8 Miraculous Mysteries With Ridiculously Simple Explanations

1. The Odour Of Sanctity

Revered figures from all kinds of traditions, from Christian saints and Buddhist monks, are sometimes said to have a quality of "incorruptibility". This isn't that they're morally incorruptible, but physically incorruptible, meaning that their bodies don't do anything so gross and earthly a decompose when they die.

So far, so creepy, but one of the weirdest things sometimes associated with an incorruptible, is something called the odour of sanctity, a particular tradition of Catholicism. This is described as a pleasant, even sweet, aroma that the saintly give off after they die, as opposed to the usual rotting-flesh odours, and went a long way to ensuring canonization.

Saint Teresa of Ávila is said to have filled the monastery with heavenly scents after death, Saint Thérèse de Lisieux gave off a powerful smell of roses and Padre Pio's stigmata allegedly gave off a floral scent.

Weird right? Well the explanation for the phenomenon could actually lie in the lifestyle of the devout. Theories suggest that the smell is actually caused by acetone (that's the stuff in nail polish remover that smells like pear drops) in the blood caused by ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state that is brought about by starvation diets and fasting, which is a common holy practice and often even the cause of death.

Slightly less miraculous.

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