Hanānā or khnana ( Syriac: ܚܢܢܐ, lit. "pity" or "compassion"; la, pulvis, ex exuviis) is

dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes ...

collected from the burial site of a Christian

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

for veneration or consumption. In the

East Syriac Rite The East Syriac Rite or East Syrian Rite, also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy ...

liturgies of Nestorian Christianity and successor denominations such as the

Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East,, ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية sometimes called Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,; ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية الرسول� ...

, hanānā is used in both the anointing of the sick and

Mystery of Crowning The Mystery of Crowning is a ritual component of the sacrament of marriage in Eastern Christianity. Variations of the crowning ceremony exist in multiple Ritual family, liturgical rites, including the Byzantine Rite, Byzantine, Coptic Rite, Copti ...

. Among Assyrian,

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

, and early

Latin Christians , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

, the dust of holy persons was associated with healing powers.

East Syriac use

Christian practice descending from Nestorian Christianity, hanānā is made by collecting dust from the tomb of a

, mixing it with water, oil, and the dust of the tomb of

Thomas the Apostle Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...

. The hanānā would be applied to sick persons in an act referred to as the "mercy of St. Thomas." The hanānā is mixed with water and wine and drunk by a new couple before the

as both a blessing of forgiveness as a signifier of the couple becoming one body in a kind of union (''shawtaputa'') communion akin to the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

and

Giovanni de' Marignolli Giovanni de' Marignolli ( la, Johannes Marignola;. ), variously anglicized as John of Marignolli or John of Florence, was a notable 14th-century Catholic European traveller to medieval China and India. Life Early life Giovanni was born, probab ...

observed and documented the practice of using dust from Thomas's tomb during their travels. The practice has been compared to a documented

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

practice of curing headaches with dust from the gravesite of

Mahākāśyapa Mahākāśyapa ( pi, Mahākassapa) was one of the principal disciples of Gautama Buddha. He is regarded in Buddhism as an enlightened disciple, being foremost in ascetic practice. Mahākāśyapa assumed leadership of the monastic community fol ...

Elsewhere

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...

, a 6th-century Bishop of Tours, would describe several

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s that died as martyrs in his ''Glory of the Martyrs'' and describe the ''pulvis'' (dust) from their graves as granting healing to faithful who collected it. Gregory also declared that the dust of the Basilica of St. Martin was capable of healing. Ethiopian Orthodox faithful would mirror Nestorian practice, replacing dust associated with Thomas with that from a local

, Tekle Haymanot. Within the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, classification of

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s delineate several types of dust associated with saints. Among these are ''ex exuviis'' and ''de pulvere corporis'', both the ash or dust left over from a body's decomposition, and ''ex ligneo pulvere, mixto pulveri corporis, quem residuum continebat prima capsa funeralis'', dust from the first

coffin A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...

which had been impregnated with the products of decomposition.

References

{{reflist Assyrian Church of the East Christian relics Dust Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Sacramentals Traditional medicine Veneration of the dead

East Syriac use

Elsewhere

See also

References