Mass of Chrism

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I just returned from the Mass of Chrism at my cathedral. Once again, I was reminded what a beautiful liturgy it is. Despite the truly dreadful weather, the cathedral was packed almost an hour early and there was nary a parking space within blocks. I love all the Holy Week liturgies but there is something about the Mass of Chrism that really hits deep into my soul. Perhaps it is because this is the one Mass that truly draws the entire Diocese together as a family. To pray with the faithful from every parish, along with the Bishop and all the priests and religious from the Diocese quite literally draws one [me at least] out of the ordinary, sometimes insular worship of the local parish into something much greater. To hear all the priests concelebrating with the Bishop chant out, as one loud voice, the minor elevation and the voices of the congregation ringing out the great Amen is for me a very emotional and spiritual experience. The pealing of the bells which started immediately after the Bishop’s blessing and dismissal, and continued for a good fifteen minutes after the recessional was a reassurance that a joyful event had just occurred and a foreshadowing of the joy that awaits us on Easter morning.
I would like to urge everyone who lives in a city which is the seat of their diocese to make an effort to attend the Chrism Mass whenever it occurs this week. Whatever one’s preferance of one form of the Mass is, please put it aside and just go!
 
I wish I could go to the Chrism Mass but ours is on Holy Thursday at 11 AM and I end up being left in the parish getting all things ready for the Triduum, waiting for flower delivery, getting the worship aides ready, the church and chapel ready, and being there if anything important comes up or phone calls come in that need attention. I could probably go into the rectory living room and watch it on the TV but that too is taking time away from work.
 
I’ve attended the Mass of Chrism twice, different dioceses, and it was beautiful both times. The second time I attended, I received the oils for my parish.

Those of you who are involved in this, what quantity of oils are you given for your parish? We just received ours after last Thursday’s Chrism Mass and they generously :rolleyes: provided us with less than 2 ounces each of the Oil of the Ill & Oil of Catechumens to share between 3 parishes & 5 ounces of Sacred Chrism to share between those same parishes.

Poured into their respective containers, it will barely covers the bottoms and you won’t even see them when they’re put in the ambry.
 
I’ll be at the Chrism Mass today singing with the Diocesan Choir. 😃
 
We always seem to have our parish Triduum choir rehearsal the same night as the diocesan Chrism Mass so I’ve never been. It was yesterday (Monday) evening.

…one of these years.
 
Phemie said:
I’ve attended the Mass of Chrism twice, different dioceses, and it was beautiful both times. The second time I attended, I received the oils for my parish.

Those of you who are involved in this, what quantity of oils are you given for your parish? We just received ours after last Thursday’s Chrism Mass and they generously :rolleyes: provided us with less than 2 ounces each of the Oil of the Ill & Oil of Catechumens to share between 3 parishes & 5 ounces of Sacred Chrism to share between those same parishes.

Poured into their respective containers, it will barely covers the bottoms and you won’t even see them when they’re put in the ambry.
Click to expand...
We usually put the oils into amber-colored pharmaceutical bottles, the two-ounce kind. Then, we would place them inside boxes to give to the priests who represented each parish. We would label them using their latin names. Thus, every parish in the diocese had a good quantity of the oils. The Cathedral had a good supply and, if the parishes needed additional oils, all they had to do was to come and get them.
 
Phemie said:
I’ve attended the Mass of Chrism twice, different dioceses, and it was beautiful both times. The second time I attended, I received the oils for my parish.

Those of you who are involved in this, what quantity of oils are you given for your parish? We just received ours after last Thursday’s Chrism Mass and they generously :rolleyes: provided us with less than 2 ounces each of the Oil of the Ill & Oil of Catechumens to share between 3 parishes & 5 ounces of Sacred Chrism to share between those same parishes.

Poured into their respective containers, it will barely covers the bottoms and you won’t even see them when they’re put in the ambry.
Click to expand...
You are supposed to mix the oils with olive oil to fill the containers.
 
benedictgal said:
We usually put the oils into amber-colored pharmaceutical bottles, the two-ounce kind. Then, we would place them inside boxes to give to the priests who represented each parish. We would label them using their latin names. Thus, every parish in the diocese had a good quantity of the oils. The Cathedral had a good supply and, if the parishes needed additional oils, all they had to do was to come and get them.
Click to expand...
That’s what they use here too, but they sent a less than full bottle to share between 3 parishes. Apparently they didn’t have enough to even send one full bottle per parish.
 
I’ve been to my very first Mass of Chrism and it was wonderful. There must have been well over 1000 people there - all of the pews were full, people were standing in the aisles, at the back of the cathedral, not to mention a crowd of around 30 who were sat on the floor at the back.

What a pure gift - none the less special when you consider I was suffering from agoraphobia and severe panic before I came back to chuch less than 4 months ago!
 
I went to my first Chrism Mass yesterday. I report on it here. I was disappointed by the lack of Gloria and incense, and by the fact that only the bishops concelebrated. But the stunning Passiontide crimson High Mass set and excellent music made up for it all.
 
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