All of Nature's Contribution to the Mass: Part III

Plants contribute so much to the worship of God that they need another week to get through all the ways they sacrifice themselves in the mass. Last week, we saw that flowers, cotton, linen, wheat, and grapes are all involved in the liturgy, and we began to see the sacrifice of trees and their role in salvation history. We continue with trees, and there is still more they give.

Certain species of trees produce a sap that is made into frankincense, which has a storied history in the use in worship of God since the ancient Israelites. It is spoken of in the book of Exodus, commanded by God to be burnt before the Ark of the Covenant, and is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew as one of the three gifts given by the Magi to the Christ child. Gold to recognize his role as King, Myrrh to recognize his death and serve as an embalming anointment, and incense to recognize his divinity. Today, this incense is burned during the mass as a sacrifice to God, and to symbolize our prayers rising to Heaven, as is spoken of in the Psalms.

The olives from olive trees are pressed and ground into olive oil to create the Holy Oils. The Holy Oils are the Oil of the Sick, Oil of the Catechumen, and the Sacred Chrism. These oils are used to anoint the faithful at different stages in their life, such as when they are baptized, receive Confirmation, if they become a priest, and when people are sick. The Chrism is even used to anoint and consecrate altars, churches, and other very holy objects utilized in the mass. These oils are created and blessed by the Bishop each year during Holy Week at the Chrism Mass.

Palms from Palm Trees are blessed and used each year on Palm Sunday to decorate the church and be a devotional object for the faithful in their own homes. They recall the palms and other leaves strewn about the road to welcome Christ into Jerusalem shortly before his crucifixion.

Each year on Ash Wednesday, the faithful receive ashes on their forehead in the shape of a cross, with the words “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return”, or “Repent and believe in the Gospel” being spoken to them. Where does this ash come from? Palm fronds and olive tree branches are burnt down and the ash from this is what is used on Ash Wednesday.

These are the many ways the plant kingdom gives itself to the service of God, sometimes even sacrificing their very life to give glory to God in worship of Him. Next week, we’ll look at how even the nonliving created world, the earth itself, contributes to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.