Mass of Chrism

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Dauphin

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Hi,

St. Mary’s Cathedral here in Kingston will be holding the Mass of Chrism on Tuesday. According to this week’s notice:

“The Mass of Chrism comes once a year to our Cathedral. If you’ve never celebrated it, you’re missing one of the most solemn and significant liturgies of our church. During the Mass, the Bishop will bless the oil of catechumens, the oil of the sick and the oil of chrism. Bishops have blessed oil ever since the early church. At this Mass also the ministry of the priests and deacons is acknowledged. They are invited to renew their commitment to service and to receive the prayers and support of the people. Representatives from each parish at the end of the Mass will also be called forward to receive from the bishop the oils to be used in their parish.”

I’m wondering if anyone has more precise details of the Mass of Chrism. How exactly is the oil blessed? What’s the difference between the oil of catechumens, the oil of the sick, and the oil of chrism? Do I need to know any extra responses to attend this mass? I don’t want to be caught off-guard.

Thanks!
 
At the correct point in the liturgy, unblessed oils will be brought forth, and the Bishop will bless them. Typically then the blessed oils are distributed to representatives of all the parishes in the diocese who are in attendance at the Chrism Mass, to be brought back to their churches.

There will probably be a printed program that you can follow along; no need to worry about not knowing the order/responses. It can be a very beautiful; I would encourage you to attend.
 
There is a distinction…

The oil of the sick and of the catechumens is ‘blessed’ by the bishop through a prayer.

The sacred chrism is consecrated (I think…I know it’s a step up from blessing).

There’s generally no additional responses to any of these prayers.

The blessing/consecration takes place after the homily. There is no profession of faith and there is no general intercessions.

In at least one diocese I lived in, the oils were immediately taken downstairs at the cathedral and put into the vessels that each parish provided for them then distributed at the end of the mass.

However, in most places a representative just picks them up later on.
 
There is one extra response you need to know for this Mass: “Lord Jesus Christ, hear us and answer our prayer.”

This response is said twice. After the homily the bishop asks the priests three sets of questions, to which they reply “I am.” Then the bishop addresses the people:
"My brothers and sisters,
pray for your priests.
Ask the Lord to bless them with the fullness of his love,
to help them be faithful ministers of Christ the High Priest,
so that they will be able to lead you to him,
the fountain of your salvation.

People: Lord Jesus Christ, hear us and answer our prayer.

Bishop: Pray also for me
that despite my own unworthiness
I may faithfully fulfill the office of apostle
which Jesus Christ has entrusted to me.
Pray that I may become more like
our High Priest and Good Shepherd,
the teacher and servant of all,
and so be a genuine sign
of Christ’s loving presence among you.

People: Lord Jesus Christ, hear us and answer our prayer.

Bishop: May the Lord in his love
keep you close to him always,
and may he bring all of us,
his priests and people,
to eternal life.

All: Amen."

(Roman Missal, Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, 1985, pages 132-133).
 
Dauphin said:
St. Mary’s Cathedral here in Kingston will be holding the Mass of Chrism on Tuesday.
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I’ve never heard of a Chrism Mass being celebrated other than on Holy Thursday?

PS.
I may be my parish’s chrism porter this year! The old guys who formerly performed this service have all become too old and frail. I guess I am the new old guy. :eek: :rotfl:

tee
 
tee_eff_em said:
I’ve never heard of a Chrism Mass being celebrated other than on Holy Thursday?
Click to expand...
Hmmm… that is weird, isn’t it? I’m sure they have a good reason. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we’re without an Archbishop at the moment (he died earlier this year)… maybe they have to bring someone in.
 
tee_eff_em said:
I’ve never heard of a Chrism Mass being celebrated other than on Holy Thursday? tee
Click to expand...
It Baltimore, it’s on Monday of Holy Week because the priests are tied up in their parishes on Holy Thursday. --KCT
 
in Joliet in Illinois the Chrism Mass (Mass of the Oils) is celebrated on Monday of Holy Week and is an incredible liturgy! so beautiful! it is a wonderful way to start Holy Week for me.

I know other parishes do it on Thursday but this seems to work out so that the priests can ALL be there. When they process into the cathedral, it is a very moving sight. The consecration with so many voices is quite touching!

Each parish gets 6 tickets that usually go to RCIA candidates or someone who has not been able to attend before. I go and sit in the choir loft and weep at the majesty and beauty of it.

they assemble every priest and every deacon and all religious. the prior two groups process in and are given seats on the altar! we also have several retired bishops and some abbots, etc. the bishop says that this IS the church of Joliet. the clergy, religious and laity all joined together!
 
tee_eff_em said:
I’ve never heard of a Chrism Mass being celebrated other than on Holy Thursday?

PS.
I may be my parish’s chrism porter this year! The old guys who formerly performed this service have all become too old and frail. I guess I am the new old guy. :eek: :rotfl:

tee
Click to expand...
The Chrism Mass is often celebrated other than on Holy Thursday, as it is the Mass for all of the priests of the diocese, where they renew their vows to the bishop, and from which they receive the oils they will need throughout the next year. It would be physicllay just about impossible with large dioceses, in terms of distance, to attend and still be available to their parish for Holy Thursday Mass.

It is an awesome Mass.
 
There are 51 parishes in our Archdiocese! Do they normally have all the priests and deacons come? If so, it’ll be quite a sight to see the cathedral that full (undoubtedly there’ll be laypeople from other parishes too). I’d better arrive early…
 
tee_eff_em said:
I’ve never heard of a Chrism Mass being celebrated other than on Holy Thursday?

PS.
I may be my parish’s chrism porter this year! The old guys who formerly performed this service have all become too old and frail. I guess I am the new old guy. :eek: :rotfl:

tee
Click to expand...
Where I am, the Chrism Mass is the Tuesday of that week. Then the oils are presented at the parishes on Holy Thursday.
 
It appears that the Church considers Holy Thursday to be the ideal day to celebrate the Chrism Mass, many dioceses celebrate it on the Tuesday of Holy Week, and the reason is just as has been stated here – the priests and deacons of the dioceses will be needed in their parishes that evening to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

The diocese that I reside in is having the Chrism Mass this Tuesday… I don’t think my pastor is going. I think he has an extra evening of Confessions planned that night.
 
Dauphin said:
There are 51 parishes in our Archdiocese! Do they normally have all the priests and deacons come? If so, it’ll be quite a sight to see the cathedral that full (undoubtedly there’ll be laypeople from other parishes too). I’d better arrive early…
Click to expand...
Ours is on Tuesday as well. As far as the priests and deacons coming, our RCIA director told us that they renew their vows taken at ordination at the Crism Mass. But I don’t know if that’s right or not.:confused:
 
We have ours on Wednesday evening. I think our diocese tries to put it as close to Thursday morning as possible, but also wants as many people to attend as possible. Wednesday evening is a lot easier for many people (including myself) to attend than Thursday morning. The Cathedral is packed out, which is very nice to see, and almost all the priests and deacons make it too.

Mike
 
tee_eff_em said:
I’ve never heard of a Chrism Mass being celebrated other than on Holy Thursday?

PS.
I may be my parish’s chrism porter this year! The old guys who formerly performed this service have all become too old and frail. I guess I am the new old guy. :eek: :rotfl:

tee
Click to expand...
It can be celebrated on another day at another time for pastoral reasons. Yes, traditionally the Chrism Mass is celebrated on Maundy Thrusday morning, but it can be difficult for all the priests to gather on that day. We observe the Chrism Mass on Holy Tuesday in my diocese too.
 
Well, I did.
I went to my Archdiocese’s Chrism mass at St Mary’s Cathedral.
And my God, was it beautiful.
The most beautiful mass I have ever been to.
Never in my life have I heard a motet sung during mass…
As soon as the choir started singing, i started to drool.
The copious amounts of incense…
The multitudes of priests…
Their combined voices during the consecration…
Never before have I experienced such beauty and reverence in a Mass.

…

Then again, I have never been to a TLM…

Did anyone else go to the Chrism Mass today?
 
Yes, I did. It was in a military multi-use chapel.

Beautiful? No. Moving? No.

But it was the mass, and I’m hoping that attending these masses will shorten my time in purgatory (sometimes I feel as if I’m already there).
 
I went to Chrism Mass too, for the first time ever. It was interesting to see so many priests saying the Mass altogether, indeed. And the choir sung some hymns in Latin, I suppose inspired by the archbishop´s homily on Sacramentum Caritatis.
So I don´t plan on gpoing to Mass tonight. I thought Missa Chrismatis would be the same. But it wasn´t.
 
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