The holy oils at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
Photo by Debbie Benz

The Chrism Mass is one of the most beautiful liturgies of the year

Have you ever wondered where your parish priest gets the Holy Oils he uses throughout the year? Think of baptism, confirmation, and anointing of the sick. They come from the Chrism Mass, which takes place the Tuesday of Holy Week at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield.

The Holy Oils that the Church uses in the sacraments are all composed of olive oil. The process begins at our Cathedral. It first starts with several dozen gallons of pure olive oil, and through a process perfected over many years, and through the generous efforts of everyone willing to help (in recent years, the Knights of Columbus Council at Cathedral has led the charge), a crew of people go about carefully filling more than 300 individual bottles using a conglomeration of funnels and old coffee urns, labeling them as “Oil of Catechumens,” “Oil of the Sick,” and “Sacred Chrism.” The bottles are then placed in boxes, which is labeled with the parish or institution to which it is destined to go. Before filling the bottles that will become Sacred Chrism, the helpers mix in the balsam extract to the point where the scent is obvious but not overpowering.

There are also larger glass jugs of oil that are used during the Chrism Mass itself, and it is these jugs that will be carried in procession up to Bishop Thomas John Paprocki for him to bless (Oil of Catechumens and Oil of the Sick) and consecrate (Sacred Chrism) at the proper points in the Mass. The boxes with their bottles are placed in front of the bishop before the Mass begins.

After the Mass, the larger glass bottles are kept in the Ambry at the Cathedral, which is the place, often looking much like a tabernacle, that houses each of the oils in every parish, and all the pre-boxed sets of bottles are distributed to their various destinations. They are collected by the pastor or a delegated member from that parish who attends the Chrism Mass.

The Chrism Mass is one of the most beautiful liturgies of the year in which mostly all of our priests are in attendance and members from each parish attend. You are invited as well! It takes place Tuesday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Cathedral in Springfield.