Sacred Chrism, Church Fathers, and Protestants

Canterbury Tales has an interesting entry here called Dionysius and Thomas Aquinas on Holy Chrism.

This site has more Church Father thoughts at The Sacrament of Extreme Unction(Anointing of the Sick) and The Sacrament of Confirmation

Now as we can see here there are three oils that blessed by the Bishop at the Chrism Mass. They are oil of the sick, the oil of catechumens, and the holy chrism

The Baltimore Catechism laid this out too:
Q. 679. What is holy chrism?
A. Holy chrism is a mixture of olive-oil and balm, consecrated by the bishop.

Q. 680. What do the oil and balm in Holy Chrism signify?
A. In Holy Chrism, the oil signifies strength, and the balm signifies the freedom from corruption and the sweetness which virtue must give to our lives.

Q. 681. How many holy oils are used in the Church?
A. Three holy oils are used in the Church, namely, the oil of the sick, the oil of catechumens, and holy chrism.

Q. 682. What constitutes the difference between these oils?
A. The form of prayer or blessing alone constitutes the difference between these oils; for they are all olive oil, but in the Holy Chrism, balm is mixed with the oil.

Q. 683. When and by whom are the holy oils blessed?
A. The holy oils are blessed at the Mass on Holy Thursday by the bishop, who alone has the right to bless them. After the blessing they are distributed to the priests of the diocese, who must then burn what remains of the old oils and use the newly blessed oils for the coming year.

Q. 684. For what are the holy oils used?
A. The holy oils are used as follows: The oil of the sick is used for Extreme Unction and for some blessings; the oil of catechumens is used for Baptism and Holy Orders. Holy Chrism is used at Baptism and for the blessing of some sacred things, such as altars, chalices, church-bells, etc., which are usually blessed by a bishop.

Now of course the interesting question is why such a Apostolic practice was lost among many Protestants. In fact the only major Protestant group that retains much of this is really a Anglo/Catholic in itself and that is Anglicanism. As a former Southern Baptist none of the sacred oils were part of my former faith tradition. No one get anointed by oil when they are baptised, there are no blessing with oils, and no blessing of the sick with oil.

However it indeed even interesting how this pops up among Christians of the the non Catholic Tradition all the time in unexpected places. This happened to me this past weekend. I was at my Family Reunion in Canton Mississippi(Just north of Jackson) this past Saturday. I was in the hotel lobby using their horrible guest computer to try to find information on baseball scores. Well there happened to be some major African American Church thing going on in town. Three of the people that went to it were in the lobby. They were talking non stop about the power of blessed oil in healing, in blessing, etc etc. I see this too pop up in some Charismatic faiths too. It is something that these parts of the Christian community seem to pick up this very Sacramental principles and there is true grace and power to it.