Oil-the sacred element: it joints all the monotheistic religions

Food, but also considered source of life and a sort of soothing balsam. And over all, symbol of peace. The olive oil is an up-to-date symbol for the monotheistic religions of the Mediterranean; it unifies the Christians, to Jews and Muslins.
This came out from the meeting " oil and the sacred" organized by Enoteca Italiana, inside the travelling exhibition "oil season" to underline, the president Claudio Galletti said-how a product can join different religions and become, on its turn, a way of dialogue. As for the Hebraism, the bond between oil and food is really important as Oreste Bisazza Terracini - the President of the Jewish Jurists and Governor of Jerusalem University - underlined at the meeting at Serre Rapolano; in fact in the Bible the olive-tree is quoted one hundred times and the oil is quoted one hundred and forty times; besides these elements appear also in Noah's pact.
On Saturdays, oil is brought into the houses by the women that make bread and they light up two oil-lamps on the table. A tradition that 15 million people follow to celebrate- Terracini underlined- the history, full of miracles, of the elected people. All the three religions show a royal, prophetic and priestly use of olive oil. But only the Catholics bring home an olive- branch on Palm Sunday, and identification with the lord's oil even if in a psalm- the governor of the University of Jerusalem pointed out-there is an eschatological saviour, the Christos where the spirit of god sets, according to Hebraism. "Even the Christians-said the monk Celso Bidin from Monte OlivetoMaggiore Abbey- worship, as the Jews, the olive. The olive oil, according to the Christian religion, is with us from the baptism to the extreme unction and in all the sacraments. A ritual that exists also in the orthodox religions of Northern Europe, for example, even if they do not have olive trees on their land. Even the protestants from Finland- the monk from Siena proud of the 4500 olive-trees commented-are baptized with oil". According to the Islamic religion, instead,- as the architect of the Islamic Community ( Coreis) David Napolitano witnessed-" when they build mosques they have to express the vertical dimension of the prayer putting an oil -lamp at the centre of the dome. The oil represents the insight of the soul that lights up with the prayer to God. And this light leads the believers to the right orthodoxy. But this light- the architect Napolitano explains- is protected with a crystal that is put like a veil because full knowledge can't be direct. It can't be either eastern or western, because prayer is to be found in the soul".