Myrrh is a sign of church unity, because by the Council of Bishops headed by the Primate of the Church, it is consecrated and distributed among all the Churches.

In all the Sacraments the grace of the Holy Spirit is given, but Chrismation is the Sacrament of the Holy Spirit par excellence; it completes Baptism. There is spiritual birth, here is spiritual growth. Having created man, God breathed into his face the breath of life (Gen. 2:7), and having accomplished in the person of His Son the redemption of people, He sent them the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. So it is after Baptism, this spiritual birth. The Holy Spirit is sent to man in a special way through Chrismation. Thus, this Sacrament is a personal Pentecost of a person entering the Church.

Among the many gifts of the Holy Spirit given in the Sacrament of Chrismation, the Teachers of the Church distinguish first of all the main one – the gift of sanctification, which is accepted as a dedication to the service of God. Thanks to it, a person enters the ranks of the royal priesthood, is included in the chosen people (1 Pet. 2:9), that is, in the Church. This is expressed in the fact that the anointed is given access to participation in all the other Sacraments.

Spiritual life is unswerving spiritual growth and ascent. The Holy Spirit, contributing to this, first of all helps to assimilate the teaching of the Church, that is, to grow in wisdom, since He is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. He also enlightens the heart, since, in the words of the Apostle: "God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things" (1 John 3:20). It also sanctifies feelings and will, on which a person's actions depend.

The Sacrament of Chrismation is performed through the anointing of a person's forehead, eyes, nostrils, chest, and, finally, hands and feet with myrrh. As the highest inspiration, the Holy Spirit inspires man to a holy life, and by His power kindles in man an aspiration to God as his Prototype, in which man's God-likeness is most of all expressed.

As noted above, "the goal of the Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit" (St. Seraphim of Sarov), and this goal is achieved by the constant spiritualization of human life, which is the foundation in the Sacrament of Chrismation.187 When anointing different parts of the body, the priest each time says: "The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit." This seal is a mark that testifies that man has become God's. Sometimes this sacred action is compared to the sealing of vessels with precious myrrh or wine, since a Christian must truly forever remain a receptacle of grace and a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul writes about this: "Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Among the innumerable gifts of the Holy Spirit, the highest is Christian love. Of course, through the Sacrament of Chrismation, Divine love is instilled in the soul of a Christian, and with it "joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control" (Gal. 5:22-23) and many other fruits of the Spirit of the Comforter. The Church asks for many of them in the prayer with which the Sacrament of Chrismation begins. In the same prayer, the Church asks for the possibility of communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord for the one who has approached the Sacrament.

In ancient times, the newly baptized and chrismated immediately approached Holy Communion at the Liturgy of Great Saturday. On this basis, the Epistle and the Gospel of Holy Saturday are now read after the anointing with holy chrism. Both readings apply equally to both perfect Sacraments. Apostle: Rom. 6, 3—11; Gospel: Matt. 28, 16—20.188

The sacrament ends with the priest, the godparents and the newly-baptized person walking around the font three times. The circle is a symbol of eternity, and this rite signifies the eternal power of the perfect Sacrament. In modern practice, the Sacrament of Chrismation is joined by the washing (from the myrrh) of the newly-baptized and the cutting of his hair, which were previously performed only after 8 days. The first rite introduces the new Christian into ordinary life with a reminder of the great things that have happened to him; the cutting of the hair on the head expresses a willingness to sacrifice oneself to God.189

The Sacrament of Repentance