Munditia

Munditia is also a genus in the family Turbinidae.

Saint Munditia
Relics of Munditia in St. Peter’s Church (Old Peter, Alter Peter), Munich.
Died	~310 AD? Rome?
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church
Major shrine	St. Peter’s Church, Munich
Feast	17 November[1]
Patronage	single, unmarried women[1]

Saint Munditia (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]

Her relics were translated to Munich from Rome in 1675 from the catacombs of Cyriaca. They were transferred to her Baroque Era-shrine was built on September 5, 1677.

The inscription on the reliquary reads:

DDM MUNDICIE PROTOGENIE BENEMERENTI QUAE VIXIT ANNOS LX QUAE IBIT IN PACE XV KAL D ZUM FROMMEN GEDENKEN AN MUNDITIA PROTOGENIA DIE WOHLVERDIENTE: SIE LEBTE 60 JAHRE UND GING EIN IN DEN FRIEDEN AM 15. TAG VOR DEN KALENDEN DES DEZEMBERS (17. NOVEMBER) – 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 was martyred during the consulate of Andronicus and Probus, thus making her date of death 310 AD.^[1]

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]

Cultural references

Vahni Capildeo's poem, called "Saint Munditia", is found in her collection No Traveller Returns, in which she describes 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]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Die heilige Munditia
2. ^ Peterskirche (St. Peter's Church) | Museum/Attraction Review | Munich | Frommers.com
3. ^ Munditia Protogenia - Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon
4. ^ Vahni Capildeo, No Traveller Returns (Salt Publishing, 2003), 163.

External links

• (German) Die heilige Munditia
• (German) Munditia "Protogenia"

Persondata
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Place of death	Rome?