Olive oil

:For Popeye's girlfriend, see Olive Oyl.

Olive oil in contemporary religious use

Used as a medicinal agent in ancient times, and as a cleanser for athletes (athletes in the ancient world were slathered in olive oil, then scraped to remove dirt), it also has religious symbolism related to healing and strength and to "consecration" -- God's setting a person or place apart for special work. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches use olive oil for the Oil of Catechumens (used to bless and strengthen those preparing for Baptism), Oil of the Sick (used to confer the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick), and olive oil mixed with a perfuming agent like balsam is consecrated by bishops as Sacred Chrism, which is used to confer the sacrament of Confirmation (as a symbol of the strengthening of the Holy Spirit), in the rites of Baptism and the ordination of priests and bishops, in the consecration of altars and churches, and, traditionally, in the anointing of monarchs at their coronation.

Related Topics:
Catechumen - Anointing of the Sick - Balsam - Consecrated - Bishop - Chrism - Confirmation - Baptism - Ordination - Priest - Coronation

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To this day, Eastern Orthodox Christians use oil lamps in their churches and home prayer corners. To make a vigil lamp, a votive glass with a half-inch of water on the bottom, is filled the rest of the way with olive oil. The votive glass is placed in a metal holder; different kinds of metal holders may hang from a bracket on the wall, or one that sits on a table. A cork float with a wick is placed in the glass and floats on top of the oil. The wick is then lit. When it comes time to douse the flame, the float can be (carefully!) pressed downward into the oil, and the oil douses the flame.

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