Consecration in Christianity

This article is about the religious term. For the Serbian experimental band, see Consecration (band).

Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups. Such consecrated persons, places, things, even topics for discussion or subject matter (such as special teachings or doctrines), can also be "circumscribed", i.e. a "circle is drawn" around them (from Latin circumscribere, from circum "around" + scribere "to write"): a boundary is set which must not be crossed, limiting or regulating rules and laws and warnings are in place, unauthorized approach is forbidden or barred or is deflected or redirected, and careless or casual treatment or use of the person, place, thing, doctrine or subject is a punishable offense (sacrilege) which (normally) discourages any unconsidered disrespect (see taboo). Circumscription includes consecration but has a much broader meaning. Whatever is circumscribed is "off limits", "out of bounds", "restricted", as a military base, hospital, secret government documents, knowledge of F.B.I. and C.I.A. and security agency operations and intelligence, persons under "house arrest", certain criminals and their operations and organizations, scientists participating in special research, juries during trial deliberations, or certain social customs and topics of conversation (which excite awe, or dread, or disgust), and even racial and ethnic groups. To disregard the circumscribed quality of what has been "set apart" is to "cross the line" and to "step over the boundary" of the "circle drawn" around it. Not all that is circumscribed is sacred, but all that is consecrated is circumscribed. A synonym for consecration is to sanctify. An antonym is desecrate.

Judaism: The Bible/Tanakh

All that was offered to the God of Israel was consecrated to him, most particularly Aaron and the materials and sacrifices dedicated to the Mishkan and to the worship of Yahweh the LORD. (The Book of Exodus, chapters 25-29.)

39 scriptural passages in the Old Testament representing 7 Hebrew words and 2 scriptural passages in the New Testament representing 2 Greek words are listed in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (keyed to the Authorized King James Version) under listings for CONSECRATE, CONSECRATED, CONSECRATION, and CONSECRATIONS: 39 scriptural passages in the Old Testament representing 6 Hebrew words and 2 scriptural passages in the New Testament representing 2 Greek words are listed in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible under listings for DEDICATE, DEDICATED, DEDICATING, and DEDICATION: (the list that follows provides access to two forms of Strong's Concordance for each of the linked words):

Tanakh

• Exodus 28:3 make Aaron's garments to consecrate him [6942] קדש qadash 6942
• Exodus 28:41 anoint them, and consecrate them [4390, 3027] מלא male', יד yad 4390, 3027
• Exodus 29:9 shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons [3027] יד yad
• Exodus 29:22 for it is a ram of consecration [4394] מלא millu' 4394
• Exodus 29:26 breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration [4394] מלא millu'
• Exodus 29:27 of the ram of the consecration, even of that [4394]
• Exodus 29:29 anointed therein, and to be consecrated [4390, 3027] מלא male', יד yad
• Exodus 29:31 thou shalt take the ram of the consecration [4394]
• Exodus 29:33 to consecrate and to sanctify them [3027] יד yad
• Exodus 29:34 And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations [4394] מלא millu'
• Exodus 29:35 seven days shalt thou consecrate them [3027]
• Exodus 30:30 Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them [6942] קדש qadash
• Exodus 32:39 Consecrate yourselves to day to the [4390, 3027] מלא male', יד yad
• Leviticus 7:37 and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice [4394] מלא millu'
• Leviticus 8:22 the other ram, the ram of consecration [4394]
• Leviticus 8:28 they were consecrations for a sweet savour [4394]
• Leviticus 8:29 of the ram of consecration it was Moses' part [4394]
• Leviticus 8:31 bread that is in the basket of consecrations [4394]
• Leviticus 8:33 for seven days shall he consecrate you [3027]
• Leviticus 8:33 until the days of your consecration be at an [4394]
• Leviticus 16:32 he shall consecrate to minister in [3027]
• Leviticus 21:10 and that is consecrated to put on the [3027]
• Numbers 3:3 whom he consecrated to minister in the [3027]
• Numbers 6:7 because the consecration of his God is upon [5145] נזר netzer, nezer 5145
• Numbers 6:9 he hath defiled the head of his consecration [5145] נזר netzer, nezer
• Numbers 6:12 And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the [5144] נזר natzar, nazar 5144
• Numbers 7:10 princes offered for dedicating of the altar [2598] חנכה hanukkah, chanukkah 2598
• Numbers 7:11 on his day, for the dedicating of the altar [2598] חנכה hanukkah, chanukkah
• Numbers 7:84 the dedication of the altar, in the day [2598]
• Numbers 7:88 This was the dedication of the altar [2598]
• Deuteronomy 20:5 new house and hath not dedicated it [2596] חנך hanaq, chanak 2596
• Deuteronomy 20:5 battle, and another man dedicate it [2596]
• Joshua 6:19 of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the [6944] קדש qodesh 6944
• Judges 17:3 wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD [6942] קדש qadash
• Judges 17:5 and consecrated one of his sons [4390, 3027]
• Judges 17:12 And Micah consecrated the Levite [3027]
• 2 Samuel 8:11 Which also king David did dedicate [6942] קדש qadash
• 2 Samuel 8:11 the silver and gold that he had dedicated [6942]
• 1 Kings 7:51 which David his father had dedicated [6944] קדש qodesh
• 1 Kings 8:63 and all the children of Israel had dedicated [2596] חנך hanaq, chanak
• 1 Kings 13:33 he consecrated him, and he became one [3027]
• 1 Kings 15:15 things which his father had dedicated [6944]
• 1 Kings 15:15 the things which himself had dedicated [6944]
• 2 Kings 12:4 money of the dedicated things that is [6944]
• 2 Kings 12:18 kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his [6942]
• 1 Chronicles 18:11 king David dedicated unto the LORD [6942]
• 1 Chronicles 26:20 over the treasures of the dedicated things [6944]
• 1 Chronicles 26:26 all the treasures of the dedicated things [6944]
• 1 Chronicles 26:26 the captains of the host, had dedicated [6942]
• 1 Chronicles 26:27 did they dedicate to maintain the house [6942]
• 1 Chronicles 26:28 Joab the son of Jeruiah, had dedicated [6942]
• 1 Chronicles 26:28 and whosoever had dedicated any thing [6942]
• 1 Chronicles 28:12 of the treasuries of the dedicated things [6944]
• 1 Chronicles 29:5 consecrate his service this day unto [4390, 3027] מלא male', יד yad
• 2 Chronicles 2:4 to dedicate it to him, and to burn [6942]
• 2 Chronicles 5:1 things that David his father had dedicated [6944]
• 2 Chronicles 7:5 and all the people dedicated the house [2596] חנך hanaq, chanak
• 2 Chronicles 7:9 they kept the dedication of the altar [2598] חנכח hanukkah, chanukkah
• 2 Chronicles 13:9 to consecrate himself with a young [3027]
• 2 Chronicles 15:18 the things that his father had dedicated [6944]
• 2 Chronicles 15:18 and that he himself had dedicated [6944]
• 2 Chronicles 24:7 dedicated things of the house of the Lord [6944]
• 2 Chronicles 26:18 Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense [6942] קדש qadash
• 2 Chronicles 29:31 have consecrated yourselves unto the [4390, 3027]
• 2 Chronicles 29:33 the consecrated things were six hundred [6942] קדש qadash
• 2 Chronicles 31:6 which were consecrated unto the LORD their [6942]
• 2 Chronicles 31:12 and the dedicated things faithfully: over [6944]
• Ezra 3:5 set feasts of the LORD which were consecrated [6942]
• Ezra 6:16 kept the dedication of this house of God [2597] חנכה hanukka', chanukka' 2597
• Ezra 6:17 And offered at the dedication of this house [2597]
• Nehemiah 12:27 at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem [2598] חנכה hanukkah, chanukkah
• Nehemiah 12:27 to keep the dedication with gladness [2598]
• Psalm 30 title at the dedication of the house of David [2598]
• Ezekiel 43:26 and they shall consecrate themselves [3027]
• Ezekiel 44:29 every dedicated thing in Israel shall be [2764] חרם herem, cherem 2764
• Daniel 3:2 come to the dedication of the image [2597] חנכה hanukka', chanukka'
• Daniel 3:3 together unto the dedication of the image [2597]
• Micah 4:13 and I will consecrate their gain unto the [2763] חרם haram, charam 2763

Septuagint (2 verses not listed in Strong's Concordance—the highlighted Hebrew and Greek words in them are listed)

• 1 Maccabees 4:56 kept the dedication of the altar eight days [2598, 1456] חנכה hanukkah, chanukkah (Hebrew) 2598, ἑγκαίνισμὸν←ἐγκαίνια egkainia (Greek) 1456
• 2 Maccabees 1:18 purposed to keep the purification of the temple [2893, 2512, 1457] טחרה tohorah (Hebrew) 2893, καθαρισμὸν←καθαρισμὸς katharismos (Greek) 2512 synonym ἐγκαίνιξω egkainizo (Greek) 1457

New Testament

• John 10:22 at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication (Hanukkah) [1456] ἐγκαίνια egkainia 1456
• Hebrews 7:28 the Son, who is consecrated for evermore [5048] τελειοω teleoo 5048
• Hebrews 9:18 testament was dedicated without blood [1457] ἐγκαινίξω egkainizo 1457
• Hebrews 10:20 way, which he hath consecrated for us [1457]

The Talmud

In the Babylonian Talmud תלמוד, the Sixth Order of the Mishnah (ששה סדרי משנה), Kodashim (קדשים), discusses "Holy Things". Kodashim is comprised of 11 Tractates: Zevahim זבחים (Sacrifices), Menahot מנחות (Meal Offerings), Hullin חולין (Ordinary Things), Bekhorot בכורות (Firstborn), Arakhin ערכין (Dedications), Temurah תמורה (Substitution), Keritot כריתות (Excisions "the cutting off of-"), Me'ilah מעילה (Sacrilege), Tamid תמיד (Always "the daily offerings"), Middot מידות (Measurements), and Kinnim קנים (Nests "bird-offerings").

Christianity: Saint Paul

In his Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus), writes:

"But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given to me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:15-16 RSV

The word "minister" in this passage is actually λειτουργὀς, which means "a public servant", "a functionary" (priest-minister, as a benefactor of humanity, an intercessor on behalf of all mankind) leading the people to the altar of sacrifice in the public (assembly) service of worship in the Temple or in the Church. Strong's Concordance Greek Dictionary of the New Testament for this word "minister" in Romans 15:16 lists it as number 3011:

λειτουργὀς leitourgos, li-toorg-os; from a derivative of 2992 and 2041; a public servant, i.e. a functionary in the Temple or Gospel, or (generally) a worshipper (of God) or benefactor (of man):—minister (-ed).

The KJV translators avoided the word "priestly", using instead the word "ministering". Strong's Concordance Greek Dictionary of the New Testament for this word "ministering" in Romans 15:16 lists it as number 2418:

ἱερουργέω hierourgeo, hee-er-oorg-eh'-o; from a compound of 24ll and the base of 2041; to be a temple-worker, i.e. officiate as a priest (fig.):—minister.

However, hierourgeo actually does mean "priestly work", i.e. "priest, offering at the altar"; from ἱερεὑς hiereus, hee-er-yooce, a priest, the (high) priest + ἔργον ergon, from ἔργω ergo, work, i.e. a work / deed / action / a (continued) doing of something (a function, a practice)—to say that the "work of a priest" has only a figurative meaning in the 1st century CE is an anachronistic interpretation introduced into the meaning of the text by 15th and 16th century Protestant theological presentism and the translators' conviction that St. Paul could not have been a consecrated priest who offered up a consecrated sacrifice at a consecrated Christian altar during the consecrated Λιετουργἰα —Divine Liturgy— which means "(Christian) public duty" (from laos people + ergon work). (see Strong's number 2409 ἰερὐς + 2041 ἔργον—also 2413 ἱερὀς and 2992 λαός and 3009 λιετουργἰα.)

The word "offering" here in the RSV translation of Romans 15:16 is intended to be a better translation than the term "offering up" in the KJV translation of the same text, both of them intended by the translators as the best possible English rendering of the Greek προσφορά prosphora which actually means "sacrifice", "offering up", "oblation". (see Strong's number 4376 προσφορά.) The phrase "the offering of the gentiles" conveys a meaning different from the meaning conveyed by the phrase "the offering up of the gentiles." In the first one the gentiles are offering sacrifice, in the second one the gentiles are offered up as sacrifice. For a comparison of various translations of this verse see Romans 15:16.

St. Paul very simply declares that his function is that of a true priest at the altar of God offering up the gentiles (Heb. ha-goyyim) assembled with him as a consecrated sacrifice to God. They have already been purchased for God. They have been cleansed and purified by Baptism. The worshipers then present themselves for sacrifice and the priest consecrates them to God. They do not consecrate themselves, they are consecrated by another. They are then united to Christ in the prosphoron which is then offered up in sacrifice to God.

In the Letter to the Romans he says:

"I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1 RSV

In the First Letter to the Corinthians he says:

"You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 RSV

The pronouns here, "you" and "your", are plural and collective, not singular and individual, having reference to the assembled body of the believers, the congregation locally, and by extension more universally (Latin "catholic", "universal") to the whole Church as a body, consecrated to God. He says:

"You were washed, you were sanctified" 1 Corinthians 6:11 RSV

In the Second Letter to the Corinthians he says:

"I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband." 2 Corinthians 11:2

In his First Letter to Timothy he writes:

"Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic utterance when the elders laid their hands upon you." 1 Timothy 4:14 RSV

And in the Second Letter to Timothy he writes:

"Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands" 2 Timothy 1:6 RSV

The use of this phrase laying on of hands refers back to passages in the Tanakh on consecration:

• "Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the bull, and you shall kill the bull before the LORD, at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it upon the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar." Exodus 29:10-12 RSV

• "If a man's offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering and kill it at the door of the tent of meeting; and Aaron's sons the priests shall throw the blood against the altar round about." Leviticus 3:1

• "and the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bull before the LORD, and the bull shall be killed before the LORD." Leviticus 4:15 RSV

While the Hebrew word for "consecrate" is not present in these passages, the act of consecrating is represented in them.

• "I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing." (King David) 2 Samuel 24:24 RSV

The "cost of burnt offerings" requires some explanation. The original practice of barter has mostly been replaced by the invention of money, that is, culturally established symbolic tokens of the reality they signify, meaning the person, the labor of the person, the substance and property or wealth of the person as an extension of the person himself/herself, even as an expression of the very identity and being of that person. The effort and "cost to oneself" which is necessary to obtain a thing and make it one's own ( that is, to make it a part of oneself and thus an expression of one's identity and being) is the real "price" that is paid for what is acquired as one's very own. Whatever is truly yours is in a very real sense a part of you. Whatever you have that has "cost" you much effort and labor and struggle and pain to obtain is very valuable to you, and may even be deemed by you as "priceless", "beyond price", "worth your very life". It need not have been owned by another for it to "cost you more than we could possibly know" to obtain it for yourself; nevertheless, you "paid the price" to obtain it, and it is now your own. Whoever steals what is rightfully yours has violated your person.

Occasionally the man or woman who has struggled mightily to obtain a great fortune has found that the fortune itself "is not really worth the price that had to be paid to obtain it"—no money was paid out to another person in order to obtain that fortune, but it may have cost that man, that woman, a price beyond all measure. The personal price that is sometimes paid to acquire and secure what appears to be worthless but proves to be worthwhile and valuable frequently elevates its value accordingly, but the personal price that is sometimes paid to acquire and secure what is actually worthless or of no benefit to anyone is a tragic and futile sacrifice for nothing. Conversely, the purchase of something for yourself with what is not your own actually costs you nothing, but it costs those who struggled to provide the means of acquiring it everything they put into providing that means, sometimes at the cost of their sweat and tears and blood, sometimes even at the cost of their very lives.

King David purchased the threshing-floor, and the oxen and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood (to be used for the burnt offering) at the initial price of fifty shekels of silver. (2 Samuel 24:24) He then presented the threshing-floor to the priests as a special vow, dedicating it to be holy to the LORD. The priests then valued the threshing-floor according to the value they estimated to be the relative value of the site where the King himself had offered sacrifice to the LORD, in atonement for his sin, in obedience to the word of the LORD through the prophet, who had commanded him to build an altar there, and according to the value of the site that should become the foundation of the holy Temple of God. (Leviticus 27:14) The priests' valuation of the site was six hundred shekels of gold by weight, a staggering sum! (Ten minas = 7.277 kg gold! —Jewish Encyclopedia .) David paid the price, thereby firmly establishing its value in the sight of all the people, and then presented the site to the priests for consecration to the LORD. The money was paid to Ornah. (1 Chronicles 21:24-26) No property in all of Israel could be so valuable a treasure as the foundation site of the holy Temple of God.

The removal of what is fundamentally a part of oneself, either forcefully, involuntarily, as a loss, or even as an extortion, or willingly, voluntarily, as a gift, "exacts a price" and "takes its toll", as in the loss of one's goods to a thief or robber or to a violent force of nature such as a storm or devastating disease, or the choosing of a very valuable asset, from out of one's holdings or property or personal possessions, to be given to another. The removal of a part of one's own person in the form of a blood donation or organ transplant "costs the donor" a portion of his or her own body, whether it is done voluntarily or involuntarily. The loss of one's life is sometimes called the "ultimate price" that one can pay, or that one had to pay. In this case, the cost is not of what one has acquired at great personal expense, but of what is an integral part of one's own being. One can even give one's all for the sole purpose of bestowing a great benefit and the giving of great honor to another. And the greater is the stature, the dignity, importance and worth, of the one paying the price, and the greater the cost, the greater is the corresponding value of what that one has obtained, at such a price. We frequently characterize such devotion and dedication and personal loss as a "great sacrifice", even as "the supreme sacrifice"; but while they may seem to be synonymous, the dedication of a gift, the devotion, dedication, personal giving of oneself, are not identical with the actual consecration that is the preparation for the sacrifice.

When a person presents what is most valuable in the extreme, to be offered up as a sacrifice, and it is found to be most worthy, it is ready to be consecrated, in preparation for it to be offered up in worship and then sacrificed. The steps of preparation for consecration are:

• purchase (the effort made, either to obtain what is to be offered, or to hand over what is one's own as the gift to be offered)
• preparation of the gift—the cleansing washing (purification) "making it presentable"
• presentation (the actual giving-over and surrendering of what is to be offered up)
• consecration (the formal act of making the gift or offering sacred, by means of a divinely sanctioned rite performed by persons who have been consecrated as agents of God with authority to impart the quality and character of sacredness to the offering)

What follows is the actual act of sacrifice, the total giving of the consecrated gift to God, to Whom it already belongs by virtue of the act of consecration.

• "Yea, I plighted my troth to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord GOD, and you became mine." Ezekiel 16:8b RSV

The preparation for consecration, the consecration itself, followed by the act of total sacrifice is exemplified in the Book of Leviticus, chapter one, verses one through nine (Leviticus 1:1-9 ):

"The LORD called Moses, and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel, and say to them, When any man of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of cattle from the herd or from the flock.

"If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it at the door of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD; he shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Then he shall kill the bull before the LORD; and Aaron's sons the priests shall present the blood, and throw the blood round about against the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting. And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces; and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay wood in order upon the fire; and Aaron's sons the priests shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire upon the altar; but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn the whole on the altar, as a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD." Leviticus 1:1-9 RSV

The Letter to the Hebrews is a very early Christian exhortation to believers which also discusses at length the nature and meaning of preparation, consecration and sacrifice in solidarity with the Christ of God. The Greek word Christos Χριστός means "anointed (of God)", and it is so applied in the Letter to the Hebrews to Moses himself (Hebrews 11:24-26):

"By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter; he chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin. He considered the reproach of the Anointed greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking for the recompense." Hebrews 11:24-26 NAB

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (KJV) has this entry under "CHRIST":

Hebrews 11:26 the reproaches of Christ greater riches [5547] Χριστός Christos 5547

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance has this entry under "ANOINTED" (98 verse entries):

Psalm 105:15 Touch not mine anointed, (and do my prophets no harm) [4899] משיח mashiyach 4899

The RSV translation (Ps. 105:15) says: "Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm" ("christs")

The anointing of prophets, priests and kings (anointing with oil, chrism) is a most solemn form of consecration, associating these Anointed with, or uniting them to, that which is set apart, " secret ", the sacred, the holy. From the moment of consecration they are expected to give their lives in consecrated service to the complete fulfillment of the sacred task to which they have been called. The fulfillment of that task is the act of sacrifice. It can consume them.

In the Roman Catholic Church the Secret of the Mass is the variable part of the Mass that immediately precedes the Preface in the Tridentine Mass, consisting of one or more prayers, said in a low voice by the priest as he bows over the bread and wine, asking God to accept the offerings for the consecration, which will follow soon; thus these "Secrets (prayers) of the Mass" are called super oblata prayers, that is, prayers over the oblations.

Roman Catholic Church

The Consecration of Deodat (1620, Claude Bassot).

The word "consecration" is used in the Catholic Church as the setting apart for the service of God of both persons and objects.

The ordination of a new bishop is also called a consecration. While the term "episcopal ordination" is now more common, "consecration" was the preferred term in the centuries immediately preceding the Second Vatican Council (11 October 1962—8 December 1965).

The Vatican II document Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy n. 76 states,

"Both the ceremonies and texts of the ordination rites are to be revised. The address given by the bishop at the beginning of each ordination or consecration may be in the mother tongue.

"When a bishop is consecrated, the laying of hands may be done by all the bishops present."

The English text of Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, 1997, under the heading "Episcopal ordination—fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders", uses "episcopal consecration" as a synonymous term, using "episcopal ordination" and "episcopal consecration" interchangeably. (CCC nn. 1556-1558)

The Code of Canon Law Latin-English Edition, (1983), under "Title VI—Orders" uses the term sacrae ordinationis minister "minister of sacred ordination" and the term consecratione episcopali "episcopal consecration". (CCL cc. 1012, 1014)

The life of those who enter religious orders and similar institutes is also described as Consecrated Life.

A rite of consecration of virgins can be traced back at least to the fourth century. By the time of the Second Vatican Council, use of this rite was limited to cloistered nuns. The Council directed that the then existing rite should be revised. Two similar versions were prepared, one for women living in monastic orders, another for consecrated virgins living in the world. An English translation of the rite for those living in the world is available on the web site of the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins.

Objects such as chalices are also consecrated, normally by a bishop, using chrism.

File:Consagracion.jpg

The consecration of an altar by a bishop in Spain.

A more solemn rite exists for the consecration of an altar, either of the altar alone or as the central part of the rite of consecration of a church. Since it would be contradictory to consecrate to the service of God a mortgage-burdened building, the rite of consecration or dedication of a church is carried out only if the building is debt-free. Otherwise, it is only blessed.

A very special act of consecration is that of the bread and wine used in the Eucharist, which according to Catholic belief involves their change into the body and blood of Christ, a changed referred to as transubstantiation.

Eastern churches

Main article: Consecrations in Eastern Christianity

In the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Catholic Churches, the term "consecration" can refer to either the Sacred Mystery (Sacrament) of Cheirotonea (Ordination through laying on of hands) of a Bishop, or the sanctification and solemn dedication of a church building. It can also (more rarely) be used to describe the change of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ at the Divine Liturgy. The Chrism used at Chrismation and the Antimension placed on the Holy Table are also said to be consecrated.

Various Christian churches

The consecration of William Evan Sanders, Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee (1962).

Church buildings, chapels and altars are consecrated to the purpose of religious worship, baptismal fonts and vessels are consecrated for the purpose of containing the Eucharistic elements, the bread and wine/the body and blood of Christ.

In the Eucharist, Roman Catholics, some Anglicans, and Lutherans hold that the consecration is effected by the recitation of the Epiclesis (sometimes sung) over the bread and wine, whereby the bread is the communion of Christ's true body and the wine is the communion of Christ's true blood. Among Methodists, Presbyterians, and other Protestants that accept some form of Real Presence theology, the elements are consecrated when the presiding/celebrating minister calls upon the Holy Spirit to "make them be for us the body and blood of Christ".

A person may be consecrated for a specific role within a religious hierarchy, or a person may consecrate his or her life in an act of devotion. In particular, the ordination of a bishop is often called a consecration. In churches which follow the doctrine of Apostolic Succession (the historical episcopate) the bishops who consecrate a new bishop are known as the consecrators and form an unbroken line of succession back to the Apostles. Also, those who take the vows of religious life are said to be living a consecrated life.

Among some religious groups there is also a service of "deconsecration", to return a formerly consecrated place to secular purpose (for instance, if the building is to be sold or demolished). In the Church of England, an order closing a church may remove the legal effects of consecration.

Latter Day Saints

See also: Setting apart

In the nineteenth-century Latter Day Saint tradition, consecration involved the giving of member's worldly possessions to the church. While it might be considered a type of voluntary religious communism, Latter Day Saint consecration does not involve the abolition of private property. It was practiced off and on during the 19th century, but is now extremely rare among Latter Day Saint denominations. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints still covenant in the temple endowment ceremony to live the Law of Consecration by consecrating themselves, and everything with which the Lord has blessed them, or will bless them to the building up of the kingdom of God and the establishment of Zion.

The priesthood of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also perform a consecration of oil, for use of blessing the sick. The term 'consecration', as it applies to the Lord's Supper in other Christian churches, is simply called a 'blessing' by the Latter-day Saint priesthood.

See also

• Cornerstone
• Dedication
• Nazirite
• Vow

Bibliography

• Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, Isabel F. Hapgood (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, New York) 1975.
• Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: A Concise Exposition, Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky (Tr. Hieromonk Seraphim Rose, Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina CA) 1984.
• The Law of God, Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy (Tr. Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville NY) 1996.

External links

• Consecration article in Catholic Encyclopedia
• Consecration of an Orthodox Church 6 pages of photos, Serbian Orthodox Church
• Photos of Consecration of Altar and Antimens in the Russian Orthodox Church
• The Sanctification of Holy Chrism by the Ecumenical Patriarchate
• Virginity article in Catholic Encyclopedia discussing Consecration of a Virgin