Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2009 / Chrism Mass: Holy oils blessed, priests renew their vows
Chrism Mass: Holy oils blessed, priests renew their vows
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 17, 2009
Detroit — Nicholas Langlois will have a special connection to the oil brought to his parish from the chrism Mass.
Langlois, a home-schooled student who attends Sacred Heart of the Hills Parish, Auburn Hills, is set to be confirmed in the Church next month — and as part of that will be anointed with the chrism oil. That oil is one of three oils blessed and distributed at the annual chrism Mass, held each Holy Thursday for all parishes to receive oils used for the sacraments over the following year, and also for priests to renew their priestly promises.
Holy oils
The three holy oils blessed or consecrated at the annual chrism Mass on Holy Thursday morning are:
• Oil of the sick (oleum infirmorum) used for anointing the sick.
• Oil of catechumens (oleum catechumenorum or oleum sanctorum) used for anointing adult catechumens and infants prior to their baptism.
• Oil of chrism (sacrum chrisma) used in connection with the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and holy orders. |
Langlois attended with his sponsor, also the parish's director of religious education, Michael Stach. "This will be an excellent preparation for confirmation, because the oil we take from today's Mass will be used at his confirmation," Stach said.
Main celebrant of the Mass was Archbishop Allen Vigneron, whose first action was to acknowledge that Cardinal Adam Maida, his predecessor, was attending. "We're very grateful to have you here today," he said.
During the Mass, Archbishop Vigneron repeatedly spoke of the Holy Spirit: "His presence, my presence, your presence; these are the results of the Holy Spirit drawing us here," he said. To begin his homily, he read the poem "Come Down, O Love Divine," by fifteenth-century Italian Franciscan friar Bianco da Siena. He said the words, which include "Seek Thou this soul of mine, and visit it with Thine own ardor glowing," "eloquently capture the mission of Christ's Holy Spirit."
"In the world is the mission of the Holy Spirit, to come down in order to make this wounded creation new," he said. The Holy Spirit continues to come down upon people as they make the sacraments, most clearly seen at the Holy Eucharist, when "the Holy Spirit comes down upon our humble gifts of bread and wine" to transform them into the body and blood of Jesus, he said.
"We can understand that in this liturgy the Holy Spirit comes down on the oil to make it a new creation, to reshape it, and to imprint within it the prayer, the very form of the prayer, of our High Priest, Jesus Christ," he said.
The Mass also included Spanish elements. Archbishop Vigneron also acknowledged the role priests play in the blessing of the oils.
Most of those in attendance were to bring the oils back to their parish. Joe Golonka, who teaches the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults at St. Theodore of Canterbury Parish, Westland, couldn't name any one thing he liked most about the Mass, since there are so many elements he enjoys — being in the cathedral, seeing the procession of priests, having a role in people receiving the sacraments.
"I just love this Mass," he said. "I even like getting the oils and bringing them back."
He was attending with fellow parishioner Vicky Brennan, at the chrism Mass for the first time and newly through the RCIA process. "I'm just in awe of the cathedral," she said. "It gives me goose bumps just being here."
Margaret Bernia, worship coordinator and RCIA instructor at St. Mary Parish, St. Clair, said her favorite part is hearing the priests renew their vows. "Each year it brings me to tears," she said of the Mass.
She remembered Archbishop Vigneron's words that the Holy Spirit will bring Jesus to those receiving the sacraments. "It's a special grace to be able to get the oils and bring them back," she said. "It's an honor, and I am humbled by this."
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