Chrism: The Oil That Anoints Kings
When a monarch is crowned or a child baptised, olive oil is often at the centre of the rite. Holy chrism — olive oil blended with fragrant balsam — has consecrated priests, kings and altars for millennia. The Greek word for ‘anointed’, christos, even gives us the name Christ. Few objects carry so much history in a single drop.
Chrism is holy anointing oil, and at its heart is olive oil, blended with balsam or other fragrant resins to give it scent. The tradition is very old : the book of Exodus gives a recipe for a sacred anointing oil of olive oil, myrrh, cinnamon, cassia and fragrant cane, reserved for consecrating the priests and the sanctuary. To be anointed was to be set apart as holy — a person, an object or a place marked out by oil for a sacred purpose.
The word hidden in the oil
Here is the detail most people never notice. The Greek word christos means simply ‘anointed one’, a translation of the Hebrew mashiach, messiah. When early Greek-speakers called Jesus Christos, they were calling him ‘the Anointed’ — and from that title comes the word Christian. The name of a world religion is, at root, a word about being smeared with holy oil. The olive is written into the vocabulary of faith more deeply than almost any other plant.
Kings made by oil
Anointing did not only make priests ; it made kings. Hebrew scripture has prophets pour oil on the heads of Saul, David and Solomon to mark them as chosen. That idea flowed into Christian coronation : European monarchs were, and are, anointed with holy oil as the sacred core of the ceremony. At the 2023 coronation the Archbishop of Canterbury anointed the new king’s head, hands and heart with chrism — consecrated, fittingly, with oil from olive trees on the Mount of Olives. A three-thousand-year-old gesture, performed live.
Why olive oil, of all oils
The choice was never arbitrary. Olive oil was the finest, purest, most abundant oil of the ancient Near East : rich, clean-burning, associated with light, health and plenty. To anoint with it was to bless with the best the land could give. The same fruit that fed, lit and healed the Mediterranean world was also the one deemed fit to mark a person as sacred. Its everyday usefulness and its holiness were never really separate — a theme that runs right through the whole story of the olive.
| What | Holy chrism / anointing oil |
|---|---|
| Base | Olive oil |
| Added | Balsam or fragrant resin |
| Ancient recipe | Exodus 30:22–25 |
| The word | Christos = ‘anointed one’ |
| Modern use | Baptism, ordination, coronation |
The takeaways
- Holy chrism is olive oil blended with fragrant balsam.
- Anointing with oil consecrated priests, kings and altars for millennia.
- The word Christ means ‘anointed one’ — and gives us ‘Christian’.
- Monarchs are still anointed with olive-based oil at their coronation.
Chrism and anointing oil: common questions
What is chrism made of?
Olive oil blended with balsam or another fragrant resin, consecrated for sacred anointing.
How does olive oil relate to the word ‘Christ’?
The Greek christos means ‘anointed one’. Calling Jesus the Christ meant calling him the Anointed, and the word gives us ‘Christian’.
Were kings anointed with oil?
Yes. Hebrew scripture describes anointing Saul, David and Solomon, and European monarchs are still anointed with holy oil at their coronations.
Why olive oil specifically?
It was the finest and purest oil of the ancient Near East, tied to light, health and plenty — the best the land could offer for a sacred act.
Is chrism still used today?
Yes, in baptism, confirmation, ordination, the consecration of churches and, for some monarchies, coronation.
Of all the things olive oil has been, this is the one that stops me : it named a religion. The word Christ is just Greek for ‘anointed with oil’. Think about that the next time you pour a little over bread. The ancients did not separate the useful from the holy the way we do — the oil that lit the lamp and dressed the food was also the oil worthy of marking a king. That unity is the real subject of every olive story I know. A drop of it once made a monarch, and still does.
Drawn from Exodus 30, accounts of chrism and Christian anointing, and reports of the 2023 coronation oil. This is cultural and historical background, not religious instruction.