Oil of Saints

(Manna Oil of Saints), an oily substance, which is said to have 
flowed, or still flows, from the relics or burial places of 
certain saints; sometimes the oil in the lamps that burn before 
their shrines; also the water that flows from the wells near their 
burial places; or the oil and the water which have in some way 
come in contact with their relics. These oils are or have been 
used by the faithful, with the belief that they will cure bodily 
and spiritual ailments, not through any intrinsic power of their 
own, but through the intercession of the saints with whom the oils 
have some connection. In the days of the St. Paulinus of Nola (d. 
431) the custom prevailed of pouring oil over the relics or 
reliquaries of martyrs and then gathering it in vases, sponges, or 
pieces of cloth. This oil, oleum martyris, was distributed among 
the faithful as a remedy against sickness ["Paulini Nolani 
Carmen," XVIII, lines 38-40 and "Carmen," XXI, lines 590-600, in 
"Corpus Script. Eccl. Latinorum" (Vienna, 1866 sq.), XXX, 98, 
177]. According to the testimony of Paulinus of Petrigeux (wrote 
about 470) in Gaul this custom was extended also to the relics of 
saints that did not die as martyrs, especially to the relics of