The Chrism oil was blessed in The Church of the Holy Sepulchre by His Beatitude Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Hosam Naoum
According to Buckingham Palace, the holy oil used to anoint King Charles at his coronation in May was dedicated in Jerusalem, highlighting the British monarch’s connections to the Holy Land.
The Chrism oil was blessed in The Church of the Holy Sepulcher by His Beatitude Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Hosam Naoum, the archbishop of the Anglican Church in the city, according to the palace. The oil is traditionally applied on the sovereign’s hands, breasts, and head after being poured from an ampulla onto the Coronation Spoon.
“The chrism oil, which will be used to anoint His Majesty The King on May 6, 2023, has been consecrated in Jerusalem,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. The unique mix was “perfumed with essential oils” and also included extracts of sesame, jasmine and cinnamon, it added.
It is based on a formula “which has been used for hundreds of years” and contains the same components as the oil used at Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation, the palace said on Friday. The oil will also be used to anoint Queen Consort Camilla, the wife of King Charles III.
The oil comes from the Mount of Olives, a hill that overlooks the walled Old City, and is now kept in an elaborate silver flask. The olives were harvested from two groves, the Monastery of the Ascension and the Monastery of Mary Magdalene, where Charles III’s grandmother is buried, Princess Alice of Greece. The olives were pressed just outside the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, in the West Bank.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of the Anglican church, said the coronation oil reflects Charles III’s “personal family connection with the Holy Land”, the palace statement added.
Welby, who will carry out the coronation service, said the oil signified the “deep historic link between the coronation, the Bible and the Holy Land.” He added: “From ancient kings through to the present day, monarchs have been anointed with oil from this sacred place.”
