His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros

Homily for the Service Holy Unction

Great and Holy Wednesday – May 1, 2024

Saints Catherine and George Greek Orthodox Church

Astoria, New York

 

Beloved Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I have come to your wonderful parish, to serve this very special service of Holy Unction with you, the faithful. Tonight, we gather for the healing of body and soul, and for the forgiveness of our sins.[*]

The Mystery of Anointing with Holy Oil is a profound and precious Sacrament that has filled our Churches since the days of the Apostles. The use of oil – of olive oil that is so precious in the Holy Land, has a distinct meaning in Holy Week – even if Unction can be used at any time of the year.

The word, “Gethsemane” means “Olive Press, and the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord faced the greatest fears of every human being. The garden was at the base of the Mount of Olives, where the oil was pressed out at harvest time. And it was in this Garden, that the Lord made Himself subject to a pressure that is beyond our wildest imagination. For there, He took the anxiety, the worry, and ultimately fear and revulsion of death that every human being had ever known – knew at that moment – or would ever know, and incorporated them into His very Body.

Listen to what the Lord endured in the Garden of Gethsemane:

Then they arrived at a place called Gethsemane, the “Oil Press.” And Jesus said to the disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And He took along Peter, Iakovos and John. But then Jesus began to feel overwhelmed by an overwhelming sadness, and He said to those three, “My soul is overcome with sorrow, even unto death. Stay here, and stay vigilant.” And when Jesus had walked on a little further, He fell to the ground on His face. And He prayed that if it were possible, this moment might pass by Him, saying: “Abba! Father, all things are possible for You! This cup You set before Me....  Take it from Me!  But not as I will, but as You will.” [†]

And an Angel from Heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And as Jesus prayed more intensely, He was wracked with agony. His sweat rained down on the ground like bloody clots.[‡]

What the Lord was experienced in Gethsemane was not the fear of one  man facing death. The cup that He begged His Heavenly Father to have pass from Him was filled with more than His own impending death. It was filled with all the fear, all the foreboding, all the dread that every person has ever felt in the face of death. It is an ineffable act of love.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was pressed to such a degree in the Garden – that it was neither sweat nor oil that came forth from His divine brow. Not the sweat of Adam, toil.[§] Nor the oil of gladness. It was His own blood, a foreshadowing of the bloody Cross.

Let no one believe that the Lord was afraid for Himself. Let us stand in awe of the cup from which He drank, all the way to the Cross and death. This is the source of the healing that we experience tonight in the Holy Unction, which – mercifully in the form of olive oil – is the source of our healing.

But make no mistake, my friends, as the Prophet Isaiah said:

He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.[**]

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, when we partake of this Sacred Unction, it is not mere symbol, but the mystical power of God’s healing – of both body and soul.

The Lord brought forth this oil from the Press that He entered in Gethsemane, where He drank the dregs for our salvation. And through the Mystery of Holy Unction, we receive by anointing with the Holy Oil, the healing love and compassion of the Anointed One, which is the very meaning of His title and  name, Χριστός.

Thus, with our partaking of His healing touch, we will arrive with the forgiveness for all our sins at the glorious Resurrection not many days hence.

Καλή Ἀνάσταση. Ἀμήν!