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What does the anointing of the hands signify? |
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Anointing with oil stems from the Old Testament and indicates that someone or something is being set apart for a sacred task or duty. The anointing of the hands signifies that the hands of the newly ordained priest are being prepared for the sacred duties and vessels which will be part of the priestly ministry - offering the bread and wine, anointing the sick and blessing people. As he anoints the hands of the man being ordained the bishop says: "The Father anointed our Lord Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. May Jesus preserve you to sanctify the Christian people and to offer sacrifice to God." |
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What is the meaning of the newly ordained priest receiving the stole and chasuble? |
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These are vestments which pertain to his office and have symbolic meaning. The stole symbolizes the authority and responsibility to serve in imitation of Christ. It reflects the line from the Scripture: "For my yoke is easy, and my burden light" (Matthew 11:30). Because it symbolizes their authority within the Church, only a priest or a deacon may wear a stole. The chasuble is the principal garment of the priest celebrating the Eucharist and is his outermost vestment. In wearing it the priest is reminded that he is called to love all people as Christ did in a sacramental manner and it reflects the line from Scripture: “Put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24). Symbolizing his holy love, the priest wears the chasuble over his stole because the emphasis of a priests ministry is to project his love for the faithful, not his authority over them. |
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Why does the man becoming a priest lie prostrate on the floor during the ordination? |
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Within the ordination rite the man being ordained lies prostrate during the Litany of Saints and the prayer that follows it. It symbolizes his unworthiness for the office to be assumed and his dependence upon God and the prayers of the entire Christian community to be successful in his new ministry. |
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What is the meaning of the laying on of hands? |
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By this ritual, the ordaining bishop and the other priests invoke the Holy Spirit to come down upon the man being ordained, giving him a sacred character and setting him apart for ministry in the Church. |
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Only a bishop can ordain a priest because as a successor to the Apostles, he shares in the ministry of Jesus passed on through those same Apostles. |
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Ordination is the sacramental ceremony in which a man becomes a deacon, priest or bishop and enabled to minister in the name of Christ and His Church. There are three ordinations in the Sacrament of Holy Orders: deaconate, priesthood and episcopacy (bishop). The ordination ceremony includes various rituals that are rich in meaning and history, such as the prostration, the laying on of hands, the anointing of the hands, the giving of the chalice and patton and the sign of peace. |
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