Incense is an integral part of Catholic ritual. It is used to bless and sanctify, to symbolise our prayers rising to God, and to make tangible God’s presence amongst us.
Incense is the symbol of prayer. Like pure prayer it has in view no object of its own; it asks nothing for itself. It rises like the Gloria Patri at the end of a psalm in adoration and thanksgiving to God for his great glory. Romano Guardini.
Incense is an integral part of Catholic ritual, but its use dates back over 4,000 years. It originates from natural gum resin found in a variety of trees in Arabia and the East (olibanum, benzoin, cassia bark and sandalwood are commonly used). The word itself means ‘to burn’ and this action is a wonderfully powerful use of a sacramental which enriches our liturgy in a unique way. It is used to bless and to sanctify, to symbolise our prayers rising to God, and to make tangible God’s presence amongst us. It adds a richness and solemnity that lifts the soul and brings us a step closer to experiencing a foretaste of the Heavenly Kingdom.
Ancient Roots
From the earliest times incense was a highly valued product. It was used by the Egyptians 2,500 years before Christ. Egyptian kings offered incense in the temples; during his 32-year reign, Rameses III offered 368,000 jars of incense as well as honey and oil. Ovid, Pliny and Herodotus all write about its uses. By the 3rd century BC, the famous Middle Eastern Incense Route had developed due to the popularity in trading in incense and spices. The route stretched 2,000 km from Arabia to the Mediterranean and into the Roman Empire. Its rarity and beautiful aroma made it highly sought after; a gift of incense was something very special.
Old Testament
Let my prayer be incense before you; my uplifted hands an evening offering. Psalm 22.
Incense became a major feature of temple worship (though modern Jewish worship no longer uses it) and there are 170 references to incense in the Old Testament. On Mount Sinai, God gave Moses instructions as to how the people of Israel should worship him. God invited his fallen people to offer sacrifice and worship in atonement for their sins. The Tabernacle was to be the place of worship, but only a single priest was allowed in, showing the divide that still stood between God and his people. Outside the Holy of Holies was the Altar of Incense. Exodus 31 gives details instructions for its construction and use; ‘Aaron shall burn sweet smelling incense upon it in the morning… he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.’
Incense had other uses too. Its fragrance masked the odours of the animals being sacrificed. The great clouds of incense also symbolised prayer – as the meeting of heaven and earth, which all those in the temple could see burning. Numbers 16 gives an account of Aaron using incense to save his people. Upon Moses’ instruction, he took a censer, added hot coals followed by incense, then went amongst the people. ‘And behold the plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense and made atonement for the people. He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.’
The most prophetic and significant account of incense comes in Isaiah 6:1-7.
‘In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”’
Isaiah was in the court of King Uzziah who was punished by the Lord for attempting to offer incense when only priests were permitted to do so. Isaiah, a layman, grieving the death of the King, was being shown a vision of heavenly glories. The seraph followed temple law and took a coal using tongues, but he did not place incense on it, instead, he put it directly onto the lips of Isaiah. The message was that God and the glories of heaven are for everyone, not just kings, and that we can be forgiven by God’s grace.
Incense in the New Testament
St Luke’s Gospel begins with a reference to incense in his account of the story of Zechariah. A priest would only be invited once in his life to make the offering of incense in the Temple. Chosen by lot, it was Zechariah’s turn, and he got far more than he had bargained. ‘So, he went into the temple of the Lord, while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burned. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar where the incense was burnt.’ Luke 1:8-12.
The incense was a holy sign of the presence of God, and standing before him was a messenger from God. Heaven and earth meeting amidst incense. Despite of all this magnificent symbolism, Zechariah still doubted the angel’s message that his wife Elizabeth was pregnant, and he was struck dumb.
We all suffer from a lack of trust, and Zechariah’s experience is a lesson for us; Paul Egerton says, ‘He should know by the steadfast love of Yahweh his God. He should know by the billowing sacramental presence round him. He should know by the appearance of the angel. He should know by faith.’ So should we.
Visiting the infant Christ, the Magi present Frankincense (a specific form of incense originating from the Boswellia tree) as one of their gifts. Incense was often burned at the arrival of someone very important, like a king. Myrrh and gold were the possessions of powerful rulers, not their subjects. These gifts make a strong statement. Maybe these learned men were surprised to see the humble surroundings in which they gave their gifts. But their gift of frankincense did indeed mark the arrival of the most important king of all.
The Book of Revelation 8:3-4 gives us a foretaste of worship in heaven. ‘…another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.’
Early Church
There are very few references to the use of incense in the Early Church. It’s possible that the Early Christians didn’t adopt it because of its association with pagan and Jewish worship. During times of persecution, Christians were forced to offer incense to the gods in return for their lives, another reason for it not being used. But during later persecutions, as the bodies of martyrs were being carried in the catacombs for burial, incense was burned in small niches along the processional way. This might be the reason for the custom of placing a few grains of incense in an altar along with the relic of a saint. Later these urns would be suspended from chains, leading the way to the thuribles we know today.
Incense appears in the 4th century when Egeria records the liturgical events of Sundays in Jerusalem. At Morning Prayer, ‘After three psalms and prayers, they take the censers into the cave of the Anastasis so that the whole basilica is filled with the smell.’ Given there is clearly more than one censer, there must have been great clouds of aromatic incense giving glory to God at the beginning of the Lord’s Day.
In the Eastern Church, liturgies used incense from the 5th century. In the West, there is a record of incense being used in the 7th century during the procession of a bishop on Good Friday and in the 11th century there is mention of it being used over the Book of Gospels.
Incense in Today’s Liturgy
The Catechism reminds us that we meet the Lord through signs and symbols perceptible to the senses. It leads us to what we can’t see, and together with art, music and architecture, it gives us a foretaste of the heavenly glory which is our goal. It’s not an optional extra. It’s not about whether we like the smell or not. Sunday Mass needs incense. We need that symbolic link between earth and heaven as much as our ancestors did.
There are practical issues to be considered in a parish, (thurible control is a skill) but they should be overcome, for we are giving glory to God. Through time and history, incense has led us closer to God, and it must continue to do so.
For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place, incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 1:1.
Further Reading
General Instruction of the Roman Missal: 276/277
What goes up must come down. Paul C. Edgerton.
Sacred Signs. Romano Guardini.
The Use of Incense During the Entrance Rite and Liturgy of the Word (www.adoremus.org).
The Use of Incense During the Liturgy of the Eucharist (www.adoremus.org).
