Selected Writings · Saint Cyril of Jerusalem

Mystagogical Lecture 3 — On the Mysteries III: On Chrism

c. 350

Home› Holy Fathers› Saint Cyril of …› Mystagogical Lecture 3 — On …

The third Mystagogical lecture explains the holy chrism that follows baptism as the antitype of the anointing of Christ with the Holy Spirit, applied to the forehead and the senses.

Trans. Edwin Hamilton Gifford, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. 7 (1894). Public domain. · view source

(On the Mysteries. III.)

On Chrism.

1 John 2:20-28

But you have an unction from the Holy One, etc.....that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

1. Having been baptized into Christ, and put on Christ Galatians 3:27, you have been made conformable to the Son of God; for God having foreordained us unto adoption as sons Ephesians 1:5, made us to be conformed to the body of Christ's glory. Philippians 3:21 Having therefore become partakers of Christ Hebrews 3:14, you are properly called Christs, and of you God said, Touch not My Christs, or anointed. Now you have been made Christs, by receiving the antitype of the Holy Ghost; and all things have been wrought in you by imitation, because you are images of Christ. He washed in the river Jordan, and having imparted of the fragrance of His Godhead to the waters, He came up from them; and the Holy Ghost in the fullness of His being lighted on Him, like resting upon like. And to you in like manner, after you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams, there was given an Unction, the anti-type of that wherewith Christ was anointed; and this is the Holy Ghost; of whom also the blessed Esaias, in his prophecy respecting Him, said in the person of the Lord, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me: He has sent Me to preach glad tidings to the poor Isaiah 61:1.

2. For Christ was not anointed by men with oil or material ointment, but the Father having before appointed Him to be the Saviour of the whole world, anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, as Peter says, Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Ghost. Acts 10:38 David also the Prophet cried, saying, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Your kingdom; You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God even Your God has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows. And as Christ was in reality crucified, and buried, and raised, and you are in Baptism accounted worthy of being crucified, buried, and raised together with Him in a likeness, so is it with the unction also. As He was anointed with an ideal oil of gladness, that is, with the Holy Ghost, called oil of gladness, because He is the author of spiritual gladness, so you were anointed with ointment, having been made partakers and fellows of Christ.

3. But beware of supposing this to be plain ointment. For as the Bread of the Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, is mere bread no longer, but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no more simple ointment, nor (so to say) common, after invocation, but it is Christ's gift of grace, and, by the advent of the Holy Ghost, is made fit to impart His Divine Nature. Which ointment is symbolically applied to your forehead and your other senses; and while your body is anointed with the visible ointment, your soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit.

4. And you were first anointed on the forehead, that you might be delivered from the shame, which the first man who transgressed bore about with him everywhere; and that with unveiled face ye might reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 Then on your ears; that you might receive the ears which are quick to hear the Divine Mysteries, of which Esaias said, The Lord gave me also an ear to hear Isaiah 50:4; and the Lord Jesus in the Gospel, He that has ears to hear let him hear. Matthew 11:15 Then on the nostrils; that receiving the sacred ointment ye may say, We are to God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved. 2 Corinthians 2:15 Afterwards on your breast; that having put on the breast-plate of righteousness, you may stand against the wiles of the devil. For as Christ after His Baptism, and the visitation of the Holy Ghost, went forth and vanquished the adversary, so likewise ye, after Holy Baptism and the Mystical Chrism, having put on the whole armour of the Holy Ghost, are to stand against the power of the adversary, and vanquish it, saying, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me Philippians 4:13.

5. Having been counted worthy of this Holy Chrism, you are called Christians, verifying the name also by your new birth. For before you were deemed worthy of this grace, you had properly no right to this title, but were advancing on your way towards being Christians.

6. Moreover, you should know that in the old Scripture there lies the symbol of this Chrism. For what time Moses imparted to his brother the command of God, and made him High-priest, after bathing in water, he anointed him; and Aaron was called Christ or Anointed, evidently from the typical Chrism. So also the High-priest, in advancing Solomon to the kingdom, anointed him after he had bathed in Gihon. 1 Kings 1:39 To them however these things happened in a figure, but to you not in a figure, but in truth; because you were truly anointed by the Holy Ghost. Christ is the beginning of your salvation; for He is truly the First-fruit, and you the mass Romans 11:16; but if the First-fruit be holy, it is manifest that Its holiness will pass to the mass also.

7. Keep This unspotted: for it shall teach you all things, if it abide in you, as you have just heard declared by the blessed John, discoursing much concerning this Unction. For this holy thing is a spiritual safeguard of the body, and salvation of the soul. Of this the blessed Esaias prophesying of old time said, And on this mountain, — (now he calls the Church a mountain elsewhere also, as when he says, In the last days the mountain of the Lord's house shall be manifest Isaiah 2:2;)— on this mountain shall the Lord make unto all nations a feast; they shall drink wine, they shall drink gladness, they shall anoint themselves with ointment. And that he may make you sure, hear what he says of this ointment as being mystical; Deliver all these things to the nations, for the counsel of the Lord is unto all nations. Having been anointed, therefore, with this holy ointment, keep it unspotted and unblemished in you, pressing forward by good works, and being made well-pleasing to the Captain of your salvation, Christ Jesus, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Trans. Edwin Hamilton Gifford, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. 7 (1894). Public domain. The text above is reproduced from this public-domain source.

← Back to Saint Cyril of Jerusalem

More from Saint Cyril of Jerusalem

Other writings of this Father.

Procatechesis (Prologue) Cyril addresses candidates preparing for Baptism, urging sincerity of purpose, secrecy of the mysteries, and earnest repentance during the Lenten season of preparation. First Catechetical Lecture: To those who are to be Enlightened An introductory exhortation to those who have come forward for Baptism, calling them to repentance, sincerity, and diligent attendance at the catechizings. Second Catechetical Lecture: On Repentance and Remission of Sins, and Concerning the Adversary Cyril teaches that sin is a self-chosen evil prompted by the devil, yet curable through repentance, illustrating God's loving-kindness with many scriptural examples. Third Catechetical Lecture: On Baptism Cyril explains the spiritual grace given through the water of Baptism, its scriptural foreshadowings, and its power to cleanse the soul and confer adoption. Fourth Catechetical Lecture: On the Ten Points of Doctrine A summary of essential Christian doctrine covering God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the soul and body, the resurrection, the Scriptures, and rules of Christian conduct. Fifth Catechetical Lecture: Of Faith Cyril sets forth the dignity and power of faith, distinguishing doctrinal faith from the charismatic gift of faith, and charges the candidates to guard the Creed. Sixth Catechetical Lecture: Concerning the Unity of God. On the Article, I Believe in One God. Also Concerning Heresies Cyril affirms the incomprehensibility and unity of the one God, then refutes idolatry and a succession of heresies, culminating in a detailed account of Mani. Seventh Catechetical Lecture — The Father Cyril expounds the article “In One God the Father,” showing that God is by nature the Father of the Only-begotten Son and only in an improper, gracious sense the Father of men. Eighth Catechetical Lecture — Almighty Cyril teaches that the one God the Father is Almighty, ruling all things by His power while patiently enduring evil, against heretics who divide or limit His dominion. Ninth Catechetical Lecture — On the Words, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of All Things Visible and Invisible Cyril argues that the invisible Creator is known proportionably through the order and beauty of His creatures, refuting heretics who blaspheme the Maker of the world. Tenth Catechetical Lecture — On the Clause, And in One Lord Jesus Christ Cyril unfolds the one Lord Jesus Christ under His many scriptural titles and marshals a long chain of witnesses to His sole Lordship and divinity. Eleventh Catechetical Lecture — On the Words, The Only-Begotten Son of God, Begotten of the Father Very God Before All Ages, by Whom All Things Were Made Cyril defends the eternal, ineffable generation of the Only-begotten Son, Very God of Very God, through whom all things were made. Twelfth Catechetical Lecture — On the Words Incarnate, and Made Man Cyril sets forth why and how God the Word became truly man, born of the Virgin, answering Jews, Greeks, and heretics from prophecy and reason. Thirteenth Catechetical Lecture — On the Words, Crucified and Buried Cyril glories in the Cross of Christ, gathering prophetic testimonies to His Passion, death, and burial, and urging the faithful never to be ashamed of the Crucified. Catechetical Lecture 14 — On the Words, And Rose Again from the Dead on the Third Day, and Ascended into the Heavens, and Sat on the Right Hand of the Father. St. Cyril expounds the Creed's articles on Christ's resurrection on the third day, His ascension into heaven, and His sitting at the right hand of the Father, marshalling scriptural prophecies and eyewitness testimonies to confirm the Resurrection against Jewish and Manichaean denials. Catechetical Lecture 15 — On the Clause, And Shall Come in Glory to Judge the Quick and the Dead; Of Whose Kingdom There Shall Be No End. St. Cyril expounds the Creed's clause on Christ's second coming in glory to judge the living and the dead, setting forth the signs of the end, the coming of Antichrist, the resurrection and judgment, and the everlasting kingdom of Christ that shall have no end. Catechetical Lecture 16 — On the Article, And in One Holy Ghost, the Comforter, Which Spoke in the Prophets. St. Cyril expounds the article of the Creed on the One Holy Spirit, the Comforter who spoke in the prophets, refuting heretics and gathering Old Testament testimonies to the Spirit. Catechetical Lecture 17 — Continuation of the Discourse on the Holy Ghost. St. Cyril continues his discourse on the Holy Spirit, enumerating the Spirit's many scriptural titles and tracing His work through the Gospel and Apostolic history of the New Testament. Catechetical Lecture 18 — On the Words, And in One Holy Catholic Church, and in the Resurrection of the Flesh, and the Life Everlasting. St. Cyril of Jerusalem expounds the resurrection of the flesh, the one Holy Catholic Church, and the life everlasting, refuting Greeks, Samaritans, and heretics with arguments from nature and Scripture. Mystagogical Lecture 1 — On the Mysteries: Of the rites before Baptism (First Lecture on the Mysteries) The first Mystagogical lecture explains the rites performed in the outer chamber before baptism, especially the renunciation of Satan, his works, pomp, and service while facing westward. Mystagogical Lecture 2 — On the Mysteries II: Of Baptism The second Mystagogical lecture interprets the rites of baptism in the inner chamber—the stripping, anointing, and threefold immersion—as a sharing by imitation in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Mystagogical Lecture 4 — On the Mysteries IV: On the Body and Blood of Christ The fourth Mystagogical lecture teaches that the consecrated bread and wine are truly the Body and Blood of Christ, to be received with full assurance of faith rather than judged by the senses. Mystagogical Lecture 5 — On the Mysteries V: On the Sacred Liturgy and Communion The fifth Mystagogical lecture walks through the order of the Eucharistic liturgy—from the washing of hands and kiss of peace through the consecration, intercessions, the Lord's Prayer, and the manner of receiving Holy Communion.