Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume XIV/Additional Canons 1/Synod of Laodicea/Canons/Canon XLVIII

Canon XLVIII.

who are baptized must after Baptism be anointed with the heavenly chrism, and be partakers of the Kingdom of Christ.

Notes.

XLVIII.

Those illuminated should after their baptism be anointed.

That this canon refers to the anointing with chrism on the forehead of the baptized, that is to say of the sacrament of confirmation, is the unanimous opinion of the Greek commentators, and Balsamon notes that this anointing is not simply styled &#8220;chrism&#8221; but &#8220;the heavenly chrism,&#8221; viz.:&#160; &#8220;that which is sanctified by holy prayers and through the invocation of the Holy Spirit; and those who are anointed therewith, it sanctifies and makes partakers of the kingdom of heaven.&#8221;

(Lib. i., Observat. cap. xv.)

Formerly no one was esteemed worthy of the name Christian or reckoned among the perfect who had not been confirmed and endowed with the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The prayers for the consecration of the Holy Chrism according to the rites of the East and of the West should be carefully read by the student.&#160; Those of the East are found in the Euchologion, and those of the West in the Pontificale Romanum, De Officio in feria v. C&#339;na Domini.