Armodoxy for Today: The Chrism

Chrism is a special oil used for anointing. The word Christ comes from the Chrism. Christ means “the anointed one.” Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is Jesus, the anointed one.

Chrism is sometimes referred to as myrrh (as in one of the gifts brought to Baby Jesus by the Wise Men) or in our case, in the Armenian Church, we call it Holy Muiron. It is used in the traditional churches, such as in the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches, to anoint, that is, to seal, much like the “Amen” that finishes our prayers. With it, faith is sealed. While the preparation of Holy Murion differs among the churches, the Armenian Church’s use of symbolism is as unique as is the fact that the Muiron from previous blessings, from the time of Christ, is added to the new batch, thus tying the present community to the eternal group of believers proclaiming a unifying message of love and peace for humankind. At Jesus’ birth, the angels proclaimed, “Peace on Earth and goodwill toward one another” and with each anointing we seal and say Amen to those words as our direction in Faith.

The make up of Muiron is olive oil, balsam and the essence of fragrant flowers, each of which has special meaning and purpose as we will learn.

Muiron is used to consecrate people, objects and sacred spaces. Each of these consecrations is the responsibility of different orders within the Church. For instance a priest may consecrate one who is baptized. A Bishop may consecrate priests for service within the Church and may consecrate buildings and objects for service within the Church. And the Chief Bishop, or Catholicos, has the authority to bless the Holy Muiron as well as consecrate bishops for service within the Church.

The Muiron is consecrated every seven years. Seven is a mystical number within Armodoxy. In the Armenian alphabet the seventh letter “eh” which is the present tense of the verb “to be.” It is the name of God, “He is” who exists in the eternal present. The Catholicos, on being elected and consecrated, may decide to bless Muiron on the first year of his pontificate after which the clock counts up, seven years to the next blessing.

God speaks to us through the Sacraments and especially through the Holy Muiron. He is speaking to you today, and He always has. It is up to us listen, hear, and make the choice to follow or act. The beginning of that action is with an affirmation – and Amen – an anointing.

Tomorrow, we’ll listen and hear how he speaks to us through the Muiron.

Let us pray, Lord our God, according to Your Good Will, fill my heart with Your peace. Cleanse me from all blemishes, guile and hypocrisy, malice and the remembrance of evil. Amen.