HISTORY: The Sacraments of the Orthodox Church are composed of prayers, hymns, scripture lessons, gestures and processions. Many parts of the services date back to the time of the Apostles. The Orthodox Church has avoided reducing the Sacraments to a particular formula or action. Often, a whole series of sacred acts make up a Sacrament. Most of the Sacraments use a portion of the material of creation as an outward and visible sign of God's revelation. Water, oil, bread and wine are but a few of the many elements which the Orthodox Church employs in her Worship. The frequent use of the material of creation reminds us that matter is good and can become a medium of the Spirit. Most importantly, it affirms the central truth of the Orthodox Christian faith: that God became flesh in Jesus Christ and entered into the midst of creation thereby redirecting the cosmos toward its vocation to glorify its Creator.
PRAYERS: One of the best-known prayers of the Orthodox Church speaks of the spirit of God being "present in all places and filling all things." This profound affirmation is basic to Orthodoxy's understanding of God and His relationship to the world. We believe that God is truly near to us. Although He cannot be seen, God is not detached from His creation. Through the persons of The Risen Christ and the Holy Spirit, God is present and active in our lives and in the creation about us. All our life and the creation of which we are an important part, points, to and reveals God.
EVENTS: There are special experiences in our corporate life as Orthodox Christians when the perception of God's presence and actions is heightened and celebrated. We call these events of the Church Sacraments. Traditionally, the Sacraments have been known as Mysteries in the Orthodox Church. This description emphasizes that in these special events of the Church, God discloses Himself through the prayers and actions of His people.
PURPOSE: Not only do the Sacraments disclose and reveal God to us, but also they serve to make us receptive to God. All the Sacraments affect our personal relationship to God and to one another. The Holy Spirit works through the Sacraments. He leads us to Christ who unites us with the Father. By participating in the Sacraments, we grow closer to God and to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This process of deification, or theosis, as it is known by Orthodoxy, takes place not in isolation from others, but within the context of a believing community. Although the Sacraments are addressed to each of us by name, they are experiences which involve the entire Church.
OLIVE OIL: The Orthodox Christian's experience with olive oil begins early in life--in fact, it is used several times in the Sacrament of Baptism. Just before the baby (or adult, for that matter) is lowered into the baptismal font, the godparent presents the priest with a small container of olive oil. The priest says a brief prayer over the oil, asking God to bless it; and in the prayer, he remembers how in the Biblical story of Noah, one of the signs that the flood is over and of God's new covenant with humanity is that a dove is sent, bearing an olive branch--a token of reconciliation and a symbol of a new relationship. Then the candidate is anointed with this oil by the priest. The oil is referred to as the 'Oil of Gladness,' because this oil is a symbol of the new relationship between the candidate and God-and it is a joyous occasion; it is a sign of a new Covenant with God and serves as preparation for a lifetime of following God, a new journey and existence for the candidate. As mentioned, immediately after this action, the candidate is lowered into the baptismal font and properly baptized. And immediately after the threefold immersion in water (threefold in respect to the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit), oil is once again used.
This time, the oil used is one that is not only blessed, but mixed with a host of fragrances and spices, all indicative of the sweetness and richness of this new relationship with God. This mixture is referred to as the Holy Chrism, and the application of the Chrism is, like Baptism, a Sacrament of the Orthodox Church. The oil is applied to several places on the body--such as face, chest, hands, feet--and is meant to be a sign that the Holy Spirit now dwells in the newly baptized person. It is the .Seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit," and is applied in remembrance of the fact that immediately after Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit alighted on Jesus "like a dove: Thus the Church marks this indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every person through Chrismation.
Another Sacrament, Holy Unction, also utilizes blessed olive oil. Holy Unction can be administered at any time to the Orthodox Christian (though it is most often utilized during Wednesday of Holy Week, the Wednesday just before Easter or Paschal, and is often administered not only within the context of a religious service, but in the domestic or hospital setting. The Sacrament is said to be "for the healing of soul and body.. The Church realizes that every human being is broken, spiritually bruised and in need of healing; the Church also realizes that Jesus and His Apostles did a great deal of healing within the context of ministry. Thus the Church continues that ministry of healing through the Sacrament of Unction. The Unction is the visible sign of the Church's prayer for healing-again, not only for bodily ailments, but mainly .for spiritual ailments. Unction is a plea for forgiveness, for reconciliation with God and for God's saving grace. Through Unction, we ask that God make us spiritually whole, once again--that he fix what is broken in each of us.
Oil makes its final appearance in the Liturgical life of the Orthodox Christian during the Funeral Service (which is not a Sacrament). As the service draws to a close, and all of the prayers and blessings have been said, the priest approaches the departed with small containers containing oil and earth, respectively. He anoints the departed with both. He sprinkles the departed with earth, because we all come from the earth and eventually return to earth: this is our fate, the sobering reality of mortality; he anoints with oil, because as with Baptism, the person is getting ready for a new relationship with God, a new form of existence. We anoint the departed, because that person is about to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and must be prepared for this new, wonderful and joyous excursion. So even within the context of this difficult, mournful event, there is a hint of the joy and hope of Baptism--for the Orthodox, death is really a new beginning, a time when we will walk with God, experience His love in a new way, and receive His abundant mercy.
