The Archbishop has written to Cardinal Napier to say that there are only three blessed oils prescribed in the Roman Ritual and that the use of any other oil is "proscribed and subject to ecclesiastical penalties." Since the letter refers to canon law which is in force universally, the prohibition should not be considered as applying only to South Africa.
Here is the jpg of the letter (click to enlarge):
10 comments:
Woopsa daisy! Probably had a touch of that once or twice!!
Where does that leave the oil blessed at the shrine of St Jude in Faversham?
I hear this is a thing used by those Charismatic Renewal folks at least in Canada.
Dear Father Tim
Thanks for posting this up. Some time ago a group in our neck of the woods kept stopping people who were coming out of local churches to 'anoint their hands with the oil of gladness'. People were being made to feel quite uncomfortable by this practice - to turn it down was to mark them out as 'unspiritual' to accept would be to compromise with pseudo-sacraments. And yet folks were not sure where to turn for a solid official response.
Once again the blogosphere comes to the rescue!
Alan and Angeline
And what about the blessed oil referred to in the old and venerable Rituale Romanum at the "Benedictio olei" in the chapter dealing with blessings? I have an entry about that on my blog.
Fr Tim, please could you help? Are we ok to use oil such as St Jude's oil from Faversham in our own personal family prayers?
I'm glad.
There have always been sacramentals for private use such as the oil of St Jude, St Philomena, St Blaise etc. The problem with the "oil of gladness" thing is the (quasi) liturgical use which imitates a sacrament.
If you use oil privately, you do this at home, perhaps with your family, as part of your private prayers. This is different from a "worship leader" having people line up to be "anointed" with the oil of gladness as part of a "healing service".
Dearest and Reverend Father,
Firstly let me thank you for posting this link. It is undoubtably one sure way of exposing the current state of the church here in Southern Africa.
It is sad to note that, indeed such abuses are rampant here, so much so to actually get a response by Rome herself.
Unfortunatly, this is one of many and we can only hope that by this one action we might begin to see a greater adhearance to the principles and standards set by Rome herself.
There is a tendancy here at least, to almost disassociate the local church with the Universal Chruch, almost to the extent that it becomes the 'African' Catholic Church with some trappings of the Roman Catholic Church.
I thank you most sincerly once again, and hope that all is well with you dear Father.
I reamin your unworthy servant in Christ and our Good Mother
Calvin
President
Summorum Pontificum Johannesburg
Let us just hope the bishops of SA will follow-up on Rome's "request" and catechise the faithful aright
Post a Comment