Lecture XXI.

(On the Mysteries. III.)

On Chrism.

1 John ii. 20–28

But ye have an unction from the Holy One, &c..…that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

1. Having been  baptized into Christ , and  put on Christ   1  Gal. iii. 27. , ye have been made conformable to the Son of God; for God having  foreordained us unto adoption as sons   2  Eph. i. 5. , made us  to be conformed to the body of Christ’s glory  3  Phil. iii. 21. . Having therefore become  partakers of Christ  4  Heb. iii. 14. , ye are properly called Christs, and of you God said,  Touch not My Christs  5  Ps. cv. 15. , or anointed. Now ye have been made Christs, by receiving the antitype  6  ἀντίτυπον. Cat. xx. 6; xxiii. 20. Twice in this section as in Heb. ix. 24 (ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθινῶν), ἀντίτυπον is the copy or figure representing the original pattern (τύπος, cf. Acts vii. 44). Otherwise (as in Cat. x. 11; xiii. 19; xxii. 3) τύπος is the figure to be subsequently realised in the antitype. of the Holy Ghost; and all things have been wrought in you by imitation  7  εἰκονικῶς .…εἰκόνες τοῦ Χριστοῦ. , because ye are images of Christ. He washed in the river Jordan, and having imparted of the fragrance  8  χρώτων, literally “tinctures.” The Ben. Ed. writes: “For φώτων we have written χρώτων with Codd. Coisl. Ottob. Roe, Casaub., &c…But we must write χρώτων from χρῶτα, not χρῶτων from χρῶτες. Authors use the word χρῶτα to signify the effluence of an odour. So Gregory of Nyssa takes it in his 3rd Homily on the Song of Songs, p. 512; and S. Maximus in Question 37 on Scripture: ‘χρῶτα we say is the godliness (εὐσέβειαν) whereby S. Paul was to the one a savour of life unto life.’…In the Procatechesis, § 15, Cyril calls the waters of Baptism ὑδάτων χριστοφόρων ἐχόντων εὐωδίαν. If however any one prefers the reading φώτων, he may defend himself by the authority of Epiphanius, who in the Exposition of the Faith, c. 15, says that Christ descending into the water gave rather than received,.…illuminating them, and empowering them for a type of what was to be accomplished in Him.” According to the Ebionite Gospel of St. Matthew in Epiphanius (Hær. xxx. Ebionitæ. c. 13), when Jesus came up out of the water a great light shone around the place: a tradition to which the Benedictine Editor thinks the reading φώτων may refer. Justin M. (Dialog. c. lxxxviii.): “When Jesus had stepped into the water, a fire was kindled in the Jordan.” Otto quotes the legend, as found in Orac. Sibyll. vii. 81–83:— ῞Ος σε Λόγον γέννησε Πατήρ Πνεῦμ᾽ ὄρνιν ἄφηκεν, ᾽Οξὺν ἀπαγγελτῆρα λόγων, Λόγον ὕδασιν ἁγνοῖς ῾Ραίνων, σὸν Βάπτισμα δι᾽ οὗ πυρὸς ἐξεφαάνθης . of His Godhead to the waters, He came up from them; and the Holy Ghost in the fulness of His being  9  οὐσιώδης ἐπιφοίησις ἐγένετο. The Benedictine Editor understands this phrase as an allusion to the descent of the Holy Ghost on Jesus in a substantial bodily form. So Gregory Nazianzen (Orat xliv. 17), says that the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles οὐσιωδῶς καὶ σωματικῶς. But Anastasius Sinaita interprets οὐσιωδῶς in this latter passage as meaning “in the essence and reality of His (Divine ) Person:” and this latter sense agreeing with the frequent use of οὐσιωδής by Athanasius is well rendered by Canon Mason (The Relation of Confirmation to Baptism, p. 343, “in the fulness of His being.” lighted on Him, like resting upon like  10  Cf. Greg. Naz. Orat. xxxix: “The Sprit also bears witness to His Godhead, for he comes to that which is like Himself.” . And to you in like manner, after you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams, there was given an Unction  11  Cf. Tertullian, De Baptismo, c. 7: “Exinde egressi de lavacro perungimur benedictâ unctione.” It is clear that the Unction mentioned in these passages was conferred at the same time and place as Baptism. Whether it formed part of that Sacrament, or was regarded by Cyril as a separate and independent rite, has been made a matter of controversy. See Index, “Chrism.” , the anti-type of that wherewith Christ was anointed; and this is the Holy Ghost; of whom also the blessed Esaias, in his prophecy respecting Him, said in the person of the Lord,  The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me: He hath sent Me to preach glad tidings to the poor  12  Is. lxi. 1. .

2. For Christ was not anointed by men with oil or material ointment, but the Father having before appointed Him to be the Saviour of the whole world, anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, as Peter says,  Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Ghost  13  Acts x. 38. . David also the Prophet cried, saying,  Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom; Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God even Thy God hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows   14  Ps. xlv. 6, 7. . And as Christ was in reality crucified, and buried, and raised, and you are in Baptism accounted worthy of being crucified, buried, and raised together with Him in a likeness, so is it with the unction also. As He was anointed with an ideal  15  νοητῷ cannot here be translated “spiritual” because of πνευματίκῆς immediately following. Cf. i. 4, note. oil of gladness, that is, with the Holy Ghost, called oil of gladness, because He is the author of spiritual gladness, so ye were anointed with ointment, having been made partakers and  fellows of Christ .

3. But beware of supposing this to be plain ointment. For as the Bread of the Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, is mere bread no longer  16  Compare xix. 7; xxiii. 7, 19; and the section on “Eucharist” in the Introduction. , but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no more simple ointment, nor (so to say) common, after invocation, but it is Christ’s gift of grace, and, by the advent of the Holy Ghost, is made fit to impart His Divine Nature  17  Χριστοῦ χάρισμα καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου παρουσίᾳ τῆς αὐτοῦ Θεότητος ἐνεργητικὸν γινόμενον. The meaning of this passage seems to have been obscured by divergent views of the order and construction of the words. In the Oxford translation, followed by Dr. Pusey (Real Presence, p. 357), the Chrism is “the gift of Christ, and by the presence of His godhead it causes in us the Holy Ghost.” The order of the operations proper to the two Divine Persons seems thus to be inverted. According to the Benedictine Editor, and Canon Mason (Relation of Confirmation to Baptism, p. 344), it is “Christ’s gracious gift, and is made effectual to convey the Holy Ghost by the presence of His own Godhead,”—i.e. apparently, the Godhead of the Holy Ghost conveys the Holy Ghost. But according to the context “the presence” must be that of the Divine Person who has been invoked, namely the Holy Ghost: and this is clearly expressed in the order of the words Πνεύματος ἁγίου παρουσίᾳ τῆς αὐτοῦ θεότητος ἐνεργητικόν. The connexion of the words Πν. ἁγ. παρουσίᾳ is put beyond doubt by the Invocation in the Liturgy of S. James quoted in Myst. V. 7, note 8. The true meaning thus seems to be that the Chrism is Christ’s gift of grace, and imparts His Divine nature by the presence of the Holy Ghost after the Invocation. This meaning is confirmed by the formula given in Apost. Const. vii. 44, for the consecration of the Chrism: “Grant also now that this ointment may be made effectual in the baptized, that the sweet savour of Thy Christ may remain firm and stable in him, and that, having died with Him, he may rise again and live with Him.” The Chrism is thus regarded as “the Seal” which confirms the proper benefits of Baptism. . Which ointment is symbolically applied to thy forehead and thy other senses  18  ἐπὶ μετώπου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σου αἰσθητηρίων. The forehead may be regarded as representing the sense of touch; or we may translate, according to the idiomatic use of ἄλλος, “thy forehead and thine organs of sense besides.” See Winer, Grammar of N.T. Greek, P. III. Sect. lix. 7: Riddell, Digest of Platonic Idioms, § 46. ; and while thy body is anointed with the visible ointment, thy soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit.

4. And ye were first anointed on the forehead, that ye might be delivered from the shame, which the first man who transgressed bore about with him everywhere; and that  with unveiled face ye might reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord  19  2 Cor. iii. 18. . Then on your ears; that ye might receive the ears which are quick to hear the Divine Mysteries, of which Esaias said,  The Lord gave me also an ear to hear  20  Is. l. 4. ; and the Lord Jesus in the Gospel,  He that hath ears to hear let him hear  21  Matt. xi. 15. . Then on the nostrils; that receiving the sacred ointment ye may say,  We are to God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved  22  2 Cor. ii. 15. . Afterwards on your breast; that having put on the  breast-plate of righteousness , ye may  stand against the wiles of the devil  23  Eph. vi. 14, and 11. . For as Christ after His Baptism, and the visitation of the Holy Ghost, went forth and vanquished the adversary, so likewise ye, after Holy Baptism and the Mystical Chrism, having put on the whole armour of the Holy Ghost, are to stand against the power of the adversary, and vanquish it, saying,  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me  24  Phil. iv. 13. .

5. Having been counted worthy of this Holy Chrism, ye are called Christians, verifying the name also by your new birth. For before you were deemed worthy of this grace, ye had properly no right to this title, but were advancing on your way towards being Christians.

6. Moreover, you should know that in the old Scripture there lies the symbol of this Chrism. For what time Moses imparted to his brother the command of God, and made him High-priest, after bathing in water, he anointed him; and Aaron was called Christ or Anointed, evidently from the typical Chrism. So also the High-priest, in advancing Solomon to the kingdom, anointed him after he had bathed in Gihon  25  1 Kings i. 39. . To them however these things happened in a figure, but to you not in a figure, but in truth; because ye were truly anointed by the Holy Ghost. Christ is the beginning of your salvation; for He is truly the First-fruit, and ye the mass  26  Rom. xi. 16. ; but if the First-fruit be holy, it is manifest that Its holiness will pass to the mass also.

7. Keep This unspotted: for it shall teach you all things, if it abide in you, as you have just heard declared by the blessed John, discoursing much concerning this Unction  27  1 John ii. 20: But ye have an unction (χρῖσμα) from the Holy One. . For this holy thing is a spiritual safeguard of the body, and salvation of the soul. Of this the blessed Esaias prophesying of old time said,  And on this mountain ,—(now he calls the Church a mountain elsewhere also, as when he says,  In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be manifest  28  Is. ii. 2. ;)—  on this mountain shall the Lord make unto all nations a feast; they shall drink wine, they shall drink gladness, they shall anoint themselves with ointment   29  Ib. xxv. 6. The Septuagint differs much from the Hebrew, both here and in the following verse. R.V. “And in this mountain shall the Lord of host make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.” . And that he may make thee sure, hear what he says of this ointment as being mystical;  Deliver all these things to the nations, for the counsel of the Lord is unto all nations  30  Ib. v. 7. R.V. “And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering that is cast over all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations.” . Having been anointed, therefore, with this holy ointment, keep it unspotted and unblemished in you, pressing forward by good works, and being made well-pleasing to the Captain of your salvation, Christ Jesus, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

[3]  ΚΑΤΗΧΗΣΙΣ ΜΥΣΤΑΓΩΓΙΚΗ Γʹ ΠΕΡΙ ΧΡΙΣΜΑΤΟΣ: Καὶ ἀνάγνωσις ἐκ τῆς Ἰωάννου αʹ ἐπιστολῆς, ἀπὸ τοῦ: «Καὶ ὑμεῖς χρῖσμα ἔχετε ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οἴδατε πάντα», ἕως τοῦ: «καὶ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶμεν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ». 

Εἰς Χριστὸν βεβαπτισμένοι καὶ Χριστὸν ἐνδυσάμενοι σύμμορφοι γεγόνατε τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Προορίσας γὰρ ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν, συμμόρφους ἐποίησε τοῦ σώματος τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Μέτοχοι οὖν τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενόμενοι, χριστοὶ εἰκότως καλεῖσθε, καὶ περὶ ὑμῶν ἔλεγεν ὁ Θεός: «Μὴ ἄπτεσθε τῶν χριστῶν μου.» Χριστοὶ δὲ γεγόνατε, τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος τὸ ἀντίτυπον δεξάμενοι, καὶ πάντα εἰκονικῶς ἐφ' ὑμῶν γεγένηται, ἐπειδὴ εἰκόνες ἐστὲ Χριστοῦ.

Κἀκεῖνος μὲν ἐν Ἰορδάνῃ λουσάμενος ποταμῷ καὶ τῶν χρωτῶν τῆς θεότητος μεταδοὺς τοῖς ὕδασιν, ἀνέβαινεν ἐκ τούτων, καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου οὐσιώδης ἐπιφοίτησις αὐτῷ ἐγίνετο, τῷ ὁμοίῳ ἐπαναπαυομένου τοῦ ὁμοίου. Καὶ ὑμῖν ὁμοίως ἀναβεβηκόσιν ἀπὸ τῆς κολυμβήθρας τῶν ἱερῶν ναμάτων χρῖσμα, τὸ ἀντίτυπον ὃ ἐχρίσθη Χριστός. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, περὶ οὗ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Ἡσαΐας, ἐν τῇ κατ' αὐτὸν προφητείᾳ, ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Κυρίου ἔλεγε: «Πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἐπ' ἐμέ, οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέ με: εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς ἀπέσταλκέ με.»

Ἐλαίῳ γὰρ ἢ μύρῳ σωματικῷ Χριστὸς ὑπ' ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἐχρίσθη, ἀλλ' ὁ Πατὴρ αὐτὸν Σωτῆρα προχειρισάμενος τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου Πνεύματι ἔχρισεν ἁγίῳ, ὡς Πέτρος φησίν: «Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον, ὃν ἔχρισεν ὁ Θεὸς Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ:» καὶ Δαβὶδ ὁ προφήτης ἐβόα λέγων: «Ὁ θρόνος σου, ὁ θεός, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος: ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου. Ἠγάπησας δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀνομίαν: διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέ σε ὁ Θεός, ὁ Θεός σου, ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιάσεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου.»

Καὶ ὥσπερ Χριστὸς ἀληθῶς ἐσταυροῦτο καὶ ἐθάπτετο καὶ ἠγείρετο, ὑμεῖς δὲ κατὰ τὸ βάπτισμα ἐν ὁμοιώματι καὶ συσταυρωθῆναι καὶ συνταφῆναι καὶ συναναστῆναι αὐτῷ καταξιοῦσθε, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ χρίσματος. Ἐκεῖνος ἐλαίῳ νοητῷ ἀγαλλιάσεως ἐχρίετο, τοῦτ' ἔστι Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, ἀγαλλιάσεως καλουμένῳ ἐλαίῳ, διὰ τὸ αἴτιον αὐτὸ τῆς πνευματικῆς ἀγαλλιάσεως τυγχάνειν: ὑμεῖς δὲ μύρῳ ἐχρίσθητε, κοινωνοὶ καὶ μέτοχοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενόμενοι.

Ἀλλ' ὅρα μὴ ὑπονοήσῃς ἐκεῖνο τὸ μύρον ψιλὸν εἶναι. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἄρτος τῆς εὐχαριστίας, μετὰ τὴν ἐπίκλησιν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, οὐκ ἔτι ἄρτος λιτός, ἀλλὰ σῶμα Χριστοῦ, οὕτω καὶ τὸ ἅγιον τοῦτο μύρον οὐκ ἔτι ψιλόν, οὐδ' ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις κοινὸν μετ' ἐπικλήσεως, ἀλλὰ Χριστοῦ χάρισμα, καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου παρουσίας τῆς αὐτοῦ θεότητος ἐνεργητικὸν γινόμενον. Ὅπερ συμβολικῶς ἐπὶ μετώπου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σου χρίεται αἰσθητηρίων. Καὶ τῷ μὲν φαινομένῳ μύρῳ τὸ σῶμα χρίεται, τῷ δὲ ἁγίῳ καὶ ζωοποιῷ Πνεύματι ἡ ψυχὴ ἁγιάζεται.

Καὶ πρῶτον χρίεσθε ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον, ἵνα ἀπαλλαγῆτε τῆς αἰσχύνης, ἣν ὁ πρῶτος παραβάτης ἄνθρωπος πανταχοῦ περιέφερε, καὶ ἵνα ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν Κυρίου κατοπτρίζησθε. Εἶτα ἐπὶ τὰ ὦτα, ἵνα προσλάβητε ὦτα, περὶ ὧν Ἡσαΐας ἔλεγε: «Καὶ προσέθηκέ μοι Κύριος ὠτίον ἀκούειν», καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις: «Ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν, ἀκουέτω.» Εἶτα ἐπὶ τὴν ὄσφρησιν, ὅπως τοῦ θείου ἀντιλαμβανόμενοι μύρου λέγητε: «Χριστοῦ εὐωδία ἐσμὲν τῷ Θεῷ ἐν τοῖς σωζομένοις.» Μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τὰ στήθη, ἵνα «ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης στῆτε πρὸς τὰς μεθοδείας τοῦ διαβόλου.» Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ Σωτὴρ μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐπιφοίτησιν ἐξελθὼν κατηγωνίσατο τὸν ἀντικείμενον, οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς μετὰ τὸ ἱερὸν βάπτισμα καὶ τὸ μυστικὸν χρῖσμα ἐνδεδυμένοι τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ἵστασθε πρὸς τὴν ἀντικειμένην ἐνέργειαν καὶ ταύτην καταγωνίζεσθε, λέγοντες: «Πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με Χριστῷ.»

Τούτου τοῦ ἁγίου χρίσματος καταξιωθέντες καλεῖσθε χριστιανοί, ἐπαληθεύοντες τῇ ἀναγεννήσει καὶ τὸ ὄνομα. Πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ καταξιωθῆναι ὑμᾶς τοῦ βαπτίσματος καὶ τῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος χάριτος, οὐκ ἦτε κυρίως ἄξιοι, ἀλλ' ὁδεύοντες προεβαίνετε τὸ εἶναι χριστιανοί.

Εἰδέναι δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀναγκαῖον, ὅτι τοῦ χρίσματος τούτου ἐν τῇ παλαιᾷ γραφῇ τὸ σύμβολον κεῖται. Καὶ γὰρ ὁπηνίκα τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόσταγμα Μωϋσῆς τῷ ἀδελφῷ μετεδίδου, ἀρχιερέα καθιστῶν τοῦτον, μετὰ τὸ ἐν ὕδατι λούσασθαι, ἔχρισε, καὶ ἐκαλεῖτο χριστὸς ἐκ τοῦ χρίσματος δηλαδὴ τοῦ τυπικοῦ. Οὕτω καὶ τὸν Σολομῶντα προάγων εἰς βασιλέα, ἔχρισεν αὐτὸν μετὰ τὸ λούσασθαι ἐν τῷ Γειὼν ὁ ἀρχιερεύς. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἐκείνοις συνέβαινε τυπικῶς, ὑμῖν δὲ οὐ τυπικῶς, ἀλλ' ἀληθῶς, ἐπειδὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι χρισθέντος ἀληθῶς ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς ὑμετέρας σωτηρίας: ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ἀληθῶς ἀπαρχή, καὶ ὑμεῖς τὸ φύραμα: εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀπαρχὴ ἁγία, δηλονότι μεταβήσεται ἐπὶ τὸ φύραμα ἡ ἁγιότης.

Τοῦτο φυλάξατε ἄσπιλον: πάντων γὰρ ἔσται τοῦτο διδακτικόν, εἰ ἐν ὑμῖν μένοι, καθὼς ἀρτίως ἠκούσατε τοῦ μακαρίου Ἰωάννου λέγοντος καὶ πολλὰ περὶ τοῦ χρίσματος φιλοσοφοῦντος. Ἔστι γὰρ τοῦτο τὸ ἅγιον πνευματικὸν σώματος φυλακτήριον καὶ ψυχῆς σωτήριον.

Τοῦτο ἐκ παλαιῶν χρόνων ὁ μακάριος Ἡσαΐας προφητεύων ἔλεγε: «Καὶ ποιήσει Κύριος πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τοῦτο», ὄρος δὲ καλεῖ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ: «Καὶ ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐμφανὲς τὸ ὄρος Κυρίου» _ «πίονται οἶνον, πίονται εὐφροσύνην, χρίσονται μύρον.» Καὶ ἵνα ἀσφαλίσηταί σε ἀκούειν περὶ τοῦ μύρου τούτου, ὡς μυστικοῦ, φησί: «Παράδος ταῦτα πάντα τοῖς ἔθνεσιν: ἡ γὰρ βουλὴ Κυρίου ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη».

Τούτῳ οὖν χρισθέντες τῷ ἁγίῳ μύρῳ, τηρήσατε αὐτὸ ἄσπιλον, ἄμωμον ἐν ὑμῖν, δι' ἔργων ἀγαθῶν προκόπτοντες, καὶ εὐάρεστοι γινόμενοι τῷ ἀρχηγῷ τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.