HOLY OILS

One of the strongest and most beautiful liturgical statements in the renovation is the bringing forth (for public veneration) the urns of sacred oils: oil of chrism; oil of catechumens, and oil of the sick. Illuminated and visible, the urns rest amid the carvings of the former throne of the bishop. The repository is guarded by six saintly sculptures representative of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and authority. The two uppermost statues are of archbishops: St. Ambrose of Milan at right; St. Thomas of Canterbury at left. The four lower statues are regal and ruler subject: Saints Joan of arc, Elizabeth of Hungary, Casmir of Poland and Thomas More of England.