parresia

Chrismation

The Mystery of Chrismation

This Sunday, December 22nd, my fiance and I are going to be Chrismated into the Orthodox faith. The following explanation of Chrismation may be helpful for those of you not familiar with this ancient practice

The following is found on the title page of the Chrismation service booklet used by St. Paul's.

The mystery or sacrament of chrismation is anchored in the events of Jesus' baptism (Matthew 3:13-17) and the outpourning of the Spirit on the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). There is both an intrinsic unity and a very real distinction between the mysteries of baptism and chrismation. Chrismation is not so much a second sacrament as it is the fulfillment of baptism. If baptism is our personal participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, chrismation is our personal participation in Pentecost, making us partakers of the Spirit. Just as Pascha without Pentecost is incomplete, so baptism without chrismation is incomplete.

Chrismation causes a mysterious, new and hidden life to flow in us. This anointing imparts to us the energies and gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2-3; Galatians 5:22). Chrismation is called "the seal" and as each catechumen is anointed with chrism the priest proclaims, "the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit!" to which the congregation responds "Amen!" The neophyte receives the Holy Spirit as the source, pledge and seal of unending life. Anointed with the oils of chrism, we are marked forever as sheep of Christ's flock. We belong to Him and to His body, the Church. In the Orthodox Church, the sacrament of chrismation is always done together with baptism. However, over the centuries, the oil of chrism has also been used as a sacrament of reconcilliation. People who come to the fullness of Orthodoxy from other Christian groups that confess a trinitarian faith-- Roman Catholic and Protestant-- are normally received into the Church through this sacramental anointing.

The chrism that is used for anointing is a mixture of olive oil, balsam, wine and some 40 aromatic substances, symbolizing the fullness of grace, the sweetness of the yoke of Christ and the many and diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit. This oil of chrism is also sometimes called myron or myrrh.

By ancient custom, the responsibility for preparing and consecrating the oil of chrism belongs to the bishops of the Church as a symbol that the Holy Spirit was originally given through the apostles of Christ and their successors, the bishops. In our case, the oil of chrism is prepared and consecrated on Great and Holy Thursday by the bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople.

After chrismation, the newly sealed Orthodox Christian is tonsured. The tonsure, which is the cutting of hair from the head, is the sign that the whole person is offered to God, hair being a symbol of strength in the Scriptures (Judges 16:17).