Holy Smokes: Why the Incense?

In my last assignment, one Sunday in the sacristy as I was getting ready for Mass, one of our regular Readers came in to prepare to read at Mass.  With a massive smile on her face and an excitement I had rarely seen from her, she couldn’t wait to tell me about how the day before, she and a few other parishioners went to a Divine Liturgy of an Eastern Rite Catholic Church.  She could not get over the beauty—the beauty of the Church itself with the heavy curtain separating the Sanctuary from the congregation, the beauty of the chanting, the beauty of the priests’ vestments— But what struck her the most of all, the incense.  Oh, she went on and on about how moving and reverent and beautiful the priest’s use of incense in the liturgy was. 

After she finished, I said, with a slightly sly but friendly smile, “You know, we can have some of this at our Masses, too.” 

If you’ve been to one of the bigger—that is to say, more solemn Sunday or Holy Day Masses that I have celebrated, no doubt you noticed that I like to use incense whenever possible.  Though no one has ever outright asked me why, I have heard the comments from the pews as the Procession makes its way down the main aisle of the Church, the thurifer leading the way with the smoking thurible (censer), leading the way, or as I am incensing the offerings at the Offertory. 

The use of incense in our Liturgies and worship, particularly Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Holy Mass, goes back millennia and has several purposes, any of which alone, one could argue would be reason enough to use it at any given Mass. 

For us, incense has both spiritual, liturgical, and practical effects and implications. 

Incense is a symbol of sanctification and purification.  First, we incense things that are holy and or that are used in and for worship.  Going back into the Old Testament, we see that even the Levitical priests and those that offered the sacrifice in the Temple, oftentimes burned incense to God.  In Chapter 6 of the Prophet Isaiah, we see that the angel touches Isaiah’s lips with the burning charcoal, purifying him before beginning his mission and ministry as a Prophet of God.

Now, our use of this first purpose of incense remains the same.  We incense things that are holy and are used or will be used with and for worship. 

The Church allows and encourages the use of incense five times within the Mass: 

1. The Entrance procession - As the priest makes his way to the Altar, the Incense goes first, purifying and sanctifying the way 
2. At the start of Mass - After the priest kisses the Altar, the priest walks around the Altar, incensing the Altar and the large Crucifix, which is there for the people to worship and adore. 
3. The Gospel - Before the Gospel is read, and usually when it is read from the Book of the Gospels, after the Book of the Gospels has been carried from the Altar to the Ambo, the Deacon or Priest if there is no deacon, incenses the Book of the Gospels out of reverence for the life, works, and words of Jesus Himself, contained therein. 
4. At the Offertory - the offerings of bread and wine are incensed, the priest is then incensed, and then the people themselves may be incensed.
5. At the Consecration and Elevation - When the priest holds up the Sacred Host, the Body of Christ, and the Chalice containing the Precious Blood of Christ, the Blessed Sacrament may be incensed by the thurifer, who carried it in procession, or even by another Deacon.

But there are other purposes for our use of incense in the liturgy as well which are no less important.  

Our prayer is never or should never be one dimensional.  The use of incense incorporates all our senses.  

The clouds of smoke emanating from the thurible, serve as a practical reminder of the transcendence of God.  The smoke clouds our vision, reminding us that God, while in our midst, is never meant to be seen or understood by us perfectly and clearly.  The smoke obscures and obfuscates our vision, reminding us of our proper place in relation to God. 

As we offer our prayers, the use of incense and its (hopefully) sweet smell, reminds us of the Beauty of God and of His Goodness.  We see the smoke.  We hear the clink of the chain and perhaps even the crackling of the coals. 

And lastly but by no means the least, we hope and believe that our prayers “Rise like the smoke, to God.”   This relation of our prayers rising like the incense, can be seen in both the Old and New Testaments. 

Psalm 141 says, “Let my prayer be directed as incense in Thy sight; the lifting of my hands, as an evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141:2).   

In Chapter 8 of the Book of Revelation, we read, “And another angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden censer: and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which is before the throne of God. And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God from the hand of the angel (Rev. 8:4-4). 

We need to remember that our celebration of Mass is not just ours.  We don’t own it nor can or should we lay claim to it.  It belongs to God.  Therefore, our celebration of Mass is a participation in the Eternal Mass going on perpetually in Heaven.  Every time we come before the Altar, we enter in, with the Angels, to the Heavenly Liturgy.

The observation, intuition, and instincts of the woman from my last assignment were correct. The use of incense within the Liturgy, especially within the Mass, the use of while up to the discretion of the priest, isn’t just “because” or to be “old fashioned;” to be showy or ostentatious, and certainly is not about the priest himself.  The use of incense within the Mass should transport us in transcendence to the Heavenly Liturgy while at the same time giving the highest glory and reverence to God.

As our prayers rise like the smoke to God, as we incense God Himself, Truly Present in the Blessed Sacrament and to His Word, especially in the Gospels, to the holy things that will be used in and for worship—the bread and wine, the priest, and the people themselves, the use of incense adds a reverence and a dignity and a beauty to Mass, our worship of God, as He Himself has commanded us to do in memory of Him.