‘’Heavenly Bodies’’ is a book by Dr. Paul Koudounaris with photographs of literally ‘’Decorated Martyrs’’
#1) St. Pancratius (Wil, Switzlerand) “He wear armor because he was an Early Christian soldier who was martyred. The current suit of armor was made by a silversmith in Augsburg, Germany, in the 18th century. The skeleton was vandalized in the 20th century its skull was stolen, but later returned and placed back in its helmet.”
#2) St. Luciana (Heiligkreuztal, Germany) “One of four full skeletons once owned by the nuns at the convent in Heiligkreuztal. She is no longer displayed in the church, but is kept in a small museum on the property.”
#3) St. Valentinus (Waldsassen, Germany) “One of ten full articulated, jeweled skeletons in the town’s church, which is the largest intact collection in existence.”
#4)St. Munditia (Munich, Germany) “Thought to be the patron saint of spinsters, she was boarded up because she was seen as too grotesque for modern tastes.”
#5) St. Deodatus (Rheinau, Swizterland) “One of two seated skeletons which arrived late in the 17th century in the town’s monastic church. He shows a rare style of facial decorations, with a wax mask molded over the upper half of the skull, and a cloth wrap over the lower half, with a cut away to reveal the teeth.”
#6) Konrad II (Mondsee, Austria) “He is the only one in this group that was not believed to be an Early Christian martyr. A medieval abbot of the town’s monastery, he was so famed that when the fad for decorating skeletons became popularized, his bones were exhumed and decorated in the same style in order to give him prominence.”
#7) St. Konstantious (Rorschach, Switzerland) “One of the finest decorated skeletons in Switzerland, he has been present in the church since the 17th century, but is now hidden behind a painted cover.”
#8) Head relic of St. Deodatus (Roggenburg, Germany) “In some cases, not enough of the original skeleton was found to enable the decorators to articulate the entire body. That was apparently the case here, and a wax face and mesh veil were fashioned over the skull.”
#9) St. Leontius (Muri, Switzerland) “One of the most famous of the jeweled skeletons, he was a popular healing saint, and his relic was said to even have the power to raise dead children.”
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