What is the role of Chrismation in the life of the baptized person?

First: The indwelling of the Holy Spirit as St. Paul says: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16).

1416 St. Jacob of Sarug, Memra on the Renewal of the Temple .

Second: The consecration of the body and soul . Tertullian says, “The flesh, indeed, is washed, in order that the soul may be cleansed (through baptism); the flesh is anointed, that the soul may be consecrated; the flesh is signed (with the cross), that the soul too may be fortified; the flesh is shadowed with the imposition of hands, that the soul also maybe illuminated by the Spirit; the flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul likewise may fatten on its God. They cannot then be separated (the flesh and soul) … when they are united in their service.”¹⁴¹⁷

St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, “Which ointment [the Chrism] is symbolically applied to your forehead and your other senses; and while your body is anointed with the visible ointment, your soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit.”¹⁴¹⁸

St. Athanasius of Alexandria says, “Hence also, through the laying on of the Apostles’ hands, the Holy Spirit was given to those who were being born again … When has this been fulfilled, save when the Lord came and renewed all things by grace? Our spirit is renewed; but the Holy Spirit is not simply spirit, but God says it is his Spirit, whereby ours is renewed.”¹⁴¹⁹

St. Basil the Great says, “We were sealed by the Holy Spirit through God. And as we die in Christ to be born again, we are thus sealed by the Holy Spirit to receive His splendor, image and grace, which is undoubtedly our spiritual seal. Even though our bodies are visibly sealed, our hearts are spiritually sealed, for the Holy Spirit to engrave within us the heavenly icon.”¹⁴²⁰

Third: The consecration of the soul as a heavenly bride . Psalm 45 is truly marvelous, where the Psalmist talks about the mystery of the unity between the Church and Christ the Lord, or their marriage. God the Father sees Himself performing this unique, unseen divine anointing, saying, “Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness” (Ps. 45:7). The Coptic Church took the rite of anointing the bride and the bridegroom with oil in the sacrament of holy matrimony from this specific psalm. The Church anoints them so they can understand that their marriage is an antitype of the heavenly wedding.

Fourth: Enlightenment of the mind, and divine providence against the devil and the powers of darkness. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John. 14:26).

St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, “You are protected by your seal from the evil attacks of the wicked one, him who by your baptism has no authority over you. Keep This unspotted: for it

1417 Tertullian, On the Resurrection 8 (ANF 3:551).

1418 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 21.3 (NPNF II/7:150) amended.

1419 St. Athanasius of Alexandria, The Letters of Saint Athanasius Concerning the Holy Spirit to Bishop Serapion , trans. C. R. B. Shapland (Epworth Press, 1951) 1.6, 9: p. 74, 81–82.

1420 St. Basil of Caesarea, On the Holy Spirit 1.6.79.

shall teach you all things, if it abide in you, as you have just heard declared by the blessed John, discoursing much concerning this Unction. For this holy thing is a spiritual safeguard of the body, and salvation of the soul.”¹⁴²¹ He also says, “Your name is now inscribed, and you are invited to enter the (spiritual) camp.” “Every one of you approaches, presents himself before God, in the presence of the innumerable host of angels, so that the Holy Spirit may place a mark on your souls. Thus, your souls are counted in the great army of the Lord.”¹⁴²²

St. Cyprian says, “I wished indeed to strive bravely, and, remembering my oath ( sacramentum ) I took up the arms of devotion and faith.”¹⁴²³ Tertullian says, “We were called to God’s army … when we responded to the words of this Sacrament.”¹⁴²⁴

St. Basil the Great says, “How will the guardian angel defend you, how could he protect you from the enemy, if he is unable to see the seal? Did you not know that the destroyer passed over the houses sealed with blood, during the early days of Moses the savior, and he killed the firstborn of the unsealed? The unsealed treasure is easily stolen by thieves, the unmarked herd are safely stolen.”

St. Ambrose says, “The Holy Spirit has delivered us from that Gentile impurity … Excellent, then, is that grace which changes the rage of beasts into the simplicity of the Spirit.”¹⁴²⁵

St. Augustine says, “Adhere to what you received, it will never change, it is a royal badge.”¹⁴²⁶

St. John Chrysostom says, “Let us not therefore put off from us the royal seal and token, that we may not be of those who are not sealed, that we may not be unsound, that we may be firmly grounded, that we may be of the foundation, and not carried to and fro.”¹⁴²⁷

Fifth: He offers heavenly comforts. “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). St. Macarius the Great says, “Let us then beseech God to bestow upon us the wings of a dove, even of the Holy Spirit, that we may fly to Him and be at rest, and that He would separate and make to cease from our souls and bodies, that evil wind, which is the sin that dwells in the members of our souls and bodies. None but He can do it.”¹⁴²⁸

Sixth: He intercedes for us . “Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession

1421 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Five Catechetical Lectures (On the Mysteries) 3.7 (NPNF II/7:150). 1422 PG 33:428A.

1423 St. Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise 3: On the Lapsed 13 (ANF 5:440).

1424 Tertullian, To the Martyrs (Ad Martyras) 3 (ANF 3:694).

1425 St. Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 2.10.107 (NPNF II/10:128).

1426 St. Augustine of Hippo, Explanation of John , article 16.

1427 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Second Timothy (NPNF I/13:494).

1428 St. Macarius the Great, Fifty Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian , trans., A. J. Mason (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921) Homily 2.3: p. 13.

for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26–27). St. Augustine comments on the groaning of the Holy Spirit for us, saying, “The Holy Spirit does not groan within Himself in the Holy Trinity, in His eternal essence … but groans within us, namely, He makes us groan. It is easy for the Holy Spirit to make us groan, for He grants us to acknowledge that we are sojourners on this earth, and teaches us to look towards our home and groan eagerly for it.”¹⁴²⁹

Seventh: He Proclaims the divine truth to us. “The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John. 14:17). St. Augustine says, “‘And you have an unction from the Holy One, that you may be manifest to your own selves’ (1 John 2:20). The spiritual unction is the Holy Spirit Himself, of which the Sacrament is in the visible unction. Of this unction of Christ he says that all who have it know the bad and the good; and they need not to be taught, because the unction itself teaches them.”¹⁴³⁰

Eight: The indwelling of the Holy Trinity. St. Athanasius of Alexandria says, “And when the Spirit is in us, the Word also, who gives the Spirit, is in us, and in the Word is the Father.”¹⁴³¹

Ninth: He grants us spiritual gifts. “But One and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills” (1 Cor. 12:11). St. Gregory Nazianzen says, “The soul that is not covered or beautified by the grace of the new birth, I do not know if the angels will accept it when it leaves the body! Truly they cannot receive it if it does not bear the seal, or any other mark that belongs to an owner. Surely, it will be carried away by the air, roaming restlessly, no one looking out for it, for it is without an owner. It will seek rest but will not find it; shouting and regretting in vain.”¹⁴³²

St. Didymus says, “No one can earn heavenly gifts without being renewed by the Holy Spirit and urged by His seal of Holiness, even if his life is pure and spotless in everything.”¹⁴³³

Tenth: Convicting of sin. “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness” (John. 14:8). St. John Chrysostom says, “‘of sin’; this means, will cut off all their excuses, and show that they have transgressed unpardonably.”¹⁴³⁴

1429 St. Augustine of Hippo, In 2 Tim . hom 6.

1430 St. Augustine of Hippo, Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of St. John 3.5 (NPNF I/7:477).

1431 St. Athanasius of Alexandria, The Letters of Saint Athanasius Concerning the Holy Spirit to Bishop Serapion , trans. C. R. B. Shapland (Epworth Press, 1951) 1.30: p. 142. 1432 PG 46:424C.

1433 St. Didymus the Blind, De Trinitate 2.12.

1434 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on John 78.1 (NPNF I/14:285).