Washing and anointing: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Temple ordinance practicedpractice byin LDS ChurchMormonism}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}

{{Use American English|date=October 2023}}

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The LDS Church states the origins of these rituals can be traced back to the biblical period, where [[anointing]]s were used to sanctify individuals and objects, while washings were used for ritual purification.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="perry" /> The LDS Church introduced washings and anointings in the [[Kirtland Temple]] in 1836, before revising the rituals in [[Nauvoo, Illinois]] in 1842.<ref name="buerger35" /> The modern LDS Church only performs these rites in [[Temple (LDS Church)|temples]] set apart and dedicated for sacred purposes according to a January 19, 1841 revelation that [[Joseph Smith]] stated was from [[Jesus Christ]].<ref name=":3" />

Washing and anointing also plays a key role in the [[Second Anointing]] ritual practiced by the [[LDS Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], in which participants are anointed as a "priest and king" or a "priestess and queen", and are sealed to the highest degree of salvation in LDS theology.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=Elizabeth |title="The Mormon Priestess: A Theology of Womanhood in the LDS Temple" |date=November 2, 2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0190248031}}</ref> This is the most secretive ritual practiced by Latter-day Saints, and most LDSchurch adherentsmembers are unaware of the ritual'sits existence.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brooke |first1=John L. |title=The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844 |date=May 31, 1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |___location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=978-0521565646 |page=294 |quote=The frequency of second anointings declined after the turn of the century, and they were virtually eliminated under the authority of Heber J. Grant in the 1920s, to the point that modern Mormons are generally unaware of the rituals existence ....}}</ref>

==History==

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In the [[New Testament]] Jesus washes his disciples' feet prior to his crucifixion.<ref>John 13:1-17</ref> Joseph Smith published his own version of these New Testament passages, adding new materials which said, "Now this was the custom of the Jews under their law; wherefore, Jesus did this that the law might be fulfilled."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Joseph |title=JST, John 13:8–10 |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/jst/jst-john/13?lang=eng&id=10 |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Joseph |title=Joseph Smith Translation (JST) |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bd/joseph-smith-translation?lang=eng |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |date=July 1833}}</ref>

Cleansing rituals such as ''[[tevilah]]'' and ''[[netilat yadayim]]'' have existed in Judaism for milleniamillennia.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yonatan |first1=Adler |title=On the Origins of Tevilah (Ritual Immersion) |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/on-the-origins-of-tevilah-ritual-immersion |publisher=TheTorah.com |access-date=18 June 2024}}</ref> However, rabbinical scholars argue that these rituals served the purpose of removing impurity after activities that would make one "impure" such having contact with a corpse, or bodily discharge of a sick person.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yitzhaq |first1=Feder |title=Tum’ah: Ritual Impurity or Fear of Contagious Disease? |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/tumah-ritual-impurity-or-fear-of-contagious-disease |publisher=TheTorah.com |access-date=18 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hayah |first1=Katz |title=Biblical Purification: Was It Immersion? |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/biblical-purification-was-it-immersion |publisher=TheTorah.com |access-date=18 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Joseph |first1=Weinstein |title=Red Heifer: A Soap Ritual |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/red-heifer-a-soap-ritual |publisher=TheTorah.com |access-date=18 June 2024}}</ref>

Smith's claim that the foot-washing was part of Jewish "law" is not supported by historical sources.

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As the [[Latter Day Saints]] were completing their [[Kirtland Temple|first temple]] in [[Kirtland, Ohio]], founder Joseph Smith led many of the prominent male church members in a pre-endowment ritual patterned after similar washings and anointings described in the Bible.<ref name = buerger35>{{Harvtxt|Buerger|1987|p=35}}.</ref> This ritual took place over several days, beginning on 21 January 1836 in the attic of a printing office.<ref name = buerger35/>

These ritual meetings were opened by Joseph Smith praying, speaking, and even singing [[speaking in tongues|in tongues]].<ref name=minutes/> Each participant washed their own hands, faces, and feet with water. After this, Joseph "girded himself with a towel" and personally washed the feet of each participant, wiping them with the towel. When he reached his father [[Joseph Smith Sr.]], he asked his father for a blessing before he would wash his father's feet. Smith Sr. placed his hands upon Joseph's head, "pronouncing upon his head that he should continue in his Priests office untill Christ come."<ref name=minutes>{{cite web |last1=FredrickFrederick G. |first1=Williams |title=Minutes, 22–23 January 1833 |url=https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/minutes-22-23-january-1833/1#full-transcript |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |date=January 1833}}</ref>

Soon after the temple's dedication on 27 March 1836, about 300 Latter Day Saint men participated in a further ritual [[Maundy (foot washing)|washing of feet]] and faces.<ref name = buerger35/>

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==Use in LDS female healing rituals==

Historically, Latter-day Saint women performed special washings and anointings to heal the sick and afflicted. [[Joseph Smith]] officially sanctioned female healing in 1842. This practice continued in the LDS Church until at least the 1940's1940s. A sick person was washed, anointed with oil, and given a [[priesthood blessing]] by the "laying on of hands".<ref name=female_healing>{{cite journal |last1=Stapley |first1=Jonathan A. |last2=Wright |first2=Kristine |title=Female Ritual Healing in Mormonism |journal=Journal of Mormon History |volume=37 |issue=1 |page=1-85 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23291588 |access-date=16 July 2024}}</ref>

One of the first recorded female healings took place at the [[Relief Society]] meeting on April 19, 1842. Sisters Sarah Cleveland and [[Elizabeth Ann Whitney]], who were councilorscounselors in the Relief Society Presidency, administered to Abigale Leonard "for the restoration of health." Minute notes also indicate that Sister Martha Sessions may have laid her hands on [[Eliza R. Snow]] to give her a blessing during this meeting.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Snow |first1=Eliza R |title=Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book |url=https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-relief-society-minute-book/56 |website=Joseph Smith Paper |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=16 July 2024}}</ref>

In the following Relief Society meeting, on April 28th, 1842, Joseph Smith said that anyone who has faith can give [[priesthood blessing|priesthood blessings]] to heal the sick. Smith said that God had sanctioned female healing by the laying on of hands and that anyone who disagreed should "hold their tongues."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Snow |first1=Eliza R. |title=Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book |url=https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-relief-society-minute-book/59 |website=Joseph Smith Papers |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=16 July 2024 |pages=35-37}}</ref>

[[Brigham Young]] and [[Ezra TaftT. Benson]] encouraged women to perform these healing rituals at home. However, by the April 1921 [[general conference (LDS)|general conference]] the consensus was that healings should only be performed by Melchizedek Priesthood holders (who are exclusively male).<ref name=":0" />

In 1946, President [[Joseph Fielding Smith]] sent a letter to [[Belle S. Spafford]], the General Relief Society President at the time, discourageddiscouraging the practice of female healing, indicating that it was likely still happening at this time.<ref name=":0" /> <ref name=female_healing/>

==Administration==