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Hi, Father, I remember when I read the brothers karamazov, a few years ago that one of the characters, Alyosha,a novice monk, was disappointed after the saintly elder of the monastery, passed away and his body decomposed naturally and had an awful smell which led to doubts whether he was a saint. I understand it's a work of fiction but does Orthodoxy require in reality that a Saint's body shouldn't decompose and should exude a nice smell?
Answer to Question 485 Not at all, the majority of the saints bodies deteriorated like most peoples bodies, but with some, and they are not many, we see that they did not decompose or rather the skin of the body remained intact. Also others have been known to emit a sweet smelling myron from their bodies like St. Demetrios who has been given the epithet Myrrh-gusher. Not all, but the relics of a great many of the saints also have a perfumed smell. These are signs that God has sanctified their bones, but doesn't mean that if someone's bones do not smell nice then that person is not a saint.
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