hanānā
{{short description|Sacred dust used in Christian ritual}}
{{Italictitle}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{translit|syc|Hanānā}} or {{translit|syc|khnana}}{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/eastsyriandailyo00macluoft|title=East Syrian Daily Offices|author=Maclean, Arthur John|date=1894|location=London|publisher=Rivington, Percival & Co.|page=294|via=Archive.org}} ({{langx|syc|ܚܢܢܐ}}, {{lit|pity|compassion}};{{cite book|title=The Oxford History of Christian Worship|editor-link1=Geoffrey Wainwright|editor-last1=Wainwright|editor-first1=Geoffrey|editor-last2=Westerfield Tucker|editor-first2=Karen B.|isbn=978-0-19-513886-3|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|chapter=The Ancient Oriental Churches|last=Chaillot|first=Christine|page=165}} {{langx|la|pulvis}}, {{lang|la|ex exuviis}}) is dust collected from the burial site of a Christian saint or martyr for veneration or consumption. In the East Syriac Rite liturgies of Nestorian Christianity and successor denominations such as the Assyrian Church of the East, {{translit|syc|hanānā}} is used in both the anointing of the sick and Mystery of Crowning. Among Assyrian, Ethiopian, and early Latin Christians, the dust of holy persons was associated with healing powers.
East Syriac use
In East Syriac Rite Christian practice descending from Nestorian Christianity, {{translit|syc|hanānā}} is made by collecting dust from the tomb of a martyr, mixing it with water, oil, and the dust of the tomb of Thomas the Apostle. The {{translit|syc|hanānā}} would be applied to sick persons in an act referred to as the "mercy of St. Thomas". The {{translit|syc|hanānā}} is mixed with water and wine and drunk by a new couple before the Mystery of Crowning as both a blessing of forgiveness as a signifier of the couple becoming one body in a kind of union ({{translit|syc|shawtaputa}}) or communion akin to the Eucharist.{{cite book|url=https://www.malankaralibrary.com/ImageUpload/8cbe709334d186a0f272183699f0a27f.pdf|title=East Syriac Theology: An Introduction|chapter=Theology of 'Rāzē: The Mysteries of the Church in the East Syriac Tradition|first=Jose|last=Kochuparampil|editor-first=Pauly|editor-last=Maniyattu|publisher=Ephrem's Publications|date=2007|location=MP, India|page=264, 267|access-date=4 October 2022|via=Malankara Library}}{{cite web|url=https://bethkokheh.assyrianchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Commentary-on-the-Rite-of-Marriage.pdf|title=The Structure Commentary on the Rite of Marriage in the Assyrian Church of East|first=William|last=Toma|work=Church of Beth Kokheh Journal|page=18|access-date=5 October 2022}} Marco Polo and Giovanni de' Marignolli observed and documented the practice of using dust from Thomas's tomb during their travels. The practice has been compared to a documented Buddhist practice of curing headaches with dust from the gravesite of Mahākāśyapa.{{cite book|url=http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/III-2-F-c-30/V-2/page-hr/0412.html.en|title=The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East|author=Yule, Henry|location=London|publisher=John Murray|date=1903|volume=2|page=356|via=National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project, Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books}}
Elsewhere
Gregory of Tours, a 6th-century Bishop of Tours, would describe several bishops that died as martyrs in his Glory of the Martyrs and describe the {{lang|la|pulvis}} ('dust') from their graves as granting healing to faithful who collected it.{{cite journal|url=http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00570|title=Gregory of Tours, Glory of the Martyrs 49|journal=Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity|first=Marta|last=Tycner|publisher=University of Oxford, University of Warsaw, University of Reading, European Research Council|access-date=4 October 2022}} Gregory also declared that the dust of the Basilica of St. Martin was capable of healing.{{cite journal|url=http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E02917|title=Gregory of Tours, Miracles of Martin (Libri de virtutibus sancti Martini episcopi) 1.27|first=Katarzyna|last=Wojtalik|journal=Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity|publisher=University of Oxford, University of Warsaw, University of Reading, European Research Council|access-date=5 October 2022}} Ethiopian Orthodox faithful would mirror Nestorian practice, replacing dust associated with Thomas with that from a local saint, Tekle Haymanot.
Within the Catholic Church, classification of relics delineate several types of dust associated with saints. Among these are {{lang|la|ex exuviis}} and {{lang|la|de pulvere corporis}}, both the ash or dust left over from a body's decomposition, and {{lang|la|ex ligneo pulvere, mixto pulveri corporis, quem residuum continebat prima capsa funeralis}}, dust from the first coffin which had been impregnated with the products of decomposition.{{cite web|url=https://pghshrines.org/relic-descriptions|title=Relic Descriptions|publisher=Shrines of Pittsburgh|location=Pittsburgh, PA|access-date=5 October 2022}}
See also
- Aër
- Holy Qurbono
- Insufflation
- Veneration of the dead
- {{translit|grc|Sthathicon}}
References
{{reflist}}
Category:Assyrian Church of the East
Category:Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
Category:Veneration of the dead
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