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Office Of Readings | Easter Friday | A Reading From The Instructions To The Newly Baptized At Jerusalem | On The Anointing With The Holy Spirit
‘The anointing of the Holy Spirit.’
Fragrance Of Christ | On The Anointing With The Holy Spirit
In the early Church, the days after Easter were not merely about looking back to the resurrection of Christ — they were about awakening the newly baptized to the mystery that they had just entered. The Jerusalem Catecheses, a series of teachings attributed to St. Cyril of Jerusalem or a contemporary bishop in the 4th century, offer us a glimpse into that world. Today’s passage reflects on what happens after baptism — the anointing with chrism — and why it matters so deeply.
The catechist begins with a striking claim: when we were baptized and anointed, we became like Christ — not just in name, but in substance. Baptism made us new, and the anointing sealed that newness. It was not a mere ritual. We were, in his words, ‘transformed into the likeness of the Son of God.’ This is the heart of Christian life: to be shaped, inwardly and outwardly, into the pattern of Jesus. Not to imitate him from afar, but to live in him.
In Scripture, to be ‘anointed’ is to be chosen, set apart, and filled with God’s Spirit. Kings, priests, and prophets were anointed for sacred tasks. The word ‘Christ’ itself means ‘Anointed One’. So when the catechist says we are now ‘the anointed ones’, he’s saying something profound: that we now share in Christ’s identity and his mission. What he is by nature, we become by grace. This was not just a metaphor for the early Christians — it was reality.
The anointing with chrism — a fragrant oil — symbolized and enacted the coming of the Holy Spirit. This wasn’t just olive oil from a press; it had been consecrated with prayer, and, as the catechist reminds us, ‘after the invocation of the Spirit it is no longer ordinary oil but the gift of Christ.’ That line deserves to be lingered over. The early Church truly believed that matter could carry mystery — that visible signs, like water and oil and fire, could be vessels of divine grace.
This moment in the baptismal rite echoes Christ’s own anointing at the Jordan River. After Jesus emerged from the water, the Spirit descended upon him. Not as a dove only, but as the fullness of God’s presence. The catechist writes beautifully that the Spirit ‘rested upon him, like resting upon like’ — the perfect match of holiness to holiness. In our baptism, that same Spirit rests upon us. In that moment, we are not only forgiven; we are claimed.
The image that lingers is the phrase ‘the oil of gladness’. It comes from Psalm 45, a royal wedding song later applied to Christ in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is that oil — not a burden, not a weight, but gladness itself. This anointing is joy. It reminds us that Easter is not just a solemn mystery but a radiant one. The Spirit given to us is not abstract. He is the source of new life, fresh joy, spiritual fragrance.
That’s why the catechist cautions us not to see this as a mere ritual. The oil touches the forehead, yes — but something deeper happens beneath the surface. ‘Our souls are sanctified by the holy and life-giving Spirit.’ This early Church theology isn’t interested in empty symbolism. The signs are real. The transformation is real.
And what does this mean for us now? If we’ve been anointed with the same Spirit as Christ, then our lives should carry the same scent. We are meant to become bearers of Christ in the world — people marked by peace, joy, compassion, and courage. The anointing isn’t just something that happened to us once; it is something that continues to shape who we are.
As we move deeper into Easter, this reading from the Jerusalem Catecheses calls us to remember who we have become. The risen Christ lives in us. The Spirit rests upon us. And through us, his fragrance is meant to spread into the world — not by force, but by quiet radiance.
A Reading From The Instructions To The Newly Baptized At Jerusalem | On The Anointing With The Holy Spirit
When we were baptized into Christ and clothed ourselves in him, we were transformed into the likeness of the Son of God. Having destined us to be his adopted sons, God gave us a likeness to Christ in his glory, and living as we do in communion with Christ, God’s anointed, we ourselves are rightly called ‘the anointed ones.’ When he said: Do not touch my anointed ones, God was speaking of us.
We became ‘the anointed ones’ when we received the sign of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, everything took place in us by means of images, because we ourselves are images of Christ. Christ bathed in the river Jordan, imparting to its waters the fragrance of his divinity, and when he came up from them the Holy Spirit descended upon him, like resting upon like. So we also, after coming up from the sacred waters of baptism, were anointed with chrism, which signifies the Holy Spirit, by whom Christ was anointed and of whom blessed Isaiah prophesied in the name of the Lord: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor.
Christ’s anointing was not by human hands, nor was it with ordinary oil. On the contrary, having destined him to be the Saviour of the whole world, the Father himself anointed him with the Holy Spirit. The words of Peter bear witness to this: Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit. And David the prophet proclaimed: Your throne, O God, shall endure for ever; your royal sceptre is a sceptre of justice. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above all your fellows.
The oil of gladness with which Christ was anointed was a spiritual oil; it was in fact the Holy Spirit himself, who is called the oil of gladness because he is the source of spiritual joy. But we too have been anointed with oil, and by this anointing we have entered into fellowship with Christ and have received a share in his life. Beware of thinking that this holy oil is simply ordinary oil and nothing else. After the invocation of the Spirit it is no longer ordinary oil but the gift of Christ, and by the presence of his divinity it becomes the instrument through which we receive the Holy Spirit. While symbolically, on our foreheads and senses, our bodies are anointed with this oil that we see, our souls are sanctified by the holy and life-giving Spirit.
Christian Art | Our Lord Jesus On The Cross | God The Father | God The Son Office Of Readings | Advent December 23rd | A Reading From The Treatise Of Saint Hippolytus Against The Heresy Of Noetus | The Hidden Sacrament Is Revealed ‘The hidden sacrament is revealed.’ In this reading, Saint Hippolytus writes against the Noetic heresy, which denied the real distinction between the Father and the Son by treating them as the same person acting under different names. The purpose of Saint Hippolytus is to defend the Church’s confession of one God who is not solitary, but who exists with his Word and Spirit. Hippolytus begins by setting a principle: knowledge of God comes from the Holy Scriptures, not from speculation or private reasoning. Faith is not shaped by human preference but by what God has chosen to reveal. The Father determines how He is believed, the Son how He is glorified, and the Spirit how He is received. This establishes Scripture as the rule of faith and guards against theological invention. Hippolytus then affirms that God existed alone before creation, with nothing co-eternal alongside Him. At the same time, God was not without reason, wisdom, or power. Hippolytus insists that plurality within God does not compromise divine unity. God contains within himself Word, wisdom, and counsel. Creation begins when God wills and manifests His Word. The Word is not created from nothing but proceeds from God and acts as the agent of creation. The Word is first invisible to the created world, though known to God. When God chooses, He makes the Word visible, described as ‘Light of Light’. This language safeguards both distinction and unity: the Word comes from God and reveals God, without being separate from Him. The manifestation of the Word is ordered towards salvation, so that the world may see and be saved. Hippolytus identifies this Word clearly with the Son of God. Through him all things were made, and he alone comes forth from the Father. The Law and the prophets belong to the same saving plan. God speaks through them by the Holy Spirit, so that they proclaim not their own ideas but the Father’s will. Revelation is therefore coherent: creation, prophecy, and incarnation belong to one divine purpose. Hippolytus appeals to the Gospel of John to show continuity between prophecy and fulfilment. The Word spoken of by the prophets is the Word made flesh. Though the world was made through him, it failed to recognise him. This failure does not negate God’s plan but reveals the depth of the mystery now disclosed. A Reading From The Treatise Of Saint Hippolytus Against The Heresy Of Noetus | The Hidden Sacrament Is Revealed There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures and from no other source. Whatever things the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us look; and whatever they teach, let us learn it; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as he wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify him; and as he wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet storming by force the things which are given by God, but even as he has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures, so let us discern them. God, subsisting alone, and having nothing coeval with himself, chose to create the world. And conceiving the world in mind, and willing and uttering the Word, he made it; and at once it appeared, formed it in the way he desired. For us it is sufficient simply to know that nothing was coeval with God. Outside him there was nothing; but he, while existing alone, yet existed in plurality. For he did not lack reason, or wisdom, or power, or counsel. All things were in him, and he was the All. At a time and in a manner chosen by him he made his Word manifest, and through his Word he made all things. He bears this Word in himself, as yet invisible to the created world. He makes him visible, uttering the voice first, and begetting him as Light of Light. He presents him to the world as its Lord; and whereas the Word was visible formerly to God alone, and invisible to the world which is made, God makes the Word visible in order that the world might see him and be able to be saved. This is the mind which came forth into the world and was manifested as the Son of God. All things came into being through him, and he alone comes from the Father. He gave us the Law and the prophets; and in giving them, he made them speak by the Holy Ghost, in order that, receiving the inspiration of the Father’s power, they might declare the Father’s counsel and will. Thus, then, was the Word made manifest, even as the blessed John says. For he sums up the things that were said by the prophets, and shows that this is the Word, by whom all things were made. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him nothing was made. And later, The world was made by him, and the world did not know him; he came to his own, and his own did not receive him. Christian Prayer With Jesus Lord God,You are one, and from You come the Word and the Spirit.You have chosen to make Yourself known, not by human effort,but by what You have revealed in the scriptures. You spoke Your Word, and all things were made.You made that Word visible, so that the world might see and be saved.Grant that we may receive what You give,believe what You teach,and worship You as You have shown Yourself to be. Keep us […]
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In this reading from his letter to the Church of Smyrna, Saint Ignatius of Antioch sets out a clear and careful confession of faith in Jesus Christ. Writing as a bishop on his way to martyrdom, he addresses a community he knows to be firm in faith and love, and he seeks to strengthen them in the truth of Christ’s person and saving work [ … ]
