“Chrism, also called myrrh, myron, holy anointing oil, and consecrated oil, is a consecrated oil used in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, Nordic Lutheran, Anglican, and Old Catholic churches in the administration of certain sacraments and ecclesiastical functions.”
“Charisma – Charm that can inspire devotion in others”
Etymology
“The English chrism derives from Koine Greek via Latin and Old French. In Greek, khrîsma (χρῖσμα) was originally the verbal noun ("(the act of) anointing", "unction") of χρίειν ("anoint").[1] By extension, along with khrîma (χρῖμα), khrîstai (χρῖσται), and later khrísma (χρίσμα), it came to be used for the anointing oil or ointment itself.
The Proto-Indo-European root from which the Greek term derived has been reconstructed as *gʰrey- ("to trickle"). This is cognate with Sanskrit ghṛtə (घृत, from the radix घृ (भासे / क्षरणे / छादने), which means to shine / to trickle / to cover) and Hindi ghī (घी, "ghee"), as well as Lithuanian gr(i)ejù, griẽti ("skimming"), Middle Low German grēme ("grime"), Old English grīma ("mask, helm, spectre", presumably from an original sense of "covering" or "concealment"), English grime, and possibly Phrygian gegreimenan ("painted, ornamented, inscribed").”
Holy Anointing Ritual
“Multiple early Christian documents discuss the "ordinance" or "several ceremonies...explained in the Apostolical Constitutions" of "chrism", including documents by Theophilus (d. 181) and Tertullian (d. 220).
The most detailed version of the practice is by Cyril of Jerusalem who details how ointment or oil was "symbolically applied to the forehead, and the other organs of sense" and that the "ears, nostrils, and breast were each to be anointed." Cyril states that the "ointment is the seal of the covenants" of baptism and God's promises to the Christian who is anointed. Cyril taught that being "anointed with the Holy anointing oil of God" was the sign of a Christian, and a physical representation of having the Gift of the Holy Spirit, and it retains this meaning in Catholicism and Orthodoxy today. He says, "Having been counted worthy of this Holy Chrism, you are called Christians, verifying the name also by your new birth. For before you were deemed worthy of this grace, you properly had no right to this title but were advancing on your way towards being Christians." (On the Mysteries 3.5)”
In Latin Catholicism…
“Chrism is made of olive oil and is scented with a sweet perfume, usually balsam.”
“Holy oils were also used, in the older form of the Roman Rite, for the anointing of kings during ceremonies of coronation. Several local rites allowed for the use of chrism in those coronation rites (e.g. in the pre-reformation English coronation rite the anointing was with chrism; Napoleon was anointed with chrism by Pope Pius VII, etc.). However, the general coronation rite of the Roman Liturgy, codified in the Roman Pontifical of Pope Clement VIII, prescribed the use of the oil of cathecumens for the anointing of kings.”