3. But
beware of supposing this to be plain ointment. For as the Bread
of the Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, is mere bread
no longer Compare xix. 7;
xxiii. 7, 19; and the section on “Eucharist” in the
Introduction., but the Body of
Christ, so also this holy ointment is no more simple ointment, nor (so
to say) common, after invocation, but it is Christ’s gift of
grace, and, by the advent of the Holy Ghost, is made fit to impart His
Divine Nature Χριστοῦ
χάρισμα καὶ
Πνεύματος
ἁγίου
παρουσίᾳ τῆς
αὐτοῦ
Θεότητος
ἐνεργητικὸν
γινόμενον.
The meaning of this passage seems to have been obscured by divergent
views of the order and construction of the words. In the Oxford
translation, followed by Dr. Pusey (Real Presence, p. 357), the
Chrism is “the gift of Christ, and by the presence of His godhead
it causes in us the Holy Ghost.” The order of the
operations proper to the two Divine Persons seems thus to be
inverted.
According to the Benedictine Editor, and Canon
Mason (Relation of Confirmation to Baptism, p. 344), it is
“Christ’s gracious gift, and is made effectual to convey
the Holy Ghost by the presence of His own Godhead,”—i.e.
apparently, the Godhead of the Holy Ghost conveys the Holy
Ghost.
But according to the context “the
presence” must be that of the Divine Person who has been invoked,
namely the Holy Ghost: and this is clearly expressed in the order
of the words Πνεύματος
ἁγίου
παρουσίᾳ τῆς
αὐτοῦ
θεότητος
ἐνεργητικόν.
The connexion of the words Πν.
ἁγ.
παρουσίᾳ is put beyond
doubt by the Invocation in the Liturgy of S. James quoted in
Myst. V. 7, note 8. The true meaning thus seems to be that
the Chrism is Christ’s gift of grace, and imparts His Divine
nature by the presence of the Holy Ghost after the Invocation.
This meaning is confirmed by the formula given in Apost. Const.
vii. 44, for the consecration of the Chrism: “Grant also
now that this ointment may be made effectual in the baptized, that the
sweet savour of Thy Christ may remain firm and stable in him, and that,
having died with Him, he may rise again and live with Him.”
The Chrism is thus regarded as “the Seal” which confirms
the proper benefits of Baptism.. Which
ointment is symbolically applied to thy forehead and thy other
senses ἐπὶ
μετώπου καὶ
τῶν ἄλλων σου
αἰσθητηρίων.
The forehead may be regarded as representing the sense of touch; or we
may translate, according to the idiomatic use of ἄλλος, “thy forehead and
thine organs of sense besides.” See Winer, Grammar of
N.T. Greek, P. III. Sect. lix. 7: Riddell, Digest of
Platonic Idioms, § 46.; and while thy body
is anointed with the visible ointment, thy soul is sanctified by the
Holy and life-giving Spirit.