Dust from the grave of St Chad of Mercia as medicine according to Bede the Venerable

To cure an ailment, take a little water and mix it with plain...

...grave dust.

Bede the Venerable writes of Saint Chad, Chad of Mercia, a bishop who lived in the seventh century and was canonised soon after his death, that dust from his grave was held to be miraculous for the healing of various ailments, in animals as well as in people. A pinch of earth from the grave was mixed with water and taken as medicine. Chad, who died during an epidemic of plague, came to be greatly venerated after several reports of miracles at his burial place, and hundreds of people began to flock to his grave to be cured. Not long ago in Lichfield, where the relics of Saint Chad had rested, a mass burial of seventh-century pilgrims was discovered, who had come, in all likelihood, to his remains in search of healing.