[A Thanksgiving Concerning the Anointing with the Mystical Oil.]
XLII. Now this is blessed by the high priest for the remission of sins, and the first preparation for baptism. For he calls thus upon the unbegotten God, the Father of Christ, the King of all sensible and intelligible natures, that He would sanctify the oil in the name of the Lord Jesus, and impart to it spiritual grace and efficacious strength, the remission of sins, and the first preparation for the confession of baptism, that so the candidate for baptism, when he is anointed may be freed from all ungodliness, and may become worthy of initiation, according to the command of the Only-begotten.
[42] Καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ταύτην κατ' ἀκολουθίαν ἔρχεται καὶ εἰς τὴν τοῦ ἐλαίου χρῖσιν. Εὐλογεῖται δὲ τοῦτο παρὰ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ προκατασκευὴν τοῦ βαπτίσματος. Ἐπικαλεῖται γὰρ οὗτος τὸν ἀγέννητον Θεόν, τὸν Πατέρα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸν βασιλέα πάσης αἰσθητῆς καὶ νοητῆς φύσεως, ἵνα ἁγιάσῃ τὸ ἔλαιον τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ καὶ δώσῃ χάριν πνευματικὴν καὶ δύναμιν ἐνεργητικήν, ἄφεσίν τε ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ προπαρασκευὴν ὁμολογίας βαπτίσματος, ὥστε τὸν χριόμενον ἀπολυθέντα πάσης ἀσεβείας ἄξιον γενέσθαι τῆς μυήσεως κατ' ἐντολὴν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς.