ossified saints of Europe
I just saw this community highlighted and thought it sounded like a great place to hop in and find eye candy. Only thing is some of the things that fascinate me about religion are some of its more bizarre and one might even say morbid aspects, which is why I'm not 100% certain if this post fits.
I know remembering and venerating the dead appears in many religions, but I've always found Catholics' ways of doing so particularly cool. I am a big fan of ossuaries, including the famous one at Sedlec in the Czech Republic, but what I really love are reliquaries featuring the decorated bones of saints.
One of my faves is this old girl here, Ste. Munditia Protogenia. She "lives" in a small side chapel in Peterskirche in Munich, Germany, although apparently she was found in Rome, and ended her life via decapitation. In her later shelf-life she gained the legend of being a patron saint for single women to pray to in hopes of attracting a spouse, and the day of her main holiday is coming up, November 17th.
I run a fanpage for her and other ossified saints on Facebook, but I am always looking for new (to me, anyway) and as-yet not-as-famous reliquaries to feature on the page; I'd also be interested in pictures and tales by travellers who've seen Mundi or other saints memorialised in this odd way.
I know remembering and venerating the dead appears in many religions, but I've always found Catholics' ways of doing so particularly cool. I am a big fan of ossuaries, including the famous one at Sedlec in the Czech Republic, but what I really love are reliquaries featuring the decorated bones of saints.
One of my faves is this old girl here, Ste. Munditia Protogenia. She "lives" in a small side chapel in Peterskirche in Munich, Germany, although apparently she was found in Rome, and ended her life via decapitation. In her later shelf-life she gained the legend of being a patron saint for single women to pray to in hopes of attracting a spouse, and the day of her main holiday is coming up, November 17th.
I run a fanpage for her and other ossified saints on Facebook, but I am always looking for new (to me, anyway) and as-yet not-as-famous reliquaries to feature on the page; I'd also be interested in pictures and tales by travellers who've seen Mundi or other saints memorialised in this odd way.