A vessel or container, typically ornate, used to hold and store blessed chrism oil in a church.
Formed from 'chrism' plus '-ary' (meaning 'place or vessel for'), similar to how 'apiary' is a place for bees. This ecclesiastical term emerged in Middle English for the practical need to describe chrism containers.
Medieval churches had beautiful chrismaries—elaborate containers that were themselves considered sacred objects, sometimes locked in special niches, because they held the holy oil that marked people's souls.
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