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Part IV: Dogma and Ritual Questions · 40

What is the 'Ghalilaun'?

Faith Q&A › Many Years with People's Questions › Part IV

The question

We have heard that on Thursday 16 of April 1971, two kinds of Holy oil were consecrated one being the Myron and the other was Ghalilaun. What is the Ghalilaun? What is it used for? How is it made, and what does it mean to consecrate it?

The answer

The word Ghalilaun which we use for this second kind of oil, comes from two Greek words joined together which mean 'oil of joy' or 'oil of happiness' or 'oil of rejoicing'.

This is the oil with which the person is anointed before his baptism, in the ritual of repudiating Satan, and its function is to ward off any bad spirits that might want to lead astray the one being anointed, or which might try to obstruct his faith, or plant blasphemous thoughts in his mind when he is an adult.

When the priest anoints the one being baptised with this type of oil, he says: 'I anoint you with the oil of joy... which was planted in the sweet olive tree before your baptism'.

In the past, the Church used to anoint those who were coming new to the faith, with this oil, to prepare them for seeking enlightenment and the sacrament of baptism. This is why it used to be called the oil of anointing and preparation. The composition of the Ghalilaun is made up of three elements: a ) pure olive oil. b ) a number of drops from the sacred olive oil and our present stock contains the products of 23 batches of the holy chrism. c ) the ferment from the old Ghalilaun, which is formed in the bowl of the Ghalilaun by the boiling of the drops of chrism with the olive oil. The special prayer which is said over the Ghalilaun to consecrate it is recited after a prayer for the chrism, and both His Holiness and the bishops take part in this. Then the Pope makes the sign of the cross over the Ghalilaun just as he has previously done over the holy chrism.

In the past, this oil - the oil of joy - was used to anoint kings and priests. It was formerly used to anoint, according to what the Lord commanded Moses, was composed of some of the constituents of the chrism, as it says in Exodus 30, though of course the chrism, now, is different, because spices, and grains from the embalming that was on the body of Christ, have since been added to it. These things were obviously not available in the Old Testament times, and it is in this respect that the chrism differs from the Ghalilaun. ((( ((

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Thrice-Blessed Pope Shenouda III of Blessed Memory

Thrice-Blessed Pope Shenouda III of Blessed Memory, Many Years with People's Questions, Part IV: Dogma and Ritual Questions. Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate. Translated by Mrs. Glynis Younan, London. Revised by Mrs. Wedad Abbas. First edition, August 1992. Revised COEPA 1997. ISBN 977-5319-0-2-1.