Washing and anointing

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One of ten full-size tubs that was used for washings and anointings in the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints circa 1912 prior to later changes in the ordinance by that denomination that eliminated washing and eventually nudity.
One of ten full-size tubs that was used for washings and anointings in the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints circa 1912 prior to later changes in the ordinance by that denomination that eliminated washing and eventually nudity.

In the Latter Day Saint movement, washing and anointing (also called the initiatory) is an ordinance (sacrament) practiced by certain denominations of the movement in temples as part of the Endowment ceremony. The ordinance consists of a ritual purification by water and an anointing by oil to prepare the participant to become "kings and priests" or "queens and priestesses" in the afterlife. The ordinance is performed by an officiator of the same sex, and culminates in dressing the participant in temple garment (a religious undergarment worn by some denominations of the movement). The ritual is one of two anointings practiced by the faith, the other being the rare Second Anointing.

Although introduced by Joseph Smith, Jr., the religion's founder, many denominations of Smith's followers (such as the Community of Christ) do not believe washings and anointings are an essential part of the religion, and no longer practice them. Other denominations, such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have made accommodations such as eliminating actual bodily washing in tubs, and eliminating nudity.

Contents

[edit] History

These ordinances are perhaps the earliest practiced temple ordinances for the living since the organization of the Church. There is evidence that these ordinances were performed in part since 1836.[1] They were first practised in Kirtland, Ohio.[1] These ordinances continue to be administered today.

The ordinance of washing and anointing symbolizes the ritual cleansing of priests that took place at ancient Israel's Tabernacle, the temple of Solomon, and later temples in Jerusalem (see Exodus 28:40-42, Exodus 29:4-9, 20-21 29-30, 30:18-21).

On January 18, 2005, the LDS Church changed the washing and anointing ritual to eliminate the touching of the subject's body parts by the person administering the ordinance.[2]

[edit] Procedure

The washing and anointing ordinance proceeds in two stages. In the first stage, the person performing the ordinance, who is a person of the same sex as the person receiving the ordinance, touches the person on the forehead with water and states that he or she is washing the person "preparatory to you receiving your anointings".[2] The officiator then recites a list of body parts that are being symbolically washed.[2]

In the second stage, the officiator touches the person on the forehead with consecrated oil and states that he or she is anointing the person "preparatory to your becoming a King [or Queen] and a Priest [or Priestess] unto the Most High God".[2] The officiator again recites the same list of body parts that are being symbolically anointed. The subject is then handed temple garments to put on.

Apart from the difference in gendered terminology,[3] there is one difference in the washings and anointings performed on males and females. After both stages of the ceremony, the officiator lays his hands on a male recipient's head and "seals" the washing or the anointing and indicates that the person "may become clean from the blood and sins of this generation through your faithfulness".[2] However, females do not undergo this second step after either stage. Rather, during the washing and the anointing females are told by the officiator that "your sins are forgiven and you are clean every whit".[4]

[edit] Parallels in Judaism and early Christianity

Multiple early Christian documents discuss the ordinance of "chrism" which is nearly identical to the anointing ordinances in Latter-day Saint temples. The most detailed version of the practice is by Cyril.[5] Cyril details how oil or ointment was "symbolically applied to thy forehead, and thy other organs of sense" and that the "ears, nostrils, and breast were each to be anointed." Only a bishop could anoint the forehead. Cyril states that the "ointment is the seal of the covenants" of baptism and God’s promises to the Christian who is anointed.

The text also claims that all true, believing Christians received the ordinance: "We are called Christians, because we are anointed with the oil of God."

In addition to Cyril, Theophilus and Tertullian discussed the ordinances and the "several ceremonies are thus explained in the Apostolical Constitutions."

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship, David John Beurger,pg. 1
  2. ^ a b c d e Washing & Anointing Ritual
  3. ^ The use of "King" vs. "Queen" and "Priest" vs. "Priestess".
  4. ^ Mormon Initiatory Ceremonies
  5. ^ See Select Library Of The Nicene And Post-Nicene Fathers Of The Christian Church: Second Series Volume VII: Cyril Of Jerusalem: "Ceremonies of Baptism and Chrism" (see § 6).

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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