# Earth of the Holy Land

*Blessings (*eulogiae*) of the holy places*

**Known today as.** Earth, stones, water, and oil brought back by pilgrims from the holy places of Palestine.

Kind: Sacramental

## What was it used for?

Kept and worn as protection and applied as a remedy; oil from the lamps of the holy sites was carried in small stamped flasks.

## What does modern science say?

Pilgrims still bring back soil, water, and stones.

## What lore surrounds it?

The sixth-century flasks of Monza, sent to the Lombard queen Theodelinda, held oil from the lamps of the holy places of Jerusalem, and are among the earliest surviving pilgrim souvenirs.

## What did the older authorities say?

**The Catholic Encyclopedia.** The Catholic Encyclopedia quotes St. Gregory of Nyssa that at a martyr's tomb “the dust is accounted as a great gift and the mould as a precious treasure,” and dates pilgrimage to the Holy Land from Bishop Alexander, who in 217 “performed a journey from Cappadocia to Jerusalem in consequence of a vow and the celebrity of the place.” It balances this with St. Jerome's warning to Paulinus “that it is not the fact of living in Jerusalem, but of living there well, that is worthy of praise,” and his line that the court of heaven lies equally open from Jerusalem and from Britain, and St. Augustine's paradox “that not by journeying but by loving we draw nigh unto God.”

## Sources

- Spencer, B. (1998). *Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges*. London: Museum of London.
- *The Catholic Encyclopedia* (New York, 1907–1914), “Relics.” newadvent.org/cathen/12734a.htm
- *The Catholic Encyclopedia* (New York, 1907–1914), “Pilgrimages.” newadvent.org/cathen/12085a.htm

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*Earth of the Holy Land.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/holy-land-earth

Historical description, not medical advice.