Oils for the ministry of the Church
One of the pieces of liturgy specific to cathedrals is the annual Chrism Mass (or Eucharist with renewal of ministerial vows and blessing of the oils for the ministry of the Church). It's a huge joy and a huge privilege, even though when it happens on the traditional Maundy Thursday, it is also a logistical nightmare. The renewal of ministerial vows is relatively new; the blessing of oils for the three anointings of priestly ministry (oil of exorcism for baptism, oil of healing, oil of chrism for the invocation of the Holy Spirit) very old, and the symbolism of those oils being blessed on Maundy Thursday by the bishop in their cathedral and then taken to the people of the diocese by the clergy carries a lot of theological depth about the ministry of the church flowing from the self-giving love of Jesus and through those ordained to service. There is one published hymn about the oils for ministry, and after several years as precentor I'd got quite tired of it. So I wrote anothe...