Washing and anointing: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:02, 17 June 2023

Revision as of 21:37, 8 July 2023

Line 2:

'''Washing and anointing''' (also called the '''initiatory''') is a ritual purification [[Temple (LDS Church)#Temple ordinances|ordinance]] similar to [[chrismation]] that is part of the [[Endowment (Mormonism)|temple endowment]] ceremony practiced by [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) and [[Mormon fundamentalism|Mormon fundamentalists]].

In the deeply sacred ritual, a person, generally a teenager or young adult, is sprinkled with water, then [[Anointing|anointed]] with perfume or oil as a cleansing before God.<ref name="buerger35" /><ref name=":1">John Christopher Thomas describes this Old Testament practice, “This cleansing from bodily uncleanness was a symbol of putting away of the filth of sin; the washing of the body therefore was a symbol of spiritual cleansing, without which no one can draw near to God..." {{citation |title=Footwashing in the Old and New Testament, the Graeco Roman World, the Early Church, and the Liturgy |url=http://www.zionlutherannj.net/footwashing-in-the-old-and-new-testament-the-graeco-roman-world-the-early-church-and-the-liturgy-2/}}</ref> Once washed and anointed, the participant is dressed in the [[temple garment]], a symbolic white undergarment.<ref name="packer">{{Harvtxt|Packer|2007}}.</ref> The ordinance performed by the authority of the [[Melchizedek priesthood (Latter Day Saints)|Melchizedek priesthood]], and by an officiator of the same gender as the participant,<ref name="ABVW" /> is "mostly symbolic in nature, but promis[es] definite, immediate blessings as well as future blessings," contingent upon continued righteous living.<ref name="packer" /> These ordinances of washing and anointing are referred to often in the temple as "initiatory ordinances" since they precede the [[Endowment (LDS)|endowment]] and [[Sealing (Mormonism)|sealing]] ordinances.<ref name="perry">{{harvtxt|Perry|1992}}.</ref>

Just like the other ordinances of the temple, washings and anointings are also conducted on behalf of deceased individuals as a type of "[[wikt:vicarious|vicarious]] ordinance".<ref name=":2">{{harvtxt|Gaunt|1996}}.</ref>

The origins of these rituals can be traced back to the biblical period, where anointings 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 Ohio in 1836, before revising the rituals in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1842.<ref name="buerger35" /> The modern LDS Church only performs these rites in temples set apart and dedicated for sacred purposes according to a January 19, 1841 revelation said by [[Joseph Smith]] to be from [[Jesus Christ]].<ref name=":3" />

==History==