Today, Tuesday, the prayers of the Liturgy for the Sanctification of the Holy Myron Oil were held, followed by the Liturgy of the Galileon Oil, and the prayers concluded with the Eucharist for the Day of the Sanctification of the Holy Myron and the Galileon, and the chapters of whose readings are for this event.
His Holiness arrived at nine in the morning today at the Cathedral of the Monastery of Saint Bishoy in Wadi Natroun, accompanied by the Metropolitans and Bishops. His Holiness began the first step of the Holy Myron Ritual, which is the “Liturgy for the Sanctification of the Holy Myron Oil,” where the eight vessels containing the Holy Myron Oil were placed inside the altar, before beginning prayers in preparation for sanctification.
The Chrismation Liturgy, as well as the Galileon Sanctification Liturgy, is distinguished by the fact that they have a ritual arrangement that follows the same pattern as the usual Divine Liturgy, with some differences represented in the texts of the prayers and requests, which focus on requests for the sanctification of the oil. In the Chrismation Liturgy, the Book of Song of Solomon is read along with the readings of the Pauline Epistle, the Catholic Epistle, the Praxis, the Psalm, and the Gospel.
Among the prayers, there is a unique ritual that is performed only during the consecration of the Chrism. It is the ritual of the session that took place inside the altar, during which His Holiness carried the book of Masagogy, meaning (the teaching of faith), and walked around with it three times, along with a number of the church’s bishops.
The book Masagogy (Teaching the Faith) was used to teach the reconciled (those who wish to join the Christian faith) before receiving the sacrament of baptism, and then anointing them with Holy Myron Oil to receive the sacrament of chrismation.
After the session, His Holiness said: “We are now in the Liturgy for the sanctification of the Holy Myron Oil, and through the readings, prayers and hymns, the Holy Myron Oil is sanctified.”
H.H. added: “Within the ritual of consecrating the Holy Myron, we read the Book of Songs of Solomon, which we call the Book of Adults, and it is a book whose sign is sacred love, and it consists of eight chapters, and the number 8 symbolizes eternity, as it is the book of love that connects us to eternity, and we also read it because most of the components of Holy Myron Oil is mentioned in it.”
Then His Holiness began reading the Book of the Song of Solomon, reading the first chapter of it, and the Bishops followed.
The prayers of the Liturgy for the Sanctification of the Holy Myron Oil were completed, and concluded with the sprinkling of the oil in the name of the Trinity by the mouth of His Holiness the Pope, thus completing the Liturgy for the Sanctification of the Holy Myron Oil.
His Holiness affirmed before the start of the Liturgy for the sanctification of the Galilean that chrismation, according to the history of the Church, can be performed at any time and in any place, and that it cannot be performed during a period when the patriarchal seat is vacant, because its work is linked to the presence of the patriarch.
H.H. added: “We will put the Holy Myron Yeast on the day of Sham El Nessim, (one day after Easter) and this yeast that we pass on every time we make chrism, contains some of the spices that were placed on the body of Jesus Christ before He was buried in the tomb, and in this way we come into contact with the spices that touched the body of Christ, so we call the one who is anointed by Chrism, he is anointed.”
Immediately afterwards, the Mass for the sanctification of the Galilean began, followed by the Eucharist for the Day of Consecration of the Holy Myron and the Galilean.
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