Epiphany Hymn 3: Christ and the Chrism

Christ and chrism are joined together; the hidden is mingled with the visible.

The chrism anoints visibly;

Christ seals secretly

the lambs, newborn and spiritual, the prize of his twofold victory;

for he engendered it from the chrism, and he gave it birth from the water.

Refrain: Christ, with chrism, look, is sealing the newborn lambs in his flock!

How exalted is your rank!

For she who was a sinner anointed the feet of her Lord as a servant girl.

But for you, Christ, as though he were a minister,

seals and anoints your bodies by the hand of his servants.

It befits him, the Lord of the flock,

to seal his sheep in his own person.

Since she, that sinner, needed forgiveness,

the anointing was an offering for her,

and by it her love reconciled her Lord.

But for you who are the flock, among the profane and the unbelievers,

the Truth, by means of the chrism, is your seal,

to separate you from those who have strayed.

He separated the People from the peoples by the former seal of circumcision;

but by the seal of anointing he separates the peoples from the People.

When the peoples were in error, he separated the People from the peoples;

now that the People has strayed from him, he separates the peoples from it.

Naaman carried away some dust of the pure soil and went back to his own place,

so that by this holy dust he might be set apart and known from the unclean.

The chrism of Christ separates the children of the mystery from strangers;

and by it those who are inside are separated and known from those who are outside.

The oil that Elijah multiplied could be tasted with the mouth,

for the jar was the widow’s; it was not the jar of the chrism.

The oil of our Lord that is in the jar is not food for the mouth:

the sinner who was a wolf outside, it makes a lamb in the flock.

The chrism of the meek and lowly One changes the stubborn to be like its Lord.

The Gentiles were wolves, and they feared the severe rod of Moses.

Look! The chrism seals them, and makes a flock of sheep out of the wolves!

And the wolves that had fled from the rod, look, they have taken refuge in the cross!

The olive leaf arrived, brought as a figure of the anointing;

the children of the ark rejoiced to greet it, for it brought good news of deliverance.

So you too rejoiced to greet it, this holy anointing.

The bodies of sinners were glad in it, for it brought good news of deliverance.

And again, the oil that Jacob poured on the stone when he sealed it,

so that it should stand between him and God, and so that he might offer his tithes there:

look, in it is a symbol of your bodies,

how they are sealed as holy by the chrism and become temples for God,

where he will be served by your sacrifices.

When Moses had sealed and anointed the sons of Aaron the Levite,

the fire consumed their bodies, but the fire spared their garments.

But you, my brothers and sisters, are blessed, for the fire of grace has come down,

has consumed your offenses completely, and has cleansed and made holy your bodies!

As for the anointing of Aaron, my brothers and sisters,

it was the worthless blood of beasts that it sprinkled on the horns of the altar.

This is the anointing of truth,

in which the living Blood, which gives life to all, is sprinkled inwardly in your bodies,

is mingled in your understandings, and is poured through your innermost chambers.

The anointed priests used to offer the slain bodies of beasts;

you who are anointed and surpass them, your offerings are your own bodies.

The anointed Levites offered the inward parts taken from beasts;

you have surpassed the Levites, for you have consecrated your hearts.

The anointing of the People was a foreshadowing of Christ;

their rod a mystery of the cross;

their lamb a type of the only Son;

their tabernacle a mystery of your churches;

their circumcision a sign of your sealing.

The People of old sat under the shadow of the good thing that is yours.

So the truth is like a great, shady tree:

it cast its shade on the People; it struck its root among the peoples.

The People lived under its shadows, and its shadows were its mysteries;

but the Gentiles lodged on its branches, and picked and ate its fruits.

As for the anointing of Saul to be king:

the sweeter its fragrance was, the fouler was the smell of his heart.

The Spirit struck him and fled.

The anointing you have is greater; for your minds are censers,

the Spirit exults in your temples, and you will be a chamber for him forever.

As for the anointing of David, my brothers and sisters:

the Spirit came down and made a sweet fragrance

in the heart of the man in whom he delighted;

the fragrance of his heart was like the fragrance of his deeds.

The Spirit lived in him and made song in him.

The anointing you have is greater, for Father and Son and Holy Spirit

have moved and come down to live in you.

When the leper of old was cleansed,

the priest used to seal him with oil and lead him to the spring.

The type has passed away, and the truth has come:

look, you have been sealed with chrism,

in baptism you are made perfect, in the flock you are mingled,

from the Body you are nourished.

What leper, when he has been cleansed, turns back and longs for his leprosy?

You have taken off your transgressions: leave them behind!

No one puts on again the leprosy he has taken off.

It has fallen and sunk: do not let it be drawn out!

It is wasted and worn: do not let it be renewed!

Do not let corruption break out on you, whom the chrism of Christ has anointed!

A vessel molded of clay gains beauty from the water and receives strength from the fire;

but if it slips, it is ruined, and cannot be made new again.

You are vessels of grace; be wary of it, that is, of justice,

for it does not grant two renewals.

How like you are, by comparison, to the prophet whom the fish gave up!

The Devourer has given you back, for he was compelled

by the Power that compelled the fish.

Jonah was a mirror for you:

since the fish did not swallow him again,

do not let the Devourer swallow you again. Now that you have been given up, be like Jonah!

Mary poured fine ointment on the head of our Lord;

its fragrance filled the whole house.

So too the fragrance of your anointing

has spread and perfumed the heavens, giving pleasure to the Watchers on high;

to Satan its fragrance is overpowering; to God its odor is sweet.

The crowds in the desert were like sheep that have no shepherd.

The Merciful One became their shepherd, and multiplied the pasture of bread for them.

Yes, blessed are you who are perfect, who are sealed as lambs of Christ,

who are made worthy of his body and blood:

the Shepherd himself has become pasture for you!

Out of water he made the wine, and gave it to the young people to drink at the feast.

For you who are keeping the fast, the anointing is better than drink.

By his wine the betrothed are wedded; by his oil the wedded are made holy.

By his wine comes union; by his oil, holiness.

The sheep of Christ leaped for joy to receive the seal of life,

that standard of kings which has always put sin to flight.

The Wicked One is routed by your standard; iniquities are scattered by your sign.

Come, you sheep, receive your seal, which puts to flight those who devour you!

Come, you lambs, receive your seal, for it is truth that is your seal!

This is the seal that separates the members of the household from strangers.

The steel circumcised alike those who contradict and the sons of Hagar.

If circumcision is the sign of the sheep, look, the goats are marked by it too.

But you, who are the new flock, have put off the ways of wolves,

and as lambs are made like the Lamb.

One, by changing, has changed all:

the Lamb gave himself to the wolves to be slain;

the wolves rushed and devoured him, and became lambs;

for the Shepherd was changed into a Lamb, and likewise the wolf forgot his nature.

Look on me also in your mercy! Do not let the seal of the goats,

the children of the left hand, be branded on me!

Do not let your sheep become a goat!

For though I was not able to make myself righteous, yet I did not will to be a sinner.

Turn your eyes, O my Lord, from what I have done,

and do not seek only what I have willed.

From those who write and those who preach,

from those who hear and those who are sealed,

let glory go up to Christ, and through him exaltation to his Father!

He who gives words to those who speak,

and gives voice to those who preach,

has given understanding to those who hear,

and consecrates chrism for the one who is sealed.