Chrism Mass: Church of St. Anthony, Nibong Tebal

In all the hype leading to Holy Week and the Easter Triduum, I did not have the opportunity to post any photos of the Penang Diocesan Chrism Mass. In the Chrism Mass, when the priests gather around their Bishop who exercises the fullness of his priesthood, the Church is at its fullest expression. The ideal would be that the Chrism Mass be celebrated in the diocesan Cathedral on Holy Thursday morning, but in the case of the Penang Diocese, and, I would suspect, in most other dioceses as well, the presbyterate can't make the journey and be back in their parishes in 'Mass-celebrating' condition due to the distances involved and the age of the clergy.

Pardon the photo quality. I was seated waaay back.

A view of the crowd before Mass began.

So, the tradition is that the Chrism Mass is alternately celebrated some days earlier in the various diocesan districts to allow all the people to experience this significant event in the life of the local Church. This year, it is the privilege of the people and parishioners of the Church of St. Anthony in Nibong Tebal, a rural town on the mainland to host the clergy recollection and the Chrism Mass for the Penang Diocese. The parish priest, Fr. Francis Xavier, who was just transferred there 10 months ago from my parish, is also administrator of 2 other parishes nearby and the diocesan liturgist.

A busload of about 40 people travelled from my parish to Nibong Tebal for the occasion. The place was packed to the rafters with people coming from all over the diocese to join with the priests as they celebrate the institution of the priesthood.

The entrance procession was accompanied by traditional Indian drums and 'bunga manggar', a kind of processional ornament used for Malay dignitaries. The priests were followed by Msgr. Stephen Liew, the Vicar General and Fr. David Lourdes, the District Senator and the Bishop, vested in gold.

We have only about 30 priests in this diocese. Seen here is the newly ordained deacon, Stanley.

Censing the altar.

And the altar cross.

Part of the priests who attended. (Mark from Ireland, if you would care to name them, it would spare me the trouble.)

The Church is in a rural area and is very simple.

The readings of the day were done in Mandarin and Tamil and the psalm was chanted in Tamil as well before Deacon Stanley proclaimed the Gospel.

The Bishop then gave one of his trademark very very long homilies. Very long.

The priests, trying their darndest to keep awake and look interested.

Then came the moment we're waiting for, the end of the sermon...juts kidding. The blessing of the Holy Oils and the Consecration of the Sacred Chrism. After the homily, the Creed was recited.

The priests, reading from the text and trying not to affirm heresy.

3 priests were chosen to process the oils in, covered by veils with their proper colours. Green for the oil of the catechumens, purple for the oil of the sick and gold for the Sacred Chrism.

That's Fr. Mark, our assistant parish priest in a tense standoff, perhaps arguing with a member of the congregation.

The Bishop, assisted by the deacon blessing the oils.

The Bishop mixed balsam into the oil, and then breathed on it before praying the prayer on consecration.

The priests, stretching their hands over the Chrism during the consecration.

The oils were then processed back to the place of reposition, to be distributed to the priests to be taken back to their parishes.

The collection was taken by charmingly dressed ladies wearing sarees, traditional Indian costumes.

The gifts were then brought forward. The bunga manggar can be seen here, reminiscent of the Papal flabellum.

The offertory.

The Roman Canon was used. During the Eucharistic Prayer, the servers knelt before the altar, incensing the Host.

Hoc est enim Corpus Meum

His est enim calix Sanguinis Mei

The vested main concelebrants, Msgr. Liew and Fr. David Lourdes.

During the Per ipsum, flower girls threw flowers before the Host in a traditional Indian custom of honour.

The Pater Noster.

Exchanging the sign of peace.

Ecce Agnus Dei.

The distribution of Holy Communion took a while as the crowd was quite big.

The seminarians, in cassocks.

The choir.

A view of some of the people seated outside the Church in tents set up to accommodate the crowd.

After the post-Communion prayer was recited, a presentation to honour our priests was played to the soundtrack of Pope John Paul's Abba Pater during which he sang the Pater Noster. I was told only the Bishop and another old priest from China, Fr. Chao, sang along. A pity. [BTW, the presentation was prepared by your humble scribe.]

Another look at the vast crowds who gathered for the Mass.

The Altar Crucifix.

The catechism children the approached the priests to give them special appreciation cards prepared by the children.

The recession.

The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, just recently blessed. Click to open a new window.

After Mass, in traditional Malaysian fashion to celebrate every event with a meal, a sumptuous spread was prepared by the parishioners for all.



Altogether, it was a great day, to celebrate with our priests and appreciate them on their very own day. I haven't attended Chrism Mass in 2 years since they were always held away from the Cathedral in Penang, in St. Michael's Ipoh last year, and I think St. Michael's Alor Star the year before. It was good to experience it again.

How was your Chrism Mass? Did you attend? Was it on Holy Thursday morning? Do tell.