Holy Ampulla

History

A document from around 1260, recently republished and examined in detail, specifies the role of the Sainte Ampoule in the sacre of the kings of France. An early legend associated with St Remigius, called the Legend of the Baptism of the Moribund Pagan, tells of a dying pagan who requested baptism from St Remigius. When no Oil of the Catechumens or sacred Chrism could be found, St Remigius placed two empty vials on an altar and prayed; the vials miraculously filled with the needed oils.

Later, during the reign of Charles the Bald, while Hincmar was Archbishop of Reims, the sepulcher containing St Remi's body was opened and two small vials were found. Their contents gave off an aromatic scent unlike anything known to those present. Perfumery, still practiced in the collapsing Roman Empire when St Remigius died, was unknown in the Carolingian empire four hundred years later. These vials may originally have been bottles of unguents used to mask the scent of decay at St Remigius's funeral.

The memory of the two miraculously filled vials from the legend, combined with the unusual scents from the discovered vials, led those present to identify them as the same vials. It was not uncommon for chalices, patens and other sacred vessels to be buried with high ranking clergymen.

Coronation of the kings of England

The golden, eagle-shaped Ampulla and spoon are part of the British coronation regalia. Legend says the Ampulla once held oil given by the Virgin Mary to St Thomas of Canterbury, and it is thought to have first been used at Henry IV’s coronation in 1399. The current Ampulla was made in 1661 by goldsmith Robert Vyner for Charles II. The accompanying spoon, dating from the 1200s, is used to anoint the monarch on different body parts. This Coronation Spoon is the sole piece of English royal regalia to have made it through the English Civil War.