Holy Oil

 

Anointing with Holy Oil is a centuries-old custom: recall that in the Old Testament ‘Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon with oil’ at his coronation, a practice continued in our day when King Charles was anointed during his coronation service in 2023.

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In the tabernacle above the altar in the Lady Chapel you will find three phials of Holy Oil, each with a specific function in the life of the church: all three are blessed by the bishop at the Chrism Mass in the cathedral on Maundy Thursday.

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The Oil of the Sick (like the other oils) is of olive oil and is used to bring healing and consolation to the sick. No longer only a feature of the Last Rites given to the dying, anointing with the Oil of the Sick is now a regular action of Christian life, as witnessed by our monthly service of healing during Sunday Mass.

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The Oil of Catechumens is reserved for the sacrament of Baptism: before the candidate (adult, child, or infant) is baptised with water and the Holy Spirit they are anointed to strengthen them in spirit, and to protect them from evil as they turn to Christ.

The third oil, Chrism, is of olive oil mixed with fragrant balsam and is consecrated rather than simply blessed by the bishop and imparts the strength of Christ to those to be confirmed or ordained deacon or priest. Its solemn consecration also symbolises the authority of, and union with, the diocesan bishop, and through him or her with the universal church catholic.

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The holy act of anointing with oil is a sacrament of the church: recall that a sacrament is not just a pretty ceremony but an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.

 

‘My head Thou dost with oil anoint

And my cup overflows’

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Deacon Douglas MacMillan

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The Collect

 

Lord of all life and power,

Who through the mighty resurrection of your Son

overcame the old order of sin and death

to make all things new in him:

grant that we, being dead to sin

and alive to you in Jesus Christ,

may reign with him in glory;

to whom with you and the Holy Spirit

be praise and honour, glory and might,

now and in all eternity. Amen.