Sacred Oils

Paul Turner is pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, Missouri, and director of the Office of Divine Worship for the Diocese of Kansas City––St. Joseph. He holds a doctorate in sacred theology from Sant’ Anselmo in Rome. He is a former president of the North American Academy of Liturgy and a member of Societas Liturgica and the Catholic Academy of Liturgy. He is the author of numerous books published by Liturgical Press and a contributor to Give Us This Day. Most recently, he is the recipient of four awards from the 2025 Catholic Media Association Book Awards, including First Place for Author of the Year. Visit his website at https://paulturner.org/.

"This book is an informative and enlightening journey for Christians to understand the relationship between the oil, as an ointment, and the sacraments. This book is a must-read for Catholics who want to have a better understanding about the richness of the sacraments' foundations."

• ContentsList of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiIntroduction: The Chrism MassJesus Christ  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Oil .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4The Day for the Chrism Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6The Structure of the Chrism Mass  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7The Presentation of the Oils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9The Presider of the Chrism Mass  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11The Priests at the Chrism Mass  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12The Deacons at the Chrism Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Redeemer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Chapter One: The Oil of the SickThe Letter of James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19The Gospel of Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20The Oil of the Sick within the Eucharistic Prayer . . . . . 22The Father of Consolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23The Son Who Suffered  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25The Holy Spirit  .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Human Suffering  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27The Minister of Anointing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29When a Bishop Presides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32The Laying on of Hands  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Oil “from the Verdant Tree”  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Anointing Parts of the Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36The Formula for Anointing the Sick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Eligible Illness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Eligible Non-Catholic Christians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Eligible Age   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Not Anointing Infants  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Not Anointing Those in Serious Sin  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Not Anointing Those To Be Confirmed . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Not Anointing the Dying and the Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Anointing and Viaticum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Chapter Two: The Oil of CatechumensStrength  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Opting In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Chrism Mass Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Minister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Occasion for Anointing Catechumens . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Minor Exorcisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Anointing Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58The Formula  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Parts of the Body   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Not Anointing with the Oil of Catechumens . . . . . . . . . 63Chapter Three: Sacred ChrismThe Chrism Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67The Baptism of Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Confirmation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Reception into the Full Communion ofthe Catholic Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Ordination  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113The Dedication of a Church and an Altar  . . . . . . . . . . 120The Permanence of the Dedication  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Conclusion: The Care of OilsThe Gremial and Handwashing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Incense at the Close of the Chrism Mass  . . . . . . . . . 131The Bishop’s Instructions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132The Reception of the Oils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134Handling the Vessels  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Replacing the Oil  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Abbreviations and Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Oils Past and Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140