A Unique Gift for Mom

At the ordination of a priest, his hands are annointed with Chrism. In the pre-Vatican II liturgy, the priest's hands were wrapped after annointing with a cloth called the Manutergium. Fr. Ron Battiato said that at his ordination in 1961, three of his fingers were seperated by the cloth from his index finger and thumb which would hold the host at Mass during the Consecration. These fingers from both hands wwere bound together by the cloth.

Fr. Denis Robinson, OSB of Saint Meinrad Seminary says, "In some places it was the custom for the priest to keep that cloth and present it to his mother, the clavis caeli. The cloth was then placed in the mother's casket at the time of her death. The use was not universal, at least in my understanding, but was very widespread.

Although no longer part of the rite, the cloth used to wipe excess Chrism from their hands is typically referred to as a manutergium. At the end of his Mass of Thanksgiving, Fr. John Norman presented his mother with his.

Although the custom, as Fr. Robinson said, may have been widespread, it evidently hadn't been done in Omaha. Fr. Battiato said that the diocese kept his Manutergium after his ordination -- though he said a few years later some priests asked for and received it as a keepsake after their ordination.

The rite had changed by the time Fr. Damian was ordained in 1981. Fr. Damian says that he and his classmates decided to rub their hands until all of the Chrism was absorbed and not use a cloth at all. To this day, after using Chrism for the Anointing of the Sick or a Baptism, Fr. Damian will rub the remaining Chrism into his hands.

Still it is a lovely, and quite unique gift acknowledging the role a mother plays in her son's vocation to the priesthood.