The Holy Myroun

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this lesson is to learn about the Holy Myroun, where it comes from, the sacrament of Myroun, and the concept of consecration.

HOOK/INTRODUCTION - 10 Minutes

Show children the images of the two envelopes, one that is open and one with a seal, on Slide 1 of the presentation. Ask: Which one of the 2 envelopes below do you think has a more important document? Why? (most children will answer that it's the one with the seal on it)

What do you think the open envelope means?

The open envelope suggests the document inside:

  • Is not very important
  • Is not of great value
  • Is easily accessible

What do you think the sealed envelope means?

The sealed envelope suggests the document inside:

  • Is private and belongs to someone specific
  • Is valuable and important
  • Is protected

The Myroun Oil in the sacrament of Chrismation, or baptism, acts like the seal as we receive the Holy Spirit in our bodies. Our Bodies are God's temples and they are sealed with His Holy Spirit.

Well, where does this oil come from? And what makes it so special?

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes

Memory Verse

"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are"

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's"

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 15 Minutes

The Holy Myroun is sanctified, which means "holy", oil in which dwells the grace of the Holy Spirit

  • The Early fathers mention this anointing, including Saint Cyril of Jerusalem who said,
    • "Having been counted worthy of this Holy Chrism, ye are called Christians, verifying the name also by your new birth. For before you were deemed worthy of this grace, ye had properly no right to this title, but were advancing on your way towards being Christians."(On the Mysteries 3.5)

Where does it come from?

  • Originally the spices that were used to anoint the Lord's body were taken and olive oil was added and the apostles used this whenever they baptized a new believer to seal them with grace of the Holy Spirit.

In the Old Testament:

  • God has used anointing as a way of blessing/consecrating from the Old Testament
    • God instructed Moses to make a special anointing oil with spices to be used to consecrate priests and the holy items in the tabernacle. "This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on man's flesh; nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people." (Exodus 30:31-33)
  • Kings and prophets were also anointed as we saw when Samuel anointed David

In the New Testament we are all consecrated/anointed/sealed with the Myroun in the sacrament of Chrismation. Through Christ's incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit we are now the temples of God. A dwelling place for God most high.

  • The baptized is anointed 36 times as a seal of the Holy Spirit
  • The water in the baptismal font is also blessed with some of the Holy Myroun so that the baptized is born of water and spirit.
  • Altars, altar boards, altar vessels and churches are consecrated by the bishop with the Holy Myroun
  • Many verses in the New Testament teach us about being sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit referring to Chrismation through which we receive the Holy Spirit Who teaches us and dwells within us.
    • "Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, Who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

LIFE APPLICATION - 5 Minutes

  • You carry the name of Christ. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Hence, you are valuable, authentic, different and not accessible by the world. This means we, as Christians, do not belong to the world. We belong to God.
  • You are one of God's most incredible creations. Always remember that your body is God's temple. You can't just use it the way you want.

CONCLUSION - 5 Minutes

The Holy Myroun is the holiest oil we have in our Coptic church which is sanctified by the Holy Spirit and through it we receive the Holy Spirit and are sealed/consecrated for God in the sacrament of Chrismation.

ACTIVITY - 5 Minutes

Ask kids if they know where we are anointed with the Holy Myroun and the symbolism behind key areas of anointing

  • Top of the head, eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, back (2 times), heart (2 times), and 6 times over the main joints in arms and legs

Get rubber stamp with cross on it and a paper person figure (found at arts and crafts shop or dollar tree) and try to stamp the areas of anointing on the stick figure to show how we are sealed with the Holy Spirit

RESOURCES

Holy Myroun Powerpoint Presentation (Attached below)

On Chrism - by St. Cyril of Jerusalem

PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK

Discuss with your child the sacraments of the church. Discuss how Abouna participates in each of those sacraments.

Practice finding things that have your child's name on it indicating that it's theirs and discuss how through Chrismation we now carry the name of Christ and are the temple of the Holy Spirit and what this means in our daily life.

LESSON ATTACHMENTS

The Holy Myroun.pdf