Chrism (from xp^trfm^ oil, unction), consecrated oil, used in the Roman and Eastern churches in the rites of baptism, confirmation, ordination, and extreme unc- tion.
1. Origin of the Utage.-^In the N. T. the word is ^tted metaphorically for the grace of the Spirit ; e. g. Mn xi, 20, Te have an unction {xpiopui)from the Hdy Om. The actual use ofon in Christian rites is ascribed Vy Basil (and some Romanist writers follow him) to the apostles, but there is no foundation for this. It is PfobaUe that the name Christian {anointed) itself gave ^^ St an early period, to the anointing of heathens J^e or at their baptisuL Unction is mentioned by Tertolliiia, Cyril of Jerusalem, and the Apostolical ^wwtitotioni; and in the fonrtii century it seems to be found m gaiend use throughout the Church. From
T«rtallian*8 time (A.D. 220) onward we find mentfon of a double anointing at baptism, one before, the other after. The latter is called, by way of distinction, yfiiiriJM. The first (IXoiov) was preparatory, and took place bnmediately after exorcism and the signature of the cross. Of the design oi chrism, Cyril of Jerusa- lem {Cateche$. Myttag. 2) says, *'Men were anomted from head to foot with this consecrated oil, and this made them partakers of the true olive-tree, ^esus Christ For they, being cut out of a wild olive-tree, and ingrafted into a good olive-tree, were made par- takers of the fatness of the good olive-tree. ' ' Ambrose {De Sacrament, lib. i, c. 2) compares it to the anointing of the wrestlers before the combat: *■*■ Thou earnest to the font and wast anointed as a champion of Christ, to fight the fight of this world." A distinction between the two anointhngs is made. '* Men were first anoint- ed with the ancient oil, that they may be Christ's ; that is, the anointed of (}od ; but they were anointed witii the precious ointment after baptism in remem- brance of him who reputed the anointing of himself with ointment to be his burial" (Justin Mart Beapona. ad Orthodox. qn.isr). The ApoitoL Constitutions mtike the same distinction (bk. voi, ch. 22). Cbrysostom says, "Every person, before he was baptized, was anointed as wrestlers entering the field ; and this not as the high-priest was anointed of old, only on the head, or right hand, or ear, but all over his body, be- cause he came not only to be taught, but to exercise himself in a fight or combat" {Horn, tn in Coloss.),
2. In the Roman and Greek Churches.-— {1) At bap- tism the catechumen is anointed with '*holy oil" on the breast and between the shoulders, by the priest, with the sign of the cross; after the baptism, the chrism is applied to the crown of the head, that the person baptized may know "that he is called a Chris- tian from Christ, as Christ is so called from chrism" {Catechism of Trent, p. 186, 186, Bait ed.). (2) In confirmation, the chrism (made of olive oil and balsam, and consecrated by the bishop) constitutes the matter of the sacrameqt, a doctrine resting ultimately upon the forged decretals (q. v.), and is applied to the fore- head of the person confirmed {Catechism of Trent, p. 141 sq.). (8) In extreme unction, olive oil alone can be used (without balsam), and it is applied to the or- gans of the five senses, and also to the loins and feet
The Greek Church agrees with the Roman as to the q)iritual value of chrism, but there are some difiRsr- ences of usage. Both require that the chrism shall be consecrated ; but every bishop ha$t the right to conse- crate it m the Roman Church, while the Greek con- fines this power to the patriarchs. The Greek Church, however, uses a chrism compounded of some forty in- gredients, besides oil (see list of them in Siegel, i, 897). See CoNFiBMATioK ; ExTBiaf E Unctiok.
In the Protestant churches chrism is not used. — Bingham, Orig. Eodes. bk. xi, ch. 9, 10; Siegel, AUer^ thOmer, i, 896 sq. ; ElUott, Delineation of Bomanism, bk. ii, ch. 2, 8 ; Burnet, On the Articles, art. xxv.
Chrlsome {chrismeUe). In the Roman Church the priest puts on the baptized person after the Chrism a white robe, saying, "Receive this white garment, which mayest thou carry unstained, etc." In the bap- tism of infants a white kerchief is given instead of the garment, with the same words.
By a constitution of Edmund, archbishop of Canter- bury, A.D. 736, the chrisomes, after having served the purposes of baptism, were to be made use of only for the making or mending of surplices, etc., or for the wrapping of chalices. A " chrisome child, '^in old Eng- lish usage, was a child in its chrisome cloth. Thus Jeremy Taylor : " This day is mine and yours, but ye know not what shall be on the morrow; and every morning creeps out of a dark cloud, leaving behind it an ignorance and silence deep as midnight, and undis- cemed as are the phantasms that make a chrisome child to smile*' {Hp^ Dgung^ chap, i, sec 2).
CHRIST
260
CHRIST
The first Common Prajer-book of King Edward or- ders that the woman shall ofler the chrbome when she comes to be churched ; bat, if the child happens to die before her churching, she was excused fh>m oflbring it ; and it was customary to use it as a shroud, and to wrap the child in it when it was buried. Hence, by an abuse of words, the term is now used in England not to denote children who di^ between the time of their baptism and the churching of the mother, but to denote children who die before they are baptized, and so are incapable of Christian buriaL — Catechigm of Trent (Bait, ed.), p. 186 ; Hook, Chur<^ Dictionary^ s. y. ; Procter, On Common Prayer^ 878.