Article Published

Article_Chrism: �A sign of God choosing someone as his own�

Feature News | Monday, March 23, 2015

Chrism: ‘A sign of God choosing someone as his own'

A look at the tradition, preparation of holy oils blessed each year at chrism Mass

Archbishop Thomas Wenski pours balsam - which will add a perfumed aroma - into the oil of chrism.

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Archbishop Thomas Wenski pours balsam - which will add a perfumed aroma - into the oil of chrism.

MIAMI | Some of the Church’s most ancient traditions come to life during Holy Week and the Easter triduum, beginning with the preparation, blessing and distribution of oils which are central to the Catholic Church’s sacraments and rituals.

On the first week of April this year, from Jerusalem to Rome to parishes around the world, the pope and local bishops will partake in the annual custom of preparing and distributing the holy oils. This is done during the chrism Mass, usually held on or before Holy Thursday at the local cathedral, with the bishop gathered with his priests.

The holy oils - of catechumens, chrism and the sick - rest on a table in the sanctuary of the cathedral at the start of the 2014 chrism Mass.

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

The holy oils - of catechumens, chrism and the sick - rest on a table in the sanctuary of the cathedral at the start of the 2014 chrism Mass.

The oils include the oil of the sick, used in the anointing of the sick; the oil of catechumens, for those preparing to be baptized; and the oil of chrism — from which the Mass takes its name. This oil is consecrated and used for baptism, confirmation and holy orders.

Third century writer and saint, Hippolytus of Rome, described the blessing of the oils and how they were used in the early Church; later descriptions are found in the seventh and eighth centuries in the"Gelasian Sacramentary," which among other items described early liturgical practices, prayers, rites and blessings of the Easter font, as well as of the oil and prayers used at church dedications.

Even before that, the Old and New Testaments refer to “anointings,” suggesting the importance of holy oil in ancient and Biblical cultures.  

“First of all, you have the olive tree which was plentiful around Jerusalem and all of the Middle East,” said Msgr. Terence Hogan, dean of the School of Theology and Ministry at St. Thomas University in Miami and an adjunct assistant professor of liturgy at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach.

Olive oil, he said, “has always been used for food, heating and lamps, for healing of wounds and in the scriptures — because of the context — used as a sign of God choosing a person or a people as his own.”

Msgr. Hogan added that since early Christianity, priests and bishops have been anointed during their ordination rites. Throughout history, monarchs also were anointed with blessed oil, “which was even seen in 1953 when Queen Elizabeth II was anointed with oil as a symbol of setting (something or someone) apart for God,” he said.

The chrism Mass is traditionally associated with Holy Thursday, with the blessing of oils taking place at a morning Mass followed by an evening Mass of the Last Supper that recalls Jesus’ institution of the priesthood and Eucharist. The oils are often set out for display in large glass or silver urns during the chrism Mass.

Since the Second Vatican Council, individual bishops have had the option of moving the chrism Mass to a date more conducive to convening all of the clergy of the diocese for their annual renewal of vows.

As in many other dioceses, the chrism Mass in the Archdiocese of Miami is being held before Holy Thursday — on Tuesday, March 31, at 10 a.m. — as a practical matter, so that the clergy can join Archbishop Thomas Wenski at the Mass and then attend to their own parishes once the Easter triduum begins.

The triduum encompasses the rites and celebrations of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday.

The preparation and distribution of the oils to the local parishes varies slightly from place to place, with the elemental oils and other ingredients purchased locally, through monasteries and convents, or even ordered online.

Virgin olive oil is used for the oil of the sick and oil of catechumens.

“The oil of chrism is distinct in that it is mixed with a resin, balsam, giving it a sweet perfumed fragrance, after which the oil is consecrated by the bishop,” Msgr. Hogan said.

“We say it is ‘consecrated’ because it is used to truly set apart a person, a bishop or priest when they are ordained. It sets apart a person who is baptized and later it is used in the sacrament of confirmation. The bishop literally breathes upon that oil as a visible sign of the Holy Spirit coming down on the chrism oil,” Msgr. Hogan added.

Some dioceses prepare the individual bottles of holy oils well in advance of distribution, others during or after the chrism Mass. In Miami this year the oils will be poured into smaller vessels by candidates to the diaconate immediately following the Mass. They will be readied for collection that same day, according to Father Richard Vigoa, director of the Office of Worship and priest-secretary to the archbishop.

“In years past, pastors brought in their old stocks to the cathedral center to be filled after the chrism Mass during lunch,” Father Vigoa said. “This year for the first time here, we asked them not to bring in their oil stocks so we will have boxes ready with the oils and after lunch they will pick up the boxes.”

Deacons often transport the oils back to individual parishes for a Rite of Reception, where the oils are housed and displayed in the church for members to see following the chrism Mass.

Because chrism is created fresh each year, any leftover oils are buried or burned, with some cathedral churches opting to burn them in the annual Easter Vigil fire.

In that same spirit of renewal, the chrism Mass is typically the largest annual gathering of clergy in any diocese, and a time when the local bishop encourages the clergy to persevere in their calling.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis is scheduled to preside at the chrism Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Holy Thursday morning, along with cardinals and other clergy from Rome. In keeping with his practice both in Buenos Aires and since becoming pope, he will then celebrate the Mass of the Last Supper that evening at Rome’s main prison, Rebibbia, with inmates from there and from a nearby women’s facility taking part.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski blows on the oil of chrism to consecrate it at last year's chrism Mass.

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Archbishop Thomas Wenski blows on the oil of chrism to consecrate it at last year's chrism Mass.


Powered by Parish Mate | E-system

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply