InternationalThe blessing of the Muron: Behind the ritual
Published: Tuesday September 23, 2008
In 2001, Archbishop Mesrop II Mutafyan, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople (l.), Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians, and Aram I, the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, added ingredients to the cauldron of muron. Photolure
In 2001, Archbishop Mesrop II Mutafyan, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople (l.), Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians, and Aram I, the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, added ingredients to the cauldron of muron. Photolure
Yerevan - The Armenian Church is rich with ancient rituals and sacredtraditions dating back to the early days of Christianity. Often their meaningsget lost to modern Armenians in the elaborate ceremonies that go with them.
Among the most intriguing and mystical of these rituals is Muronorhnek,the Blessing of the Holy Chrism.
Muronohnek traditionally occurs once everyseven years at Etchmiadzin, though this is not a hard and fast rule - in thewhole of the 20th century, the muron was only blessednine times. The blessing will take place this year on September 28.
The ceremony is quite complex and preparations begin 40 daysbefore the festive service. Seven layers of veils cover the cauldron in whichthe chrism is already cooking. A prayer service begins a 40-day process ofpsalms, hymns, and scripture readings. On the eve of the Blessing of the HolyChrism, a vigil is held at the cauldron and the next day, the Catholicos of AllArmenians leads the blessing celebration, assisted by bishops from around theworld. The chrism is kept in the cauldron for several weeks and is then takento Armenian Apostolic Churches around the world.
The word muron means ‘fragrant oil'in Greek, derived from the root "to rub" or "to anoint."The muronitself is an extremely precious mixture whose recipe is derived from the OldTestament:
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Take the following finespices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) offragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, 24,500 shekels of cassia - allaccording to the sanctuary shekel - and a hin of olive oil. Make these into asacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be thesacred anointing oil. -Exodus 30:22-25
Armenian muron is made with purevirgin olive oil, balsam (a fragrant liquid that comes from the bark of someevergreens), and 40 kinds of incense, flowers, roots, plants, oils, and leafextracts. Balsam is the trickiest ingredient and perhaps the most important.The HayrMashtots (the Armenian Pontifical Book of Rituals) states: "Morebalsam is commendable. The more the balsam, the more praiseworthy it is." Thebalsam must first be boiled with linseed oil so that it is soft enough to mixwith the other ingredients. It's kept separate from the olive oil until bothhave been properly boiled. Then it's poured into the olive oil and boiled againuntil the two are well blended. This mixture is kept separate from the other ingredientsuntil the day of the blessing service.
Some of the ingredients the recipe calls for can only beobtained from distant and exotic locations, like Sumatra and Nepal. It seems atad lavish, especially considering the Armenian Church has gone through somepretty difficult times - persecution, Genocide, Soviet rule. One may wonder whythe Blessing of the Chrism has to be such an extravagant process, with such arare list of ingredients, performed only by the Catholicos of All Armenians.And what exactly is the muron for? Can the Churchfunction without it? What happens if they run out?
Regular oil will do in a pinch
Der Dajad Davidian is a reliablesource for the answers to these questions and for some insight on the topic. Apriest who served for 30 years in Watertown Massachusetts, he has been livingin Armenia for the past eight years. Der Dajad is the leader of the ArmenianChurch Youth Movement, which he started six years ago. He has a popular TV showin Armenia called "Ask the Priest," where viewers call in with all kinds of questionsranging from "What do I do with a broken cross?" to more serious questionsabout relationships, addiction, and faith. "Sometimes we deal with thesublime," says Der Dajad, "Sometimes the ridiculous."
Der Dajad explains that chrism is used in all thetraditional Churches (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Assyrian, andArmenian) but its preparation, blessing ceremony, and uses vary slightly ineach church. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, it's used to consecrate altars,churches, gospels, and other holy items, in baptism (a few drops of oil go intothe water to seal in the Body of Christ), and in the ordination of priests,where their hands and heads are anointed with oil. When a Catholicos isordained, the oil is poured right over his head.
On the topic of the extravagant ceremonial process, DerDajad says that while it's important in keeping an ancient tradition alive,it's not the point. "All rituals in the Church have one aim," he says,"Salvation of the soul. Rituals are only a means for us to come to our faith."
And as for the elaborate list of ingredients from the farreaches of the world? Der Dajad's response is surprising: "If all thoseingredients are not available, regular oil can be used. Necessity dispensesfrom law." In other words, what's important is the meaning behind the ritual."The Church can exist without muron," he says, "Muroncannot exist without the Church."
The continuity factor
The most intriguing aspect of the Blessing of the Muronis its continuity factor. According to tradition, a portion of the chrism thatMoses blessed still remained in Jesus' time. Jesus blessed it as well, and gavesome to Saint Thaddeus, who took it to Armenia and healed King Abkar of aterrible skin disease by anointing him with the oil. Saint Thaddeus buried thebottle of holy oil under an evergreen tree in Daron, where Saint Gregory theIlluminator was later able to find it through a vision. He took the bottle andmixed it with the muron he had blessed. To this day, whenever anew batch of muron is prepared and blessed, a few drops ofthe old one go into it, so that the Armenian muron always contains asmall amount of the original oil blessed by Moses, Jesus Christ, and Gregorythe Illuminator.
