Dear Friends,

Today in the spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, His Holiness KAREKIN II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, in the company of Archbishops and Bishops from throughout the world, consecrates the Holy Muron (Chrism).

Let us pray that this auspicious occasion be an opportunity for countless numbers to receive the anointing power of the Holy Spirit of God so that the Body of Christ may experience unprecedented growth. Amen.

With prayers,
Hayr Simeon

The following is an article by Dn Gevork Gevorkian on the Holy Muron:

Most Glorious – Grace Filled – Holy Muron

The seal of the graces of the Holy Spirit in the Armenian Church is imparted by means of the sacred and grace-filled Muron. Just as it is necessary to use water for baptism, by which the baptized is cleansed of his sins, likewise Muron is necessary for confirmation, by which the baptized one receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. According to Church Tradition, this is the very Muron which comes to us from one of Christ’s apostles, Thaddeus, and by special apostolic tradition was brought to Armenia and a few centuries later was blessed by St. Gregory the Enlightener. It is the very same Muron, which has been passed down in an unbroken chain from catholicos to catholicos and is today renewed and replenished. The old is mysteriously mixed into the new and is made always new; and the new receiving life from its roots comes to us without ever being depleted or diluted.

In the Old Testament God spoke to Moses saying, “Take the finest spices…and you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by a perfumer; a holy anointing oil it shall be. And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations.” (Exodus 30) The holy Muron is prepared in this same way today: it is a unique, mystical, sanctifying and pure oil of anointing. More than forty fragrant ingredients are mixed into it. With the immense growth in the number of faithful, ordination was conferred by means of the use of holy oil or Muron, whose origin we read of in the gospel where it says that Jesus’ disciples healed the sick by anointing them. (Mark 6:13) Moses anointed Aaron for the priestly service of God. (Exodus 30:30) With that same oil Moses anointed and sanctified the vessels of the Temple. The Patriarch Jacob anointed with oil the pillar of stone he set up in Bethel. (Genesis 35:14) Samuel anointed Saul with holy oil. (I Kings 16:1-13) By means of these anointings the Spirit of God descended on them and they prophesied. In the Old Testament all visible and invisible signs were incomplete since they were done in the name of the One, who was yet to come and who would recreate matter.

The theological significance of the oil of anointing is deeply expressed in the Song of Solomon where the bride says to the groom, “Your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is oil poured out.” (Song of Solomon 1:3) According to the Church fathers, the “poured out fragrance oil” is Christ the Anointed one himself. “The oil of divinity which is poured into our nature, is (without being separated) united with him. It anoints him and makes him divine. The pre-existent eternal Word is poured into our nature, and becomes true man from the holy Virgin. Therefore, until Christ came, they anointed in the name of the Incarnate Word. That anointing was not complete, but was rather a pre-shadowing (pre-figuring) because the Anointed one had not yet come, by whom all Old Testament signs would be fulfilled, and the out-pouring of the Oil would receive a perfect meaning and divine mystery.” (Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Datev). St. Gregory of Narek says that this blessed and illuminated Oil is the “glorious image of the Creator of Heaven” “this illuminated and incense-filled Oil is the picture of your heavenly love” “this light-bearing liquid is your worshipped grace-imparting hand.”

The above-mentioned events show that the holy Muron used in the Old and New Testaments is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, which sanctifies, cleanses and empowers the one being confirmed (chrismated). By virtue of the prayers of the Rite of the Blessing of Muron, the energy of the All-holy Trinity is mixed into the most glorious Muron and that it becomes the gift of God’s grace, which leads the confirmed towards perfection and holiness. Man, who has sinned by (partaking of the forbidden) fruit and has become alien to God, is again accepted by means of the oil of fruit and is united to the Holy Spirit. Thus by prayer and by anointing, the confirmed internally receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit and become “Christians”, that is “Anointed ones” and adopted members of the mystical body of Christ, heirs and fellow heirs of Christ. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." (Romans 8:15-17)

source - www.armenianchurch.net

+ + + + +

With prayers.
Hayr Simeon
September 28, 2008