Saint Munditia | |
|---|---|
 Relics of Munditia in St. Peter's Church (Old Peter, Alter Peter), Munich. | |
| Died | ~310 AD? Rome? |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Major shrine | St. Peter's Church, Munich |
| Feast | 17 November[1] |
| Patronage | single, unmarried women[1] |
Saint Munditia (or Mundita) is venerated as a Christian martyr.
Her relics are found in a side altar at St. Peter's Church (known as "Old Peter," Alter Peter) in Munich. They consist of a gilt-covered and gem-studded skeleton, located in a glass case, with false eyes in her skull, which is wrapped in netting. Jewels cover the mouth of the relic's rotten teeth.[2]
The inscription on the stone slab that originally sealed the arcosolium in the catacombs and that is now located below the head of the skeleton reads:
DDM MUNDICIE PROTOGENIE BENEMERENTI QUAE VIXIT ANNOS LX QUAE IBIT IN PACE XV KAL D APC
In devout remembrance of Munditia Protogenia. The commendable. Who lived 60 years. Who passed peacefully into eternity 15 days before the Calends of December APC— Anonymous, Inscription on reliquary[1]
The meaning of "APC" is unclear. The Roman document of authenticity states that it means "ASCIA PLEXA CAPITA" ("beheaded with a hatchet"), describing the manner of her martyrdom.[1] "APC" may also refer to: "ANDRONICO PROBO CONSULIBUS", referring to the fact that she died during the consulate of Andronicus and Probus, thus making her date of death 310 CE.[1]
Her relics were translated to Munich from Rome in 1675 from the catacombs of Cyriaca. They were transferred to her Baroque Era-shrine which was consecrated on September 5, 1677. In 1804, her relics were concealed behind a wooden shrine, but this was removed in 1883, restoring interest in her cult. Her feast day is now celebrated annually with a High Mass and a procession with candles.[3]
Vahni Capildeo's poem, called "Saint Munditia", is found in their collection No Traveller Returns, in which they describe the saint as being "dug up from her burial / a millennium and a third since the flesh fell off her. / She's back in church."[4]
