Then the priest takes the Holy Myrrh and anoints the newly baptized [or newly received into the faith], marking him or her on the forehead, chest, back, ears, eyes, nostrils, lips, hands and feet, saying each time: The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. All respond: Amen.
When a woman and a man fall in love and marry, they unite their families as well. They must consider at holidays such as Christmas, birthdays and special anniversaries what gifts they offer their extended family members. So it is when a person is initiated into the family of the Holy Trinity. The greatest gift is the Person of the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit are provided for incorporation into a new family. The new family member is expected to express appreciation for that gift by making intelligent use of what he or she receives. Christ through the Church provides the ingredients for union with the heavenly Father in Himself and through the Holy Spirit.
One cannot ignore or reject those gifts and be part of the family of God. The first and obvious sign of membership is to affirm the goals and aspirations of each member, and to become one who loves all who are part of the family, and to oppose what is repulsive to God and all who are called by the Name of His unique Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. It calls us to be like Him, and to endorse His personality. It’s clear that He is opposed to selfishness, pride, self-concern, foolishness, ignorance, cowardice, fear, spiritual sickness and naivete.
When we receive those precious gifts of the Holy Spirit, our feet are blessed to walk by the Spirit, to stride towards the Kingdom of God in the light of Christ. Our hands are blessed to create what is worthy of our talents, to enhance the good things of creation, to heal, to comfort, to caress with affection, not to destroy, to crush, to injure or to disturb whatever is good and profitable to life on earth. Our ears are blessed to listen to what is sensible, wise, advantageous and worthwhile, and to filter out or shut off the obscene, base, banal, vulgar, crude, boring, perverse, and to close our ears to gossip, lies, malicious rumors, or whatever is not helpful for our salvation. Our eyes are blessed to look upon the God-created things of beauty, to read what is beneficial, uplifting, prayerful and inspiring to our minds and souls, and to look away from all that is wicked, sensual, violent, demeaning, grotesque, humiliating, insipid, dull and uninspiring.
St. Symeon the New Theologian wrote: “May the Holy Spirit fill us with His good spiritual scent, the fragrance of which is ineffable and whose exhalations are like odors of light.”
Even our nostrils are blessed with holy myrrh to imbibe the incense, blossoms, flowers, perfumes and fragrances that enhance our welfare and to encourage us to turn the stench, rot and disgusting aromas of the world into fragrances that uplift the soul. Our lips are blessed to taste the fruits, vegetables and nourishment provided by our heavenly Father and not to overeat, or indulge our appetites in any way, to speak kind words of hope, affection and encouragement to all who yearn for the joy of Christian love. Our shoulders are blessed to bear the crosses that come to us at various times of a lifetime serving and following our crucified Savior. And our chests are blessed to have the heart and courage to accept the plan for our lives that our loving Lord has chosen for each of us, so that we will endure to the end and so find our place in God’s heavenly Kingdom together with all the saints and other family members who have received those gifts of the Holy Spirit and who have brought them to fruition by making use of them throughout this lifetime on earth.