"According to tradition, as the Virgin Mary was nursing the infant Jesus, a drop of milk fell onto the grotto's stone, transforming it into a bright white hue. This event, interpreted as a sign of purity and fertility, turned the grotto into a pilgrimage site for women seeking blessings for conception or motherhood."
"The powder from the Milk Grotto has been regarded as a natural "medicine" with numerous supposed benefits: Enhancing fertility: Women struggling with infertility would consume the powder in hopes of conceiving. Increasing lactation: Many testimonies claim this soil could restore milk flow to nursing mothers and promote abundant lactation. Spiritual protection: Carrying a small amount of the powder or keeping it at home is believed to bring blessings and serenity."
Bethlehem's Milk Grotto yields a chalky white soil traditionally linked to a Marian legend in which a drop of the Virgin Mary's milk whitened the grotto's stone. Pilgrims, especially women seeking conception or maternal blessings, visit the site to obtain the powder and to pray. The chalky powder resembles curdled milk and in some locales similar relics reportedly liquefy on feast days, reinforcing perceptions of the supernatural. The powder has been used as a folk remedy to enhance fertility, increase lactation, and act as spiritual protection. Franciscans distributed small chalk fragments for dissolution in water combined with prayer as a healing ritual.
Read at Medievalists.net
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