The church ritual of lighting candles and lamps is very ancient. Christians have always had a fire burning in front of the Gospel, not for ease of reading, but as the personification of unity with heavenly powers, as a particle of the eternal fire of Jesus Christ.
Lighting a candle in front of an icon is a tribute to love and respect for the Lord. In the residential buildings of Tsarist Russia, lamps were always burning in front of the faces of saints or rich icon cases, which were a special lamp - church oil was poured into it. Since the 5th century BC, this name has meant a flammable liquid obtained from olive trees. Its second name is oil. For thousands of years, oil from the fruits of only this tree was used for the needs of the church. It is environmentally friendly, burns without residue, without forming resins. Of course, one of the main purposes of a burning lamp is to cleanse the air of filth. But the oil, which has strong healing properties, can also kill germs.
As a rule, oil contains aromas. The Bible itself and the fragrant medicinal herbs that filled it were spoken of as the best gift. There is a specially recommended set of herbs added to spruce trees for scent. Church oil, that is, olive oil, is of the highest standard - Provençal - and more common, known as “wooden”. The lamp is a lamp with a floating wick; most lamps have a partition to secure it. Its meaning in Russian life is evidenced by the number of sayings, poems and synonyms for this word - fir tree, fat man, kaganets, luminary. Lighting a lamp means literally and figuratively turning your soul to God. To extinguish it means to finish the job. So the church oil itself, or oil, has become overgrown with proverbs, sayings and legends about its miraculousness.
Church oil is used not only for lighting lamps. One of its most important functions is anointing, the greatest Sacrament of Catholicism and Orthodoxy, a sign of the transfer of God's grace to the person over whom this rite is performed. Oil is part of the Holy Chrism - a product necessary for anointing, which, in addition to the church oil itself, contains from 34 to 74 elements. Due to the antiquity of the ritual, the origin of some ingredients is no longer known, however, in Orthodox churches, when performing Chrismation, clergy try to deviate minimally from divine recipes. The church oil itself is always supplemented with a number of traditional incense - myrrh, sandalwood and frankincense (resins from trees that have been growing on the Arabian Peninsula since ancient times), spikenard - the roots of plants of the valerian family (mentioned by Solomon in his Song), rose and other aromatic substances. The smell when burning lamp oil is simply divine! The initiation of a new person into the Church begins with the Sacrament of Baptism and ends with the Sacrament of Confirmation. Thus, oil plays a dominant role in church rituals.
In the Soviet Union, during the years of atheism, they stopped ordering expensive olive oil for church needs from the countries where these trees grew. The clergy was forced to use some kind of substitutes that had undergone the rite of consecration. Now this problem has been completely removed, but another one has arisen - modern surrogates are being persistently offered. The main one is petroleum jelly, “liquid paraffin”. In some respects it is superior to church oil - oil of divine origin. However, its effect in the combustion process has not been fully studied. In Orthodox rituals, Vaseline oil is often used, although this violates cult canons. It is strictly forbidden to use low-quality technical oil to light lamps, because this poses a threat to the health of believers.
The following types of incense are used in temples:
oil- oil (usually olive) for anointing during the Sacrament of Unction.
Miro- aromatic oil with the addition of aromatic herbs.
Myrrh (myrrh)- hardened resin from the bark of a tree of the Burzer family.
Incense- hardened resin of the Boswellia tree.
There is a separate article about incense. This article will focus on aromatic oils.
All fragrances from the church shop have a pleasant, persistent, but unobtrusive scent. The scents are so harmonious that they not only do not distract from important thoughts, but also do not violate someone else’s personal space.
There are fragrances with floral names, as if the manufacturers remind us of the diversity of our flora: “Lily of the valley”, “Gardenia”, “Linden blossom”. There are fragrances with the names of holy places: “Byzantium”, “Athos”, “Jerusalem”. The names of the oils also mention the church holidays “Trinity”, “Rozhdestvenskoe”, “Easter”. There are scents with “fantasy” names such as “Paradise Bouquet”, etc.
Priest Evgeny Stupitsky:
“Orthodoxy is sympathetic to the use of perfumes. It all depends on what purpose you will use this perfume for. It’s one thing to seduce and attract another person of the opposite sex, another thing to exude a subtle aroma and be pleasant for your beloved spouse. And this is your choice: to become an object of temptation using perfume or not. Become an opponent of God, or be with Him..."
“Linden Blossom” exudes the honeyed scent of linden;
“Lily of the valley” - has the typical smell of the May lily of the valley. It is very similar to the famous “Silver Lily of the Valley” perfume from the Novaya Zarya factory;
“Strawberry” smells like fragrant wild berries;
“Byzantium” wraps you in warm incense smoke;
“Altai” oil with a herbal-balsamic accent;
“Hvoya” has a woody-resinous aroma.
Like perfume on the skin
If you use incense as a perfume, then apply it to the “pulse points” - behind the ears, neck, wrists. It should be remembered that the oil is consecrated and therefore cannot be used for worldly purposes.
Fortunately, the clergy are tolerant of fragrances on parishioners.
Archpriest Vyacheslav Bregeda:
“The Holy Scripture says, “The Sabbath is made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” So the rules are for man, not man for the rules. As for perfumes, you shouldn’t get hung up on the fact that this is such a terrible sin. Even in the Holy Scriptures it is written “that if we fast, we do not seem to be fasting; on the contrary, anoint your body” so that you do not feel that you are in such despondency. That is, even the Holy Scripture says that a person should take care of his appearance, look good and beautiful, and not be somehow fixated...”
In lamp oil or on icons
In church candle shops they also mention such a method as sprinkling icons with this fragrant oil, as well as adding it to lamp oil to aromatize the premises.
Read the article on how to choose and light a lamp.
With prayer for sore spots
Some grandmothers add oil to holy water, but most likely this is not recommended, since the oil, although natural, is still not a medicine to be taken orally.
As oil
Olive oil is called oil, and now any vegetable oil that is used in Orthodox church life. Priests anoint church parishioners with it at morning and evening services.
It is possible to use church incense at home during prayer to prepare your thoughts and feelings for turning to God. If church oil is used as oil, then it should be applied to the body in a cross shape with reverence and prayer (preferably: "Our Father..."). The oil must be applied with clean hands or using a cotton swab.
In aroma lamps
Many people use oils in aroma lamps to create an aroma of “comfort and warmth” at home.
Archimandrite Alipiy (Svetlichny):
“The Church has not usurped the right to own certain smells. People can light lamps, burn incense in their homes, so that the whole family can tune in to prayer, because a family is a small Church. And if one of the perfumers uses in their works the smells of incense and other aromas that we hear in the Church, then there is nothing wrong with that. It is not the smells themselves that are endowed with sacred meaning, but the conditions under which they are used and for what purpose...”
An aroma lamp is a clay or ceramic vessel with a bowl - an aroma burner and with a recess under it for a candle. Water is poured into the bowl and a few drops of aromatic oil are added. Incense should not be used without water, as the oil can easily catch fire under the influence of an open flame.
A household paraffin or stearic candle is used. Then it is not so easy to remove such a melted candle, but you can first lubricate the “window” for the candle with Vaseline and, when the candle melts and hardens, you can easily remove it.
Our store sells church incense from Russia and Greece. Contains only natural ingredients. Incense is blessed.
church oil
Alternative descriptionsOlive oil used in church services
What soothes heals heartaches
Exaggerated courtesy, cloying tenderness in speeches, in address
Aromatic substance used in church ceremonies
Oil for lamps and sacred sacraments
The oil the church has its eye on
Olive oil, which is used in church ceremonies
Sweet praise, fawning (ironic)
Service oil (church oil)
That which soothes, pleases (figurative meaning)
Sweetness
Low grade olive oil
Wood oil
Orthodox oil
Olive oil in the church
Godly oil
Church olive oil
Unction oil
Smoothie oil
Olive oil
Ritual oil
Ritual oil
Balm for the soul
Oil in the censer
Ceremonial oil
Anointing oil
Olive oil
Church's Favorite Oil
Cream butter
Butter in the hands of the priest
Olive oil for father
Church anointing oil
. "service" oil
Olive church ritual oil
Oil at church service
Oil in the service of the church
Sacrament oil
. "holy" oil
Oil for fawning
Oil in the service of the church
Oil in church rituals
Olive oil in the temple
Church olive oil
Olive oil for the Greeks
Olive oil for the ancient Greeks
. "holy" oil of the flatterer
The flatterer pours it
Boss Ear Oil
Oil in the hands of the priest
Olive oil used in church ceremonies (for anointing, blessing of oil and lithium)
. "Holy" oil of the flatterer
. "Holy" oil
. "Service" oil
M. church. lat. and German olive, wood oil. Holy oil, consecrated according to the rites of the church, for anointing Christians on various occasions. Cal. lean hemp oil; talk and Olya M. Oliya F. Little Russian True, the oil floats to the top everywhere. Permission for wine and oil, days on which the monastery charter allows monks this food. Unctuous, related to oil. Unctuous pod or knot, used. when anointing with oil. Eleinik, -Nichek Kaluzhsk. hard lamp for an icon, ark. Anoint someone with oil, anoint someone, church. smear St. oil, making the image of the cross on his forehead. -sya, to be anointed with oil. Anointing cf. this action. Bless someone, church. unction to St. oil, oil. -sya, to be unctioned. Blessing of Oil Wed. a church sacrament performed by seven priests, and if necessary by one, over the sick; Unction with oil. Oil-bearing or oil-forming gas, chemical. carbonaceous, hydrogen dioxide
. "sweet" butter of the church
Church vegetable oil
. "Sweet" butter of the church