Blessed Oil of St. Serapion

[michaelnrdx]

I was looking through the Roman Ritual today and found an obscure blessing for oil in honor of St. Serapion (martyr). I’m not really sure which St. Serapion it refers to. There are several, but I think it might be St. Serapion of Algiers of the Mercedarian order. (Correct me if I’m wrong.)

Has anyone heard of this blessing or know anything about St. Serapion? The formula for the blessing says that the oil is for healing “sores, fractures, and any painful ailment” and it also calls St. Serapion an “athlete of Christ.” I didn’t read anything about St. Serapion being an athlete though. I guess athlete was metaphoric, but it would make sense that the oil would blessed for fractures and pain if St. Serapion was an athlete.

I’m also wondering if this blessing is still around, or if I could find a priest who could bless this oil for me. It seems like the perfect sacramental for musculoskeletal disorders. I have plantar fasciitis, and I have a friend with fibromyalgia. I bet the oil would make a great gift.

 

[midori]

It looks like you’re correct-- Serapion of Algiers:

1. BLESSING OF OIL IN HONOR OF ST. SERAPION, MARTYR

…And as Blessed Serapion followed your example, even to death on a cross, in order to ransom the faithful, so by his intercession may we never be broken by any kind of adversity, but always have strength to embrace your cross…

Irish by birth, Serapion was born around 1179. He enlisted as a soldier in the army of his king, Richard the Lion-Hearted, and later in the company of the Duke of Austria, Leopold VI the Glorious, he enlisted in his squadron to go to Spain to help the Christian army of Alfonso VIII who was fighting Moslems. Once he was in Spain, Serapion decided to stay in the service of the king of Castile to continue fighting to defend the Catholic faith. There, he had the opportunity to meet Peter Nolasco and his brothers who dedicated themselves to the defense of the same faith except that they were not fighting against the Moors. Instead, they were freeing Christian captives from the power of the Moors and they pledged their own lives in this endeavor.

In 1222, Serapion requested and received the Mercedarian habit. He carried out several redemptions. In the last one which he carried out with his redeeming companion Berenguer de Bañeres, Serapion had to remain as a hostage for some captives in danger of renouncing their faith. The other redeemer traveled quickly to Barcelona to look for the ransom money. Peter Nolasco, who was in Montpellier at the time, wrote an urgent letter to his lieutenant Guillermo de Bas asking him to notify all the monasteries to collect alms and to send them immediately to Algiers. But the money for the ransom did not arrive at the stipulated time and the disappointed Moors inflicted an atrocious death on Serapion. They nailed him on an X-shaped cross, like Saint Andrew’s cross and they savagely dismembered him. The barbarian and cruel King of Algiers, Selín Benimarin, was the one who gave the Church and the Mercedarian Order this saintly martyr on November 14, 1240.

link

Oh-- and in terms of the athlete reference, it reminds me of the phrase from Paul from Corinthians about striving for the prize…

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

So it might be a dual reference to his physically demanding background as a soldier, but it also might be a reference to 1 Corinthians 9, to his martyr’s crown, and how a heavenly crown is compared to the prizes that athletes compete for.

 

[Leon_Bloy]

Where is it in the Ritual? I just looked but can’t find it.

Is it under “reserved blessings?”

If not, you could have any priest who knows Latin bless it for you.

 

[Leon_Bloy]

I am thinking it might be a reserved blessing to the Mercederians. If there are any of them near you, you might ask about it.

Also, oil has always been associated with athletes since the ancient Greek athletes rubbed their bodies with oil. That’s even mentioned in the Baltimore catechism, as I recall…

 

[dbowen2]

The Mercedarian Friars can be contacted in the United States at the following address:

Mercygrove / Saint Raymond Novitiate
7770 East Main Rd., LeRoy, NY 14482
Phone: 585-768-4703 Fax: 585-768-4702

orderofmercy.org/

They will be happy to assist anyone interested in obtaining Blessed Oil of Saint Serapion.