I had the joy of being present last night at our Chrism Mass. It's so special in many ways, including that it's the one time when every parish in the Diocese is represented by the faithful and their priests, who renew their vows in the Mass.

A few years ago I asked in my Latin parish what happens to the "old oils" when we bring new ones to be blessed for the oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick at the Mass and receive the consecrated Chrism oil. I was told our old oils are poured into the earth. I suggested we could make that process something special for parishioners to participate in rather than one staff person finding some place in a garden and pouring them out alone. That was nixed.

This morning as I delivered the oils back to the church I wondered would it be possible next year for me to bring the "old" sacred oils to my Byzantine parish where we could then burn them in our oil lamps. It's all olive oil. Before I approach my Latin parish with yet another "harebrained Mary Louise" idea I thought I'd run the idea past this group which I know has some Latin priests and deacons in it. Of course I would need to know if there would be some objection from my EC parish for substituting the holy oils for the Smart and Final olive oil til they are used up.

I appreciate your thoughts.

I've no idea about the appropriateness of this vis a vis the Roman Rite. It is the practise of the Orthodox Church to burn the Holy Oil left from the Unction Service in the altar vigil light. I see no objection to this also with the Pre-Baptismal Oil (Oil of the Catechumens?) that is left after a Baptism. In the Byzantine Rite this is blessed by the priest at every Baptism, so we don't need to reserve what is left over. But I doubt we would either burn Holy Chrism in a lamp or pour it out on the ground. I have Chrism at my church that is literally decades old (left over from the one and only time ROCOR consecrated her own Chrism) and it doesn't go bad.

Fr David Straut

Yes, we burn all save the myron (chrism) in the altar lamp, or a smaller lamp on the side altar.

The myron remains until it is used up, at which time we seek more from the patriarch.

That said, it is rather funny when you see one of our priests returning from the patriarchate and trying to explain to Australian customs why this four-gallon jug of "funny looking" olive oil should be allowed into the country--and why there is a crowd of people outside waiting for it to emerge!

Matta that must be an awesome witness to a very hurting world.

Fr. David,

Just to clarify, I don't think that Roman Catholicism allows for holy oil to be poured onto the "ground," but rather, the earth. For example, you could pour the oil out in a forest, or in a garden, but not in a parking lot. I imagine it's the same line of thought as the Roman Catholic sacrarium which is used to dispense with the water and particles of the Body and Blood after Mass. There is the pervasive idea that holy things can go back to the earth, where they came from, but that allowing them to be poured out on human-made material is irreverent and sacrilegious.

Alexis

Dear Alexis,

I know. I meant 'earth.' I was not using 'ground' in a perjorative sense. I'm sorry if I gave that impression.

Fr David

I've been told that in a certain Latin-rite diocese in Europe the custom arose of conserving all the Holy Oils left over from the previous year and then pouring them into the open grave of the next priest to die.

Alexis:

Christ is in our midst!!

I hope you don't know of this practice being done in any Catholic parish. The particles of the Body and Blood of Christ are to be consumed either at the altar or at the credence table where the ablutions are to take place either before the Post Communion or after Mass. It is considered an abuse of the Lord's Holy Body and Most Precious Blood to put any of Him down the sacrarium since the 2000 General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Even before this time doing such a thing was considered a desecration of the sacrament. There was some confusion about this when the Church allowed Estraordinary Ministers to do the ablutions, but this is no longer permitted and the clergy are supposed to ablute the sacred vessels before taking them to the sacrarium to be washed after Mass.

As far as the holy oils are concerned, Catholic practice is to pour them out in some place where no one will step on that bit of earth. So next to a building or behind shrubbery seems to be the way to go.

Bob

Bob: the sacrarium is used for the washing of the linens (corporal, purificator); see the GIRM. Those particles in the sacred vessels are supposed to be consumed, but those in the linens need not be, nor a host that fell into mud on the floor (it's dissolved in water and poured into the sacrarium).

Further, standard roman praxis is to purificate the vessels, drinking the water, and frequently also to then rinse them in the sacrarium, just in case.

I was speaking of the practice used in some parishes where Extraordinary Ministers were instructed to pour the remaining Precious Blood into the sacrarium prior to abluting and I thought that that was what Alexis was referring to. There was a definite abuse going on in the past few years.

As for the linens, they're supposed to be soaked in a vessel of water before being washed so that any clinging particles of the Host are dissolved and that water is to be discharged into the sacrarium. Again, visible particles are not to be carelessly thrown away because the principle still remains that ANY visible particle is the same and to be treated the same as a whole Host.

I'm familiar with the Host that has been dropped into something unclean. It still must be completely dissolved so that it does not have any visible resemblance to a Host at all before what remains int eh water is discahrged into the sacrarium.

We're not talking here about what some have termed "the leftovers" but we're talking about the Lord's Holy Bodya dn Precious Blood, something St.Paul warns us about in the Communion Epistle and which the Fathers strongly warn against desecrating.

BOB

I had Chrism which I kept in a very nice container from Greece but although it was gold on the exterior it was something else inside and all the Chrism turned a deep shade of brilliant green. Being an Irishman I was thrilled with this but not so the Dean. What to do with it? He told me to place the container and the Chrism into a coffin.

Mary Louise,

Curiousity, when was the Chrism Mass? My recollection (from a long, long time ago) was that the Latins' Chrism Mass was on Holy Thursday. Is my memory failing me or has something changed?

Many years,

Neil

Traditionally it is on Holy Thursday but some dioceses move it to earlier in the week so that more priests can attend without rushing back to serve the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper.

Ah, thanks Ed. (Though, apparently, some must move it back weeks.)

Many years,

Neil

I think most do, probably for the convenience of the clergy.

Archbishop Wuerl will celebrate the Chrism Mass on Monday March 29th at 7PM at St. Matthew's Cathedral.

Cardinal Rigali will celebrate in Scranton on March 30th.