Nigol Bezjian's film traces the sacred making of Muron, the holy oil of the Christian Church, a ritual repeated every seven years and carried through centuries of faith. More than forty oils, roots, herbs, and incenses are slowly blended, culminating on the fortieth day when the Catholicos blesses the Muron and mingles it with a remnant of the old, before church leaders and Armenians gathered from across the world.
Rooted in a tradition dating back to 301 AD, Muron sanctifies baptisms, church consecrations, and priestly ordinations.
Filmed in Beirut in 2001, the work commemorates the 1700th anniversary of Armenia’s embrace of Christianity.
