The Consecration of Holy Myron

Description

This work presents a “Roman” liturgical theology of the ancient Byzantine rite for the consecration of Holy Myron (Sacred Chrism) in order to provide an ampler theology of physical consecration in general and the sacrament of Confirmation in particular. Chapter One introduces and argues for the use of the liturgical source: the Barberini Euchologion (Vatican Barb. gr. 336), an eighth-century Greek Byzantine prayer book. Chapter Two reports on the scholars who have studied, at least in passing, this Euchologion’s ritual for the consecration of holy myron. It also shows how their studies, while sufficient for their purposes, still left a window open for a more focused study of the structure and content of the ritual and prayer of consecration (which is accomplished in chapters three and four). Chapter Three offers a thorough, comparative study of the structure of the ritual and prayer for the consecration of myron. It shows how the consecratory prayer does not follow the typical...