Blessed herbs

Statema, B. C. P.

Sacramental

Blessed herbs

Erbe benedette

Known today as: Herbs blessed by the Church, especially on the feast of the Assumption (15 August).
Kind: Sacramental
Constituents: hypericin, thujone, carvone
In the Canale glossary: On the Manner of Discerning and Healing the Bewitched, Appendix A: Treatise Two: Blessed Objects and Materials

Blessed herbs: what did Canale use it for?

Allowed in gathering and use “if we use, along with the herbs, the divine Symbol or the Lord’s Prayer” (Treatise Two; note LXXIV).

Blessed herbs: what does modern science say?

The Assumption blessing of herbs (Kräuterweihe) is still practiced in Bavaria and Austria.

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

hypericin ChEMBLin the St John’s wort of the oil
thujone ChEMBLin the sage
carvone ChEMBLin the dill

Mechanism

The blessing is a form of words over herbs that have their own entries; the pharmacology is theirs and is unchanged by the words, which is what the Church itself holds in distinguishing sacramentals from medicines.

Toxic dose

See the several herbs.

Standing

A rite, not a drug; the clinical reading on amulets and placebo takes up what the blessing adds.

Canale, F. (1622). Discerning and Healing the Bewitched, Treatise Two. Primary text

Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.

In Their Own Words

The Catholic Encyclopedia's article on blessings says that herbs and grasses, with the other fruits of the earth, may be sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

“The fruits of the earth, such as grapes, corn, and the garnered harvest, seeds that are put into the earth, wine and the vintage, herbs and grasses may all in a fitting and appropriate language be "sanctified by the word of God and prayer".”

Patrick Morrisroe, The Catholic Encyclopedia, “Blessing”, “Blessing”, (b) articles of food. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907 (New Advent transcription). The text, read in full

Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.

Sources

[39] Erzbistum München und Freising (2026). Gottesdienste und Kräutersegnungen zu Mariä Himmelfahrt (press release), 7 August 2026. Book, seen in reviews
[105] religion.ORF.at (2026). Letztes katholisches Dogma: Mariä Himmelfahrt, 14 August 2026. Book, seen in reviews
[120] Weller, P. T. (trans.) (1964). The Roman Ritual, Part XI: Blessings and Other Sacramentals. EWTN Library, ewtn.com. Primary text

Verification

Checked

October 1, 2026

Passes

Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database

Sources

4 cited: 2 primary text, 2 book, seen in reviews.

Corrections

None were needed.

What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.

Cite This Entry

Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026

Chicago: “Blessed herbs.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 25, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/blessed-herbs.
MLA: “Blessed herbs.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 25 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/blessed-herbs. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Blessed herbs. (2026, September 25). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/blessed-herbs

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