Historical ArticleThe heart of Blessed Anne-Madeleine Remuzat: a biomedical approach of “miraculous” heart conservation
Introduction
In the context of the canonization process deposed to the Vatican (Congregation for Saints Purposes), we have been asked by the Archbishopric of Marseille (France) to perform the global scientific examination of the mummified heart of the Blessed Anne-Madeleine Remuzat (AMR) kept in the basilica of Sacred Heart.
Born in Marseille on November 29, 1696, Anne-Madeleine Remuzat asked her parents to be allowed to enter the convent of the Visitation at only 9 years old: the request was granted. In 1708 she began to experience severe sufferings, which she bore patiently during her whole life. In 1709 her parents withdrew her, but in 1711 she re-entered the convent and in 1713, made her profession. At this time she devoted herself to prayer, and the Spiritual Retreat she wrote then is a proof of her progress in the contemplative life. On the 17th of October 1713, she experienced a «particular and extraordinary» revelation of Jesus «concerning the glory of his Sacred Heart». As her sanctity grew famous, Anne-Madeleine was consulted by many people, and was thus the mean of a spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart. Her influence convinced Mgr de Belsunce to establish the Association of Perpetual Adoration of the Sacred Heart in Marseille, an association of which she wrote the statutes. As Jansenism and a spirit of moral laxity had invaded the town by then, Anne-Madeleine suffered keenly, and in reparation inflicted on her body continual mortifications. When her superiors forbade these austerities, she begged God to mortify her himself and from that day she went into a painful decline. In 1720, during the plague in Marseille, God enjoined her to institute a feast in the honor of the Sacred Heart, which was established on the same year. She died on the 15th of February 1730. Since 1722, the veneration of the Sacred Heart had spread throughout the French Provence, Lyon, Rouen, Constantinople, Cairo, Spain, Louisiana, Persia, Syria, and the Indies by her endeavors. In 1888, her cause was submitted to the Sacred Congregation, whose favorable vote was given on the 18th of December 1890. Leo XIII signed on the 24th of December 1891, the introduction of the cause of the Venerable servant of God [1], [2].
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Material and methods
The reliquary was opened on December 15, 2011. Before any gross examination, just after its opening, five SPME (Solid Phase Micro-Extraction) captors have been introduced inside of the reliquary in close contact with the heart, and left for 15 minutes, then taken off and enclosed for further molecular analyses (Fig. 1).
The heart was then extracted from the reliquary, and supported macroscopic examination and further complementary analyses:
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A multi-detector row computed tomography (General
Macroscopic examination
The heart weights 55 g and measures 8.2 cm of full vertical diameter (anatomical vertical diameter, from the basis of the aorta to the apex, being 6.2 cm), and 5.4 cm of maximal horizontal diameter (just below the basis of the aorta) (Fig. 2). It is of human morphology and constitutes a complete heart accompanied by a fragment of thoracic aorta of 1.2 cm long and 2.4 cm of circumference in anatomical continuity, and flattened. The heart is entirely mummified. The inter-ventricular artery is
Discussion
All the analyses showed that the heart of the Blessed Anne-Madeleine Remuzat has been mummified artificially (i.e. no “conservative miracle”). An anatomical opening, by two longitudinal incisions, in order to extract post-mortem intra-cavity thrombus, was followed by a filling of all four cavities with honey, odoriferous plants and mineral substances (mainly lime mixed with copper, but no mercury). Traces of tin, antimony and mercury are to be interpreted as impurities originating from the
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Funding: All authors report no special from a commercial group or any other entity related to this research.