Walburgis oil
The Walburgisöl is a liquid composed of the sarcophagus of St. Walburga in Eichstätt emerges and is used in the population as a remedy.
history
The so-called oil flow has appeared as a public miracle since 1042 . It lasted through all the following centuries, namely every year from October 12, the day when Walburga's bones were transferred, to February 25, the day she died.
The so-called Walburgis oil is a clear, colorless, tasteless and odorless liquid that forms drop-like under the coffin stone. Because of the slow flowing down in thick drops, it has always been compared to oil and therefore called Walburgis oil. The coffin in which the bones of St. Walburga rest is made of white-gray limestone like the one that is quarried near Eichstätt. It rests with both ends on stone blocks and thus forms a small cavity, the upper ceiling of which is the bottom of the coffin . The dripping oil is collected through silver channels in gold-plated bowls.
The nuns of St. Walburg Abbey traditionally fill it into small glass bottles. A number of miraculous healings over nine centuries are said to testify to the supposedly supernatural origin of Walburgi oil. The belief in the miraculous activity of oil quickly spread among the people and became known far beyond the borders of Eichstätt.
To this day, it can be bought in bottles at the monastery gate for a donation. Especially on February 25, Walburga's Catholic memorial day, numerous pilgrims flock to the shrine in Eichstätt. Since the 15th century, Walburga has always been depicted with an oil bottle on paintings and statues.
composition
According to a laboratory study by forensic biologist Mark Benecke, the “oil” consists of local tap water. It could also presumably not be ordinary condensate, since the water contains plenty of calcium and magnesium .
Legends about the oil flow
It is also worth mentioning that the Walburgis oil flowed abundantly and at unusual times during joyous events affecting the monastery, while the oil flow allegedly ceased completely on sad occasions. For example, when Eichstätt (under Bishop Friedrich II ) was banned from church . Only after the interdict was lifted and the bishop and people made a joint petition to the St. Walburg Abbey did the flow of oil return.
Another time the oil flowed on June 7th, 1835, at an unusual time because it was the day on which King Ludwig I signed the permit to reopen the monastery after secularization and to accept new novices . However, the certificate did not arrive in Eichstätt until several days later.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mark Benecke : The corpse oil of the Holy Walburga In: Skeptiker 24 (3/2011)
- ↑ http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienW/Walburga.htm www.heiligenlexikon.de
- ↑ http://immaculata.ch/verlag/walburga1.htm www.immaculata.ch
- ↑ Mark Benecke: The holy Walpurgis . In: Mumien in Palermo, Chapter 3. Cologne 2016, Lübbe, pp. 92-102
- ↑ http://immaculata.ch/verlag/walburga1.htm www.immaculata.ch