Anointing, confirmation, and laying on of hands in the early church

Anointing with oil (chrism), confirmation, the laying on of hands, and anointing of the sick. Part of Worship.

To Autolycus 1.12Theophilus of Antioch · ca. 180–185 · The name Christian means “anointed,” and anointing is honorable and useful; Christians are anointed with the oil of God.
Exhortation to the Greeks 12.120Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–200 · The true mysteries: the Lord initiates, illumines, and seals the believer; Jesus, the eternal High Priest, calls all humankind to incorruption and to his easy yoke.
Against Heresies 1.21.3Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Irenaeus describes Gnostic rites of 'redemption': a bridal chamber, baptism with invented formulas, Hebrew-sounding words, and anointing with balsam.
Against Heresies 1.21.4Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Some pour oil and water on the initiate's head, while others reject all material rites and say knowledge alone is redemption.
Against Heresies 3.9.3Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · At the baptism the Spirit anointed the Word made flesh; Christ and Jesus are not two but one, as Isaiah foretold.
Against Heresies 3.18.3Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Paul knows only one Christ, the one born, crucified, buried and risen; the very name Christ implies the Father who anoints, the Son anointed, and the Spirit who is the anointing.
Excerpts from Theodotus 22.5Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · The Valentinian rite of laying on hands ends with the words “for angelic redemption,” so that the baptized share the redemption of their angels.
Excerpts from Theodotus 82.1Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · The bread and the oil are sanctified by God's name: outwardly unchanged, they are changed in power into spiritual power.
On Baptism 7Tertullian · ca. 198–206 · After baptism the newly baptized are anointed, as priests were in the Old Testament and as Christ, the Anointed, was anointed with the Spirit.
On Baptism 8Tertullian · ca. 198–206 · After baptism comes the laying on of hands, by which the Holy Spirit descends like the dove on Christ and the dove after the flood, bringing God's peace to the newly baptized.
Acts of Thomas 6Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · At the feast Thomas eats nothing and anoints himself; a cupbearer strikes him, Thomas foretells his punishment, and begins the Wedding Hymn of the maiden, daughter of light.
Acts of Thomas 24Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · The king frees Thomas and asks to serve his God; Gad asks the same, and Thomas prays that Christ receive them into his flock through washing and oil.
Acts of Thomas 26Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · The king and his brother ask for the seal; Thomas has oil brought so that they may receive it by anointing.
Acts of Thomas 27Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · Thomas anoints the king and his brother with an invocation of the name of Christ and the Spirit, a radiant young man appears, and at dawn he gives them the Eucharist.
Acts of Thomas 120Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · Mygdonia asks Thomas for the seal and has her nurse Marcia bring bread, water, and oil.
Acts of Thomas 121Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · Thomas anoints Mygdonia with oil, baptizes her in a spring in the name of the Trinity, and gives her the Eucharist of bread and a cup of water; Marcia too receives the seal.
Acts of Thomas 132Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · Thomas speaks of baptism as forgiveness of sins and new birth, anoints and baptizes Siphor's household in the name of the Trinity, and gives them the Eucharist with a prayer over the bread of life.
Acts of Thomas 157Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · Thomas blesses the oil, invoking the power of the olive tree akin to the tree of the cross, anoints Vazan and the women, and baptizes them in the name of the Trinity.
Didascalia 2.41Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 3.12Anonymous · first half of the third century
Apostolic Tradition 5Hippolytus of Rome · early third century · A thanksgiving is said over oil offered by the faithful, asking that it give strength and health.
Apostolic Tradition 21 (Latin)Hippolytus of Rome · early third century · The candidate is baptized three times after three questions of faith, anointed, receives the bishop's hand, prayer and seal, and joins the people for the peace and a first communion of bread, cup, milk and honey, and water.
Pistis Sophia 143Anonymous · 3rd century
Against Marcion 3.15Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · The title “Christ” belongs to the Creator's plan and means “anointed,” which requires a body; Marcion's god borrowing it would be both inconsistent and deceitful.
On the Resurrection of the Flesh 8Tertullian · ca. 208–212 · In the Christian life the flesh is washed, anointed, signed, receives the laying on of hands and the body and blood of Christ, fasts, keeps chastity, and suffers martyrdom, so it shares in salvation.
Homilies on Ezekiel 6.9Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · God washes the soul’s blood away, anoints it, and clothes it in the many-colored tunic of knowledge and virtue, with the shoes of the gospel of peace.
Homilies on Leviticus 8.11Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The repeated 'and he shall be clean' shows stages of purification after sin; the shaving, washing, offerings, and anointing of the cleansed leper signify the penitent's progress to full reconciliation, the oil being the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit.
Against Celsus 6.79Origen · ca. 248 · One Christ rising from Judaea was enough to enlighten the world, and those who teach his word faithfully are themselves “anointed ones” sharing in his anointing, as the oil runs down from Aaron's head.
To Quirinus 2.16Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) · Christ is the stone of Scripture: the cornerstone of Isaiah and the Psalms, and the stone of Jacob's pillow, Moses' seat, the ark's resting place, David's sling, and Samuel's Ebenezer.
Letter 70.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The baptismal creed and the anointing with oil consecrated at the altar both presuppose the church; heretics have neither, so their baptism is void.
On Rebaptism 4Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · Many are baptized and die without the bishop's laying on of hands, like the Ethiopian eunuch, yet are counted complete believers; so the laying on of hands can likewise complete a baptism given in Christ's name outside the church.
On Rebaptism 10Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · Baptisms given by unworthy or unskilled bishops are not repeated; baptism given outside the church is completed by the bishop's laying on of hands for the Spirit, since there is one baptism and the invocation of Jesus' name cannot be undone.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 19Anonymous · 4th century · The order of baptism: martyrdom as baptism in blood, examination of candidates, fasting, exorcism, vigil, renunciation of Satan, threefold confession and immersion, anointing, the bishop's prayer and kiss, and first communion with milk and honey.
Church History 1.3.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Moses first gave the title “Christ” (anointed) to the high priest, showing the name's divine honour.
Church History 1.3.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Kings, too, were anointed and so were “christs” in figure of the true Christ.
Church History 1.3.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Christ's anointing was with the divine Spirit, as Isaiah foretold.
Church History 1.3.14Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · David's psalm calls Christ God and King, anointed with the oil of gladness.
Church History 1.3.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The psalm shows Christ anointed with divine, not material, oil, surpassing all earlier anointed ones.
Church History 6.43.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Novatian never received the bishop's sealing, and so, Cornelius argues, not the Spirit.
Recognitions 1.45Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Peter explains that Christ, ruler over men, is so called because the Father anointed him with oil from the tree of life, with which he will anoint the godly in his kingdom.
Testament of Our Lord 1.24Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 2.8Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 2.9Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Canon 6Anonymous · 1 August 314 · Sick people who wish to become Christians are to receive the laying on of hands.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.10.29Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The psalm signifies the mystical anointing and the Eucharist, through which Christians offer bloodless sacrifices through Christ the high priest.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.10.31Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Isaiah foretells wine, gladness, and anointing for all nations.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.10.32Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The anointing explains the name “Christians,” and the wine points to the mystery of the new covenant celebrated everywhere.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.15.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · A surface explanation: Moses ordered priests anointed with perfumed oil because good smells repel evil powers.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.15.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · On this view the sacred oil and the title “christ” were given to high priests, prophets, and kings.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.15.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Scripture calls the Father’s divine power “oil,” and so names the one who shares it “Christ,” the Anointed.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.15.14Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · “Oil” here means olive oil, which brightens, soothes, and gladdens, not “pity.”
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.15.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The Word alone is anointed with the whole of the Father’s divinity, as Psalm 45 says, and so is Christ and God from God.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.15.16Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Oil signifies God’s simplicity, compound ointment his many attributes; both anoint the true high priest.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.15.29Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Isaiah’s Christ is anointed by the Father’s divinity, not by human hands.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.15.32Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · True christs are anointed by God with the Spirit.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.15.44Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Moses’ anointed priest was a symbol of the true Christ he had seen in the Spirit.
Demonstration 14.27Aphrahat · 337-345 · Office does not guarantee God's favour, as Eli, Esau, and Saul show; leaders who justify harsh rule by appeal to Jehu's anointing misread Scripture.
Oration I Against the Arians 46Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 339–346 · Athanasius turns to Ps 45:6–7 and argues that the Son is anointed with the Spirit as man, for our sake, since he is himself the giver of the Spirit.
Oration I Against the Arians 47Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 339–346 · Athanasius explains that Christ's anointing with the Spirit at the Jordan was for us, so that in him we too are washed, anointed, and sealed; the Word himself gives the Spirit.
Oration I Against the Arians 49Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 339–346 · Athanasius explains that the “therefore” of Ps 45:7 means that the Son was anointed because he is God and King, since only the Father's image could join humanity to the Spirit.
Canon 7Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Converts from the Novatians, Photinians and Quartodecimans are received after anathematizing heresy, learning the creed and being anointed with chrism.
Canon 48Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · The newly baptized are to be anointed with chrism.
Catechetical Lecture 20.3Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The anointing with exorcised oil before baptism signified grafting into Christ, the good olive tree, and drove away the powers of evil.
Catechetical Lecture 21.1Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The baptized are called "christs" (anointed ones) because the chrism they received after baptism is the antitype of the Holy Spirit with whom Christ was anointed at the Jordan.
Catechetical Lecture 21.2Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Christ was anointed by the Father with the Holy Spirit, the oil of gladness; the baptized are anointed with ointment as his fellows.
Catechetical Lecture 21.3Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · After the invocation the chrism, like the eucharistic bread, is no longer ordinary: the body is anointed with the visible ointment, the soul sanctified by the Spirit.
Catechetical Lecture 21.4Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The chrism is applied to forehead, ears, nostrils, and breast, each with its meaning, arming the baptized against the devil as Christ was armed after his baptism.
Catechetical Lecture 21.5Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The anointed are rightly called Christians; the chrism was prefigured in the anointing of Aaron and Solomon, but is now given in truth by the Holy Spirit.
Catechetical Lecture 21.7Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The chrism, foretold by Isaiah, must be kept unspotted by good works.
Catechetical Lecture 22.7Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Psalm 23's table, anointing, and cup are read as the Eucharist and the chrism, opposed to the demons' table.
Catechetical Lecture 22.8Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Ecclesiastes' bread, wine, oil, and white garments are read as the Eucharist, the chrism, and the spiritual purity of the baptized.
On the Trinity 11.18Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · The anointing of Ps 45:7 concerns Christ's assumed humanity, anointed at his baptism with the Spirit (Acts 4:27; 10:37–38).
Letters to Serapion 1.6Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357–360 · In the New Testament too the Holy Spirit is always marked as the Spirit of God, of Christ, the Holy Spirit, or the Paraclete.
Letters to Serapion 3.3Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357–360 · The Spirit is the anointing and seal that impresses Christ’s form, makes us God’s temple, and is one, not many; so he is not a creature.
Tractates on the Psalms 132.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The ointment on Aaron, a figure of Christ's invisible anointing with the oil of gladness, signifies the sweet fragrance of believers' unity.
Tractates on the Psalms 132.5Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The ointment flows from Christ the head to mature believers (the beard) and to the whole body down to the hem, as the women anointed Christ's head and feet.
Sermon on Baptism 6Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian explains that Christians are born of Christ’s union with the church through the Spirit in baptism, chrism, and the bishop’s ministry, and so are renewed for eternal life.
Oration 10.3Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory ends his speech to Basil by describing his consecration as high priest, then, in a new oration, compares Basil and Gregory of Nyssa to Moses and Aaron and asks Gregory of Nyssa why his help came so late.
Homilies 1.1Basil of Caesarea · ca. 363-378 · Basil opens the Lenten fast: it is to be welcomed cheerfully, practised without display, and it is older than the law.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.23Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatists violate the anointing of Catholic priests, against God's command "Touch not my anointed" and his own example with Saul, whose anointing he did not revoke though he repented of it.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.25Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Using David's sparing of Saul in the cave, Optatus argues that a priest's anointing, being God's, must not be touched even if he sins, and he condemns the Donatists for destroying Catholic clergy by penance and curses.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 4.7Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Ps 141:5 is Christ's prayer not to be anointed by any man, all men being sinners; the Father answered it at the Jordan, anointing him with the Spirit descending as a dove.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 7.4Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatists call the Catholics the "dying flies" that spoil the ointment (Eccl 10:1), but it is they who destroy the sweetness of the chrism by rebaptizing and reanointing.
Commentary on Ephesians 4:11–12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ambrosiaster identifies the offices of Eph 4:11 with the church's orders and explains that the freer practice of the earliest church (all baptizing and preaching, presbyters called bishops) later gave way to ordered offices.
Letter 65.13Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome explains 'Your throne, O God' as addressed to the Son, who is God, and refers the anointing to the humanity he assumed, against Photinus and Arius.
On the Holy Spirit 12.28Basil of Caesarea · ca. 374–375 · Baptism must always be given in the names of Father, Son, and Spirit, since faith and baptism are joined and both rest on the same three names.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 21.1.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Simon was baptized by Philip; the apostles' hands gave the Spirit to the others.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 34.20.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The rite ends with anointing with balsam.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 34.20.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Some replace water baptism with pouring oil and water.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 36.2.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · They anoint the dying with oil or balsam and water.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.41.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The penitent is reconciled by the laying on of hands, which takes the place of baptism for him.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.16.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · At women’s baptism the deacon anoints the forehead and the deaconess the rest.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.16.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop anoints the head at baptism, as priests and kings once were anointed, for Christians are a royal priesthood.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.16.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The order of baptism: anointing with oil, immersion in the triune name by bishop or presbyter, reception by deacon or deaconess, then chrism.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.22.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Baptism is given with oil, water and chrism, each with its meaning.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.22.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · If oil and chrism are lacking, water suffices.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.27.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Thanks are given for the chrism and for immortality.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.42.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · After the profession comes the anointing with oil.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.42.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The priest asks the Father to sanctify the oil in Jesus' name.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.44.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · After baptism the newly baptized is anointed with chrism.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.44.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The prayer over the chrism asks that the fragrance of Christ remain in the baptized.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.29.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop, or in his absence a presbyter, blesses water and oil.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.29.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The prayer asks God to give the water and oil power to heal and drive out demons.
Altercatio, chapter 4, speech 2Evagrius of Gaul · ca. 400 · Theophilus blesses and anoints Simon, who gives thanks to Jesus in a closing prayer.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 11Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Anointing with exorcized oil before baptism need be done only once, at the third scrutiny; God's power works through it.
Homilies on Matthew 32.6John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The peace the apostles brought is given now by the one who presides in church; the congregation must receive it and the preacher’s words with attention and love, not with chatter and secret slander.
On Elijah and Fasting 36Ambrose · ca. 387-390 · Anointing the head in fasting means the oil of gladness and the anointing of the sacraments, not feigned sadness or luxurious perfume.
On the Mysteries 6Ambrose · ca. 387–391 · After the font come the anointing of the head, signifying a priestly people, and the washing of the feet, which Ambrose links to the removal of hereditary sin and to humility.
On the Mysteries 7Ambrose · ca. 387–391 · The white garments of the newly baptized signify cleansing, and Ambrose reads the Song of Songs of the Church and the soul washed in baptism, ending with the spiritual seal of the Spirit’s sevenfold gifts.
Canon 3Anonymous · 390 · Presbyters may not make the chrism, consecrate virgins, or reconcile penitents at the public Mass.
Sermon 122.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ’s promise that Nathanael would see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man recalls Jacob’s ladder; the stone Jacob anointed signifies Christ, the rejected stone on which unbelievers stumble.
Sermon 227.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine explains the Eucharist to the newly baptized: the bread and cup are Christ's body and blood, and they themselves, ground, moistened, and baked like bread, are Christ's body; he then explains the parts of the rite.
Sermon 266.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The apostles received the Spirit while praying, with no hands laid on them; and though in Samaria the Spirit came through the apostles’ hands, he came on the Ethiopian eunuch after Philip baptized him without any laying on of hands, showing that the gift is God’s.
Sermon 266.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Whether the Philip who baptized the eunuch was deacon or apostle, no laying on of hands is mentioned; and against the claim that after the first Pentecost the Spirit came only through hands, Augustine turns to Cornelius and Peter’s vision of the sheet, which he expounds as the Gentile nations cleansed for the Church.
Life of Saint Martin 16Sulpicius Severus · ca. 396–397 · At Trier Martin prays, blesses oil, and restores a paralysed girl on the point of death.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 16.23Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine argues that even Caiaphas prophesied Christ unknowingly through the priestly anointing, so Moses, who founded that anointing, certainly prophesied Christ knowingly.
Canon 20Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · Bishops may not let presbyters make the chrism; the subscriptions follow, then the heading and creed of the later Rule of Faith against the Priscillianists.
Commentary on Daniel 9, scholion 28Polychronius of Apamea · ca. 400-430 · Polychronius applies the anointing of the holy of holies to Christ, anointed by the Spirit for the dispensation.
Commentary on Daniel 9, scholion 33Polychronius of Apamea · ca. 400-430 · The anointed leader is Christ; the seven weeks are the 49 years of the rebuilding.
Questions and Answers to the Orthodox 136–138Anonymous · 5th century (disputed) · Three questions: Christ did not slight his mother, whom he honored and obeyed, but blessed her for hearing and keeping God's word; the baptismal anointings follow the right order, since Mary's anointing of Jesus anticipated his burial; and God justly struck the people for Saul's and David's faults, since a kingdom is one body and the people's suffering punishes the king.
Letter 25, chapter 3Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Only bishops may sign the forehead of the baptized with chrism to give the Holy Spirit; presbyters may anoint with chrism the bishop has consecrated.
Letter 25, chapter 8Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent rules that the anointing of the sick in James 5 may be given with the bishop’s oil by presbyters, by the bishop himself, and even by lay Christians, but not to penitents, and dates the letter 19 March 416.
Commentary on the Apostles' Creed 6Rufinus of Aquileia · ca. 404 · The names Jesus (Saviour) and Christ (Anointed) are explained, and why he is called the only Son and our Lord.
Dialogues 3.2Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · At Chartres Martin heals a girl mute from birth with blessed oil, in the presence of the bishops Valentinus and Victricius.
Dialogues 3.3Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Oil blessed by Martin overflows its flask; a flask of his oil falls without breaking; a dog is silenced in Martin’s name.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 6.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Simon Magus was baptized yet, full of 'gall', had no part in the faith; so baptism alone, outside the dove's love and unity, does not save.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 7.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Andrew finds the Messiah, the 'Anointed' or Christ, who is anointed above all his fellows, from whom all Christians receive their anointing.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 33.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ, the Anointed, fittingly taught from the Mount of Olives, the mount of chrism; he anointed us as wrestlers against the devil.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 44.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The anointing with clay signifies the catechumen's faith in the incarnate Word, and the washing in Siloam signifies baptism in Christ, the Sent One.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 3.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · Many receive the sacraments without truly belonging to the Church, as their leaving in temptation shows; the anointing of the Holy Spirit teaches believers to know good and evil.
On the Christian Life 1Fastidius · ca. 411-430 · "Christ" means "anointed"; all the baptized share his anointing, and only those who imitate Christ truly bear the name Christian.
Canon 1Anonymous · 441 · Heretics in danger of death who wish to become catholics may be received by a presbyter with chrism if no bishop is present.
Canon 2Anonymous · 441 · Baptizers must always use the chrism; one not anointed at baptism is to be anointed at confirmation, since the anointing is not repeated.
Canon 17Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Bonosians, baptized in the Trinity like the Arians, are received with chrism and the laying on of hands.
Canon 3Anonymous · 442 · Presbyters are to fetch the chrism each year before Easter from their own bishop, in person or through a subdeacon.