BISHOP VLADIMIR FEKETE CELEBRATED THE HOLY MASS OF BLESSING THE OILS – PHOTOS

On Holy Wednesday, 27 of March, the Apostolic Prefect of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan Most Reverend Bishop Vladimir Fekete celebrated the Missa Chrismaris – Holy Mass of Blessing of Oils in the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – the main Catholic church of Baku.

 

Missa Chrismatis is celebrated in a special rite once a year during Holy Week and has always a particularly solemn character.

 

Bishop Vladimir was concelebrated by the entire clergy of the Apostolic Prefecture of Azerbaijan, as a sign of the bishop’s unity with the priesthood and all the people of God in our country.

 

Also on this day, according to ancient Catholic tradition, the priesthood of the Local Church renewed its priestly vows in front of its bishop and before all the faithful.

 

“Even during our studies at the seminary, we often asked the question – who is a priest really, what is the essence of the priestly vocation? It seems to me that the fragment of the book of the prophet Isaiah, which we heard in the first reading, answers this question for us: “The Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor, sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach liberation to the captives.” The Prophet reveals to us that to be a priest means to be called by God, called by the Church to bring the message of joy and salvation to all people. But this is only possible when the priest himself lives in deep communion with God. You can preach liberation to captives and restore freedom to the oppressed only when you yourself are free. The priest brings sight to the blind, but for this his eyes, mind and heart must be so pure that he can see God with his spiritual gaze, hear Him, and also see this world without distortion,” Bishop Vladimir Fekete noted in his sermon.