This year’s chrism Masses, the Lenten liturgies at which the parishes’ yearly supply of three sacred oils is blessed by the bishop, will be slightly different from previous years.

Up until now, the oil was supplied by the diocese, blessed in large calabashes, funneled into small plastic bottles and distributed equally to parishes. This year, Bishop Larry Silva has directed parishes to bring their own oil vessels, already filled, to be blessed.

Most dioceses have a single chrism Mass, celebrated on or close to Holy Thursday. Because Hawaii parishes are separated by ocean, the diocese will have four Chrism Masses, one each on the Big Island, Maui, Kauai and Oahu, over the first two weeks in March.

The bishop informed his pastors of the changes in a June 22 letter.

In it he asked each parish to “acquire a set of oil vessels that are dignified, beautiful and large enough to hold the amount of oil your parish will need for the year.”

He instructed that each container be “marked, etched or engraved” with the name or abbreviation of the oil inside: Oil of the Sick (OI = Oleum Infirmorum); Oil of Catechumens (OS = Oleum Sanctum, or OC = Oil of Catechumens); and Sacred Chrism (SC).

He also suggested that the name of the parish “be noted on each vessel.”

The bishop’s instructions were even more detailed, recommending that the containers not look like wine decanters, which would result in “confusing people,” and that they be clean.

The vessels should hold “fresh, pure virgin olive oil, in the amount you wish,” the bishop said.

At the chrism Masses, the Oil of the Sick and the Oil of Catechumens will be blessed in the bottles they came in.

Chrism, however, is a mixture of oil and balsam, an aromatic oily substance taken from certain kinds of trees. The oil in the chrism containers will be poured into one large container, mixed with balsam by the bishop, and then poured back into the parish vessels.

After the blessing, the oils are to be kept in the church in an “ambry,” a container specifically for holy oils in the baptistery or on the sanctuary wall.

The bring-your-own-bottle approach is not new to the diocese. The Big Island has been doing it that way off-and-on for many years, according to Father Robert Schwarzhaupt, pastor of Annunciation Church in Kamuela.

The long-time Big Island priest likes that approach, calling it more personal and “a nice kind of expression” for an individual parish. He said it was also more practical, because some parishes need more oil than others.

Oil of the Sick is used for the Sacrament of the Sick. Oil of Catechumens is used for Baptism, the blessing of altars, the consecration of churches, and the ordination of priests. Chrism is used in Baptism, Confirmation, holy orders, in the blessing of tower bells and baptismal water, and the consecration of churches, altars, chalices and patens.

Oil from other plants could be used for holy oils. One year, the Diocese of Honolulu used Kukui oil.