Incense
Psalm
140:1-2 "I have cried to Thee, O Lord, hear me: hearken to my voice,
when I cry to Thee. Let my prayer be directed as incense in Thy sight;
the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice."
The
"sweet savor" of incense was used in Old Testament liturgy as far back
as the time of Moses as an offering to God:
... and its continued use was predicted, along with the
Eucharistic
offering, by Malachias:
Frankincense as a sign of His
Divinity, and myrrh to portend His Passion and Death, were two of the
three gifts the Magi brought to Baby Jesus --
-- and as portended, myrrh, with its analgesic properties, was offered to Him on the Cross and was used, mixed with aloes, to annoint Him after death:
John 19:39-40: And Nicodemus also came, (he who at the first came to Jesus by night,) bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. They took therefore the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Even the very angels in Heaven use incense, the smoke of which
comes
with the prayers of the Saints.
The
Catholic Church still uses incense, of course, in accordance with
prophecy of Malachias, the fragrant smoke symbolizing our prayers
rising to Heaven and purifying what it touches. The incense is kept in
a covered, often boat-shaped liturgical vessel called, unsurprisingly,
a "boat," which symbolizes the barque of Peter. The boat, made of
bronze or brass and often silver or gold-plated, comes with a spoon for
scattering the incense in the bowl-shaped matching burner, called a
"thurible" or "censer." The thurible holds burning charcoal (or wood)
to ignite the incense and hangs on chains (see angel picture below) so
that it may be swung by the priest when censing things (or people) and
so it may be easily carried by the thurifer -- the "Altar server" who
assists the priest by carrying the incense.
Incense is used
during the Mass to bless the Altar when the priest first ascends to it,
and, during the Offertory, to bless the bread and wine, the Crucifix
and Altar (again), and the congregation.
Incense is
also used during the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, during
processions, funeral rites and to bless things like relics, bells or
the Gospel.
Other uses of incense are the 5 grains
of incense, symbolizing the 5 wounds of Christ, inserted into the
Paschal candle on Easter,
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