We are very grateful to Fr Jean-Pierre Herman for sharing with us this important article about the Chrism Mass and its recent reforms. The French original was published two days ago on the website of the Schola Sainte-Cécile as a single article; it will be published here in two parts. Fr Herman is professor of liturgy at the Good Shepherd Institute’s Séminaire Saint-Vincent de Paul in Courtalain, France. The images from liturgical books are reproduced with the kind permission of the Schola Sainte-Cécile.
The Chrism Mass, from sacramental catechesis to ecclesiological celebration:
tradition, reform and change.
by Abbé Jean-Pierre Herman
Among the major liturgical rituals of the year, the Chrism Mass today occupies a major place in the liturgical life of dioceses. It is presented as one of the most significant manifestations of the fullness of the bishop's priesthood and the intimate bond that unites him to his priests. [1] It is the moment when the Church sanctifies the oils intended for the sacraments and, in its post-conciliar version, when the link between the ministerial priesthood, the people of God and the Paschal Mystery is publicly manifested. Priests solemnly renew their ordination promises, and the bishop visibly embodies the unity of the presbyterate.
However, it should be remembered that the term “Chrism Mass” did not appear until the reform of 1955. Until then, the Roman liturgy included only one celebration on Holy Thursday: the Mass in Coena Domini, during which the bishop proceeded to bless the oils. Ancient sources, such as the Gelasian Sacramentary, present several liturgical formularies linked to this day, but, as Hermann Schmidt has shown [2], these were not separate Masses, but a single ritual whole. The Gregorian Sacramentary, a century later, proposes only one form for the blessing of the oils. The Ordo Romanus I confirms this tradition of a single rite, [3] which was maintained with notable symbolic enrichments, admirably described by William Durandes, bishop of Mende, in his Rationale (or Manual of the Divine Offices), and taken up again in the Roman Pontifical of 1595, until the reform of the twentieth century. |
| Frontispiece of a 1511 edition of the Pontificale Romanum. |
Pius XII’s intention in the 1955 reform (Maxima Redemptionis nostrae mysteria) was to make this Mass a sacramental catechesis. By isolating the blessing of the oils from the evening Mass, the Pope wanted to emphasize that all sacramental grace flows from the Sacrifice of Christ. However, this reform, while respectful of the traditional canonical structure, paved the way for more radical developments. With the post-conciliar reform, the Chrism Mass became an ecclesiological celebration, centered no longer on sacramental grace, but on communion between the bishop, his priests and the people.
The traditional rite: a strong Eucharistic structure.
In the traditional rite, as codified in the Pontifical Romanum of 1595, the blessing of the Holy Oils is not an independent celebration, but is solemnly inscribed at the heart of the Mass in Coena Domini. Far from being a marginal addition, it is deeply integrated into the Eucharistic offering. This insertion manifests a fundamental liturgical and theological truth: all sanctification in the Church, including that of the sacramental instruments, flows directly from the sacrifice of Christ made present at the altar.
The three blessings - of the oil for catechumens, the oil for the infirm and the holy chrism - are structured around the Roman Canon. This structuring is not arbitrary: it expresses the fact that the mystery of the Cross and the Eucharist is the unique source of all grace. By blessing the oils as part of the Eucharistic sacrifice, the Church confesses that Christ, priest and victim, communicates his divine life through the sacraments that these oils are used to confer.
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| The beginning of the consecratory preface of the Holy Oils in an edition of the Roman Pontifical printed in 1497. |
The rite itself is remarkably rich in symbolism. It includes:
- the minister's breath on the oils, evoking the life-giving action of the Holy Spirit in creation and resurrection;
- the anointing in the chrism vessel, marking the intimate link between the oil and the sanctifying grace;
- the incensing of the sacred vessels, which signifies the ascension of prayer and the consecration of what is destined for God;
- the solemn chant of O Redemptor, a theological and contemplative hymn that magnifies the redemptive work of Christ in the sacraments;
- and the triple acclamation Fiat, taken up by the clergy, a liturgical sign of community assent to the invocation of the Paraclete.
The epiclesis that precedes the consecration of the chrism - Emitte, quaesumus, Domine, Spiritum Sanctum Paraclitum - establishes an explicit link with Pentecost: the chrismal oil is sanctified by the Spirit, just as the Apostles were in the Upper Room. This link shows that the sacramental ministry of the Church continues the work of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, through the Eucharistic sacrifice. The ancient liturgy thus retains a profound mystagogical coherence, rooted in the theology of the Paschal Mystery.
The 1955 reform: a catechetical turning point
The liturgical reform promulgated by Pius XII in 1955 introduced a significant change in tradition: it detached the blessing of the oils from the Mass in Coena Domini and instituted a separate Mass, known as the Chrism Mass, celebrated on the morning of Holy Thursday. This innovation broke with the ancient Roman custom, in which the unity of the Eucharistic sacrifice and the consecration of the oils bore symbolic witness to the fact that the sacraments derive their efficacy from the mystery of the Cross.
However, despite this new autonomy for the Chrism Mass, the internal structure of the celebration remains close to the Tridentine model: the blessings of the oils continue to be inserted at the end of the Roman Canon and after communion. This partial maintenance of the structure aims to preserve the sacramental significance of the gestures, while making them more intelligible to the assembly of the faithful, who are now more involved in the liturgical life.
The aim of this reform is no longer primarily to demonstrate the dependence of the sacraments on the Eucharist, but to highlight the diversity and beauty of the sacramental life of the Church, with a view that is more pedagogical than mystagogical. From a pastoral point of view, the link between the oils and the various sacraments they are used to confer should be made clear: baptism, confirmation, ordination and the anointing of the sick.
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| The beginning of the blessing of the Holy Oils in an edition of the Pontificale printed in Paris in 1683. |
Nevertheless, this reform has led to a significant simplification of the rites:
rich and symbolic gestures are largely reduced or modified;
Traditional orations, long, typically theological and often dense, are giving way to briefer texts, with a more accessible vocabulary, but sometimes less evocative;
The liturgy as a whole gains in clarity, but loses the mystical density that characterised the Tridentine Pontifical.
Post-conciliar reform: an ecclesiological celebration refocused on ministry
The liturgical reform promulgated in 1969, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, brought about a profound transformation of the Chrism Mass, both in its structure and in its theology. The underlying pastoral intention was clear: to make this celebration a visible manifestation of the unity of the presbyterate around the bishop, with greater emphasis on the communitarian and ministerial dimension of the priesthood. But this refocusing entails a significant theological shift: the Chrism Mass ceases to be a Eucharistic theophany of sacramental grace, becoming above all an ecclesiological presentation of the ministry.
The Chrism Mass was henceforth conceived as an autonomous celebration, which could be brought forward to another day in Holy Week, thus breaking with the ancient liturgical integration of Holy Thursday, the day of the priestly mystery par excellence. Most of the time, the blessings of the oils are no longer inserted into the Canon of the Mass, nor are they placed after communion, a possibility still offered by the rubrics, but moved to a separate moment, after the homily, in the form of a "rite of the oils" detached from the Eucharistic prayer. This change is not merely functional; it runs the risk of dissociating the sacraments from the altar, which is their ontological source.
A major innovation was added to this restructuring: the solemn renewal of the priestly promises by the priests. This element, totally absent from the previous liturgical tradition, constitutes a radical innovation introduced without historical precedent or ritual roots. Its inclusion in the liturgy is in keeping with a post-conciliar perspective of valuing the presbyteral ministry as a collegial participation in the mission of the bishop. Although this gesture is not at the heart of the celebration, it has become a high point, often highlighted in contemporary pastoral practice. It marks a turning point: the liturgy no longer celebrates only the action of Christ in his sacraments, but also the subjective commitment of the ministers themselves.
This refocusing has visible consequences in the way the rite is conducted. The Liturgy of the Word is enriched with texts of a catechetical nature, emphasising the prophetic, priestly and royal mission of the People of God, while the blessings of the oils, while retaining their ancient structures, are simplified in their implementation. The breathing, the anointing in the vessels, the acclamations such as the Fiat, the singing of O Redemptor: all these gestures are either abbreviated, made optional, or simply omitted. The symbolic and theological density of the rite is impoverished.
In short, the post-conciliar reform shifts the centre of gravity of the Chrism Mass from the sacramental union of the oils with the Eucharistic sacrifice to a celebration of the ministerial Church and of presbyteral communion. The focus is no longer primarily on the origin of the sacrament - Christ the priest offering his sacrifice - but on the human structure of the Church and the pastoral life of its ministers. The Chrism Mass thus becomes the mirror of a Church that contemplates itself, rather than a Church that receives everything from its Lord at the altar.
NOTES:
[1] Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani, quoted by G. TORNAMBE, «Évolution des rites de la Missa chrismatis», Revue des sciences religieuses, 90/1 (2016), pp. 81-103.[2] H. Sschmidt, «Formularia liturgica Feria V in Cena Domini: Considerationes criticae», Ephemerides Liturgicae, 71 (1957), pp. 733-736.
[3] M. Andrieu, Les Ordines Romani du Moyen-Age, I-V, Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense 11, 23, 24, 28, 29 ), Louvain, 1931-1961.
