Blessed oil is olive oil that’s been consecrated by a priest through prayer. It carries God’s grace for healing, strength, and blessing.
You’ll encounter it most often when a priest anoints you during services. He’ll make the sign of the cross on your forehead with oil, sometimes on your hands or other parts of your body. The oil is slippery, fragrant, and you’re meant to rub it into your skin rather than wipe it off. It’s a physical reminder that God’s grace touches our physical bodies, not just our souls.
Different Oils for Different Purposes
The Church uses several types of blessed oil, though they all share the same basic idea, olive oil set apart by prayer to be a vehicle of God’s grace.
The oil you’re most likely to receive is from the Holy Unction service. This happens on Holy Wednesday evening during Lent, and sometimes at other times when someone is sick. The priest (ideally seven priests, though often just one or two) reads seven Gospel passages about healing and blesses the oil with specific prayers. Sometimes wine is added. This isn’t last rites. We don’t wait until someone’s dying. Holy Unction is for anyone who needs healing of body, soul, or mind, which means pretty much all of us.
There’s also oil blessed during other services. At the Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesday evenings in Lent, the priest often blesses oil that people can take home. Some parishes have a moleben (prayer service) where oil gets blessed for general use. This oil hasn’t gone through the full Holy Unction service, but it’s still consecrated and still carries grace.
Then there’s chrism, which is different. Chrism is aromatic oil blessed by the bishop, used in Chrismation right after baptism to seal you with the gift of the Holy Spirit. You won’t take chrism home in a little bottle. That’s reserved for the sacrament itself.
What the Oil Means
Oil shows up everywhere in Scripture. Kings and priests got anointed with oil in the Old Testament. The Good Samaritan poured oil and wine on the wounded man’s injuries. Jesus told the parable of the ten virgins whose lamps needed oil to stay lit. The disciples anointed sick people and healed them. James writes, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
The Church has always understood oil as a sign of the Holy Spirit, of healing, of being set apart for God. When you’re anointed, something real happens. Not magic. Not superstition. But a genuine encounter with God’s mercy through physical means, because we’re physical beings and God meets us where we are.
Fr. Thomas Hopko used to say that the sacraments show us that matter matters. God uses bread, wine, water, and oil to convey his grace. He doesn’t despise the physical world he created.
Using Oil at Home
After Holy Unction or other services where oil is blessed, you can take some home in a small bottle or vial. Many people keep it near their icons. When you’re sick, anxious, struggling with temptation, or just need a reminder of God’s presence, you can anoint yourself. Make the sign of the cross on your forehead with the oil. Some people anoint their hands, chest, or wherever they’re experiencing pain.
Say a prayer when you do this. “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” works fine. Or “Through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Savior, save me.” The oil isn’t a good luck charm. It’s a connection to the Church’s prayer and to Christ the Healer.
Don’t overthink it. I know folks around here who keep blessed oil in their trucks alongside their jumper cables and emergency kit. When someone at the plant gets hurt or there’s a close call offshore, they’ll quietly anoint themselves and say a prayer. That’s exactly the kind of practical piety the Church encourages.
For Those Just Learning
If you’re an inquirer or catechumen, you can receive anointing at most services where oil is blessed. You don’t have to be Orthodox yet to experience God’s healing touch. Holy Unction itself is technically for baptized Orthodox Christians, but practices vary and your priest will guide you.
Don’t be shy about asking for oil after a service. Priests expect it. We want you to have it. And if you’re not sure how to use it or when it’s appropriate, just ask. There’s no secret knowledge here, no insider information being withheld. We’re all learning to receive God’s grace more fully, whether we’ve been Orthodox for three months or thirty years.
The oil connects you to something ancient. The same prayers, the same olive oil, the same faith in Christ the Healer that Christians have practiced since the apostles walked dusty roads in Galilee. When that oil touches your forehead, you’re part of that unbroken chain.
