# St. Walburga’s oil

**Walburgisöl**

**Known today as.** A clear liquid that gathers on the stone slab over the relics of St. Walburga (died 779), the English-born abbess of Heidenheim, in her church at Eichstätt in Bavaria.

Kind: Sacramental

## What was it used for?

Collected by the Benedictine nuns and sent out in small vials to the sick.

## What does modern science say?

The nuns of St. Walburg still collect and distribute it.

## What lore surrounds it?

The “oil” has been gathered for centuries; Walburga’s feast of 1 May gave its name to *Walpurgisnacht*, the witches’ night before it.

## What did the older authorities say?

**The Catholic Encyclopedia.** The Catholic Encyclopedia reports that when Bishop Erchanbold opened the shrine in 893 “the body was first discovered to be immersed in a precious oil or dew, which from that day to this … has continued to flow from the sacred remains, especially the breast,” so that Walburga is “reckoned among the Elaephori, or oil-yielding saints.” The fluid “is caught in a silver cup, placed beneath the slab for that purpose, and is distributed among the faithful in small vials,” and “a chemical analysis has shown that the fluid contains nothing but the ingredients of water. Though the origin of the fluid is probably due to natural causes, the fact that it came in contact with the relics of the saint justifies the practice.” She is represented “in the Benedictine habit with a little phial or bottle.”

## Sources

- *The Catholic Encyclopedia* (New York, 1907–1914), “Walburga, Saint.” newadvent.org/cathen/15526b.htm
- *The Catholic Encyclopedia* (New York, 1907–1914), “Oil of Saints.” newadvent.org/cathen/11228d.htm

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*St. Walburga’s oil.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/st-walburga-oil

Historical description, not medical advice.