Jump to Baptism and Pentecost belong together Why oil? Why the whole body is anointed Why not wait until adulthood? What about converts who were already baptized?
Shortly after an Orthodox Baptism, the priest anoints the newly baptized person with fragrant holy oil.
He marks the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, chest, back, hands, and feet, saying each time:
“The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The sacrament is called Chrismation. For visitors from traditions in which confirmation occurs years after Baptism—or does not occur at all—it can pass quickly without being understood.
Baptism and Pentecost belong together
Baptism joins a person to the death and Resurrection of Christ. Chrismation bestows the seal of the Holy Spirit for life in Christ.
The relationship is often expressed this way: Baptism is personal Pascha; Chrismation is personal Pentecost.
The risen Christ did not leave His disciples to continue through memory and determination. He sent the Holy Spirit. In the same way, the newly baptized Christian is not told to sustain the new life through willpower. The gift of the Spirit is given.
Why oil?
The word Christ means Anointed One. In the Old Testament, priests and kings were anointed for their calling. Oil signifies consecration, healing, strength, and the gift of God.
In Chrismation, the Christian is joined to the Anointed One and anointed for a life of witness and service.
The holy chrism or myrrh is not ordinary scented oil chosen by the parish. It is consecrated by bishops and distributed to parishes, expressing that the newly chrismated person enters the apostolic communion of the wider Church rather than an isolated local group.
Why the whole body is anointed
The repeated anointing of the senses and limbs declares that the whole person belongs to God.
The mind is to learn Christ. The eyes are to see truthfully. The ears are to hear. The mouth is to confess and bless. The hands are to serve. The feet are to walk in the way of peace.
The sacrament does not make those actions automatic. It gives grace and seals a vocation that must be lived freely.
Why not wait until adulthood?
Orthodoxy does not separate Chrismation from Baptism by an age of intellectual maturity. The gift of the Spirit is not a graduation certificate for completing religious instruction.
Infants and adults are therefore chrismated immediately after Baptism and then admitted to Holy Communion. Christian initiation remains a single movement into the life of Christ and His Church.
What about converts who were already baptized?
Some Christians entering the Orthodox Church are received through Chrismation rather than Baptism. The manner of reception depends upon the person’s prior baptism and the pastoral application of the canons under the authority of the bishop.
Chrismation should not be reduced to “the shorter way converts join.” It is the seal of the Holy Spirit and incorporation into the sacramental communion of the Orthodox Church.
The Church places no confidence in a merely external mark. The seal is given so that a human life may become increasingly open to the Spirit whose gift has been received.
Pentecost is given in a moment. Learning to live by the Spirit takes the rest of our lives.
A note. These articles explain what the Orthodox Church teaches and why. They are not spiritual direction. Anything touching your own rule of prayer, fasting or confession belongs with your priest or spiritual father, who knows you and your circumstances.
- Chrismation, Orthodox Church in America
- Acts 8:14–17; Acts 19:1–7; 2 Corinthians 1:21–22; 1 John 2:20–27
- The Sacraments, Orthodox Church in America
One passage. One week with it.
Words for the Narrow Way takes a single saying of Christ and gives it seven days — the passage in full, what the Greek is doing, how the Fathers read it, and one practice small enough to actually do.