View from the Vicarage
May 2023
Saint Lawrence was famously asked by Roman soldiers to bring out the treasures of his church. He presented the poor and sick to the Roman soldiers who asked, and you can imagine their response!
We are currently being careful in terms of security. There is an alert and thieves are targeting church safes, please be vigilant. However, if you were to ask me what the most precious items are in our church safes the answer, like Lawrence of old, might surprise you. It is the oils of anointing. Every Maundy Thursday they can be collected from the Cathedral and there are three small bottles, one is oil of baptism, the other oil of chrism and finally oil of anointing for the sick. Oil of baptism is for making the sign of the cross at that time, Chrism is used in confirmations and ordinations and oil of anointing for the sick is used at significant and critical times in our lives, traditionally on our foreheads and the palms of the hands, recalling the marks of Christ and how they became signs of healing and resurrection. Our church officers will always give out my mobile number if a parishioner is in need of such prayers at home.
We will be hearing an awful lot, more about anointing in preparation for that coronation, because, as well as the cross on the orb and the crown, monarchs are still anointed in this country. It will be oil of chrism that is used. Being anointed in this way means being set aside for a special purpose, which goes some way to explain the media attention on the coronation service and the Monarch’s role in setting a Christian example. After all, Christ is the Greek word for anointed one, hence “chrism”. We may not all be anointed for the purpose of leading a nation, but in a baptism we have all shared in the anointing of Christ, his death and resurrection and the salvation of the world.
By baptism, we have received his sign, the sign of the cross, and are all ministers of the Gospel. There can be no high calling. I hope you enjoy the coronation and all the events that we and our churches have planned, including our special coronation services and big coronation picnics!
Thank you to all those who have been so busy in this last month: our Palm Sunday hospitality, which was exemplary as always, our Easter egg bingo at Saint Helen’s, open church at St Michael’s On Wyre, our parish walks and all the preparations for Easter to make our churches fit for a king, the king of kings.
With all good wishes
The Rev'd Andrew Wilkinson MA
Vicar & Area Dean of Garstang
