WASHINGTON, D.C. – His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, will celebrate the annual Chrism Mass on Tuesday, April 9, 2019, at 6 p.m. (EDST) in the Crypt of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, 400 Michigan Avenue Northeast, in Washington, D.C.
The purpose of the Chrism Mass is to bless oils for sacramental use over the coming year at U.S. Military installations around the world and VA Medical Centers nationwide. The Archbishop will consecrate the Chrism through which the newly baptized are anointed and confirmed; he will bless the oil of catechumens, by which candidates for baptism are strengthened to renounce sin and the devil, and the oil of the infirm, through which the sick receive a remedy for the illness of soul and body and receive the strength to bear suffering, resist evil, and obtain the forgiveness of sin.
In connection with a visit of the Venezuelan Bishops to the U.S., the Most Reverend Ulices Gutierrez Reyes, Archbishop of Bolivar, the Most Reverend Roberto Lückert León, Archbishop-emeritus of Coro, and the Most Reverend José Trinidad Fernandez Angulo, General Secretary of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference, will concelebrate the Chrism Mass in addition to Auxiliary Bishops Richard B. Higgins, F. Richard Spencer, Neal J. Buckon, William J. Muhm, and Joseph L. Coffey . Also concelebrating will be Monsignor John J.M. Foster, J.C.D., Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia; Father Robert Cannon, Chancellor; Father Christopher Armstrong, Judicial Vicar; Father Aidan Logan, O.C.S.O., Vocations Director; and Catholic U.S. Military chaplains, active and retired, and other priests in service to the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS), USA. During the Mass, the priests will renew their priestly commitments. Co-Sponsored seminarians and prospective military chaplains in formation to become priests will serve at the Mass.
The Chrism Mass is open to the public. The Basilica is air-conditioned and disabled accessible.
