Have Santa’s bones been leaking liquid for 1,700 years?

Claim:

The bones of St. Nicholas, the inspiration behind Santa Claus, have been leaking liquid for 1,700 years.

Rating:

What’s True

Worshippers began collecting a mysterious liquid coming from St. Nicholas’ tomb shortly after his death in the mid-300s, or about 1,700 years ago.

What’s Undetermined

It is more accurate to say the liquid comes from the tomb of St. Nicholas and not his bones directly, as it is unclear what, exactly, is leaking in the tomb. Given that scientists determined the liquid was water, it may be condensation from the tomb.

During the 2025 Christmas season, social media users circulated a claim that might seem better suited to Halloween: The bones of St. Nicholas — the inspiration for Santa Claus — have supposedly been leaking a “clear, water-like liquid” for 1,700 years.

The rumor spread on Reddit, X and Facebook.

Such posts about St. Nicholas’ seeping skeleton have spread online for years.

St. Nicholas’ tomb has, in fact, produced a liquid substance since his death in the mid-300s — about 1,700 years ago — according to several experts and historical reports. Contrary to the claim, however, it would be more accurate to say that the liquid comes from the tomb, not the jolly old man’s bones, as we do not have definitive proof of what, exactly, in the tomb is producing the substance.

As such, we have rated this claim a mixture of truth and undetermined information.

Pilgrims began collecting the liquid shortly after the saint’s death and believed the “manna” had healing powers. In 1925, scientists at the University of Bari conducted a chemical analysis and determined St. Nicholas’ healing “oil” was actually water, according to the Pontifical Basilica San Nicola in Bari, Italy, the site of St. Nicholas’ tomb. Most likely, the “manna” is simply condensation forming in the rock tomb, said Adam English, religious historian and author of “The Saint Who Would be Santa Claus.”

Members of the clergy formally extract the “manna” in an annual ceremony on May 9 during the Festival of the Translation of the Relics in the presence of Catholic and Orthodox representatives. The manna is then mixed with holy water and given to believers who request it, according to the Rev. Gerardo Cioffari, director of the research center at the Pontifical Basilica San Nicola.

Here’s a 2010 video of the ceremony (extraction of manna starts at 4:16):

English told Snopes via email that the liquid substance from St. Nicholas’ tomb has also been called myrrh, balm or ointment throughout history.

One thing worth noting: While the location of St. Nicholas’ bones is widely accepted to be Bari, Italy, where they ended up after sailors reportedly stole the bones — supposedly to protect them — from Myra, located in modern-day Turkey, there are disputed claims that the saint’s remains lie in Turkey, Ireland and Venice, Italy. (Venice also possesses some of the smaller bones, English said, but he’s seen no reports that those bones leak.)

Historical accounts of St. Nicholas’ manna 

Michael the Archimandrite, who penned what is believed to be the earliest surviving biography of St. Nicholas, reported that “straightaway” after the saint’s death, the tomb “gushed forth a sweet-smelling perfume, turning away all adverse and destructive power, but providing a saving remedy that wards off evil for the glory of the one who glorified him, Christ, our true God.”

Michael wrote his biography in the early eighth century, according to Carol Myers. (Myers does not have an academic position studying St. Nicholas, but she runs the St. Nicholas Center website, which English called “very well-respected and professionally produced.” Cioffari said her site is a valuable resource.) Michael’s account was based on earlier documents that have not survived, Myers said.

English’s book, from which he shared excerpts with Snopes, described how believers used the manna:

Pilgrims thronged to the sanctuary like bees to nectar; they paid homage and collected vials of ointment for loved ones who were sick. The myrrh of Myra was swallowed, rubbed on injuries, sprinkled on the tops of heads, and treasured as a precious relic. It had beneficial effects on those unable to walk or see or hear or speak, as well as those who were plagued by demons. While Roman Catholics preferred it mixed in pure water, Orthodox Russians added it to anointing oil. The liquid was also referred to by pious pilgrims as manna—the name of the flaky white substance that miraculously fed the Israelites in the desert (Exod 16:31, Num 11:7-8).

Numerous ancient Greek texts corroborating the alleged miracle and its healing powers are available in Italian from the Basilica Pontifica San Nicola and translated into English on the St. Nicholas Center website. English’s book also included an “ancient Greek hymn” that praised St. Nicholas’ manna:

Your sacred body rests in holiness in Myra,

Emanating fragrant myrrh in perpetuity.

It is sprinkled on those who approach

In order to drive out the ugly stench of the passions, O Nicholas,

And to put to flight the host of demons.

When sailors brought the bones from Myra to Bari in 1087, a monk named Nicephorus wrote of “holy liquid” found in the coffin with St. Nicholas:

When the tomb was open, he found the whole coffin full of holy liquid up to the umbilicus of the saintly body. Both of the priests, who had ordered the smashing, and some of the sailors and others of the company who had taken part in the action, were standing there. Immediately such a wave of delightful perfume arose that everyone thought himself to be standing in God’s paradise. This scent not only permeated the sanctuary where they were, but it was borne on the breezes that played round about the way to the sea, nearly three miles away, to the other company, As they breathed it in, each was at once overwhelmed with joy, knowing that the holy confessor of Christ had consented to join their company.

Where does the manna come from? What is it? 

While numerous scientific theories have been posited, “this phenomenon is not easily explainable,” according to the Catholic Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominican Order (the same text also appears on the website of the St. Nicholas Center). 

“It is absolutely excluded that there is some kind of infiltration of water from the outside for it has been proven that the casket containing the bones of the Saint is impermeable,” the text said. 

The 1925 lab report from the Bari scientists who determined the manna was water also concluded that the water didn’t come from outside the tomb. The scientists said the water was “almost pure” and that based on the results, must be “formed and collected under conditions that exclude any contamination from surface water” (see the original Italian text from the Pontifical Basilica of Saint Nicholas here). 

While English said it would be more accurate to say the liquid seeps from the tomb of St. Nicholas — and not his bones — given the lack of definitive proof about where the liquid comes from, according to the Dominican Order the bones appeared to produce liquid when they were exhumed in the 1950s: 

Between 1954 and 1957, the authenticity that this liquid truly came from the bones of the Saint, as was commonly held, was put into question. In 1954, because of the renovation being done in the crypt, the tomb was opened and the bones were exhumed. Then they were placed inside an urn, where it remained exposed to the public to see and venerate for three years in the hall of the treasures (of the Saint in the Basilica). Sometimes it was observed that the bones “perspired” a certain kind of fluid; one time the linen sheet which held the relics was found to be soaking wet when the mortal remains of St. Nicholas were re-interred in the tomb. This linen cloth has been preserved up to this day.

Regardless, Cioffari said, the manna “has been in contact with the Saint.”

In sum …

The tomb widely believed to hold the remains of the man who inspired Santa Claus in Bari, Italy, has, indeed, been leaking liquid for 1,700 years, according to numerous historical records. Ancient worshippers believed the substance from St. Nicholas’ tomb was a gift from God, empowered with holy and healing properties, and that it came straight from the skeleton — but there’s no definitive, scientific proof of that. Scientists in 1925 determined St. Nicholas’ so-called “manna” was mostly water, and that it did not come from outside of the tomb.

Snopes reporter Jack Izzo contributed to this report.