and Transverberation.
Sources:
- Mysteries, Marvels and Miracles: In the Lives of the Saints, By Joan Carroll Cruz
