At one point when I attended the Mass, I was taken aback
when a Parishioner had her gesture of dislike when the smoke of the incense
hits her as the altar server swings the censer during the procession. In reality of Liturgical celebration,
Parishioner should behave with respect to all of the customary ritual made as
it’s all about worshipping God asking for His grace than a show of nothing.
What does incense symbolize for?
In a Mass and other liturgical services,[1]
priests and altar servers can be seen swinging censers, sending clouds of
incense wafting through the air. Everything represents a theological truth. Incense
has been used in Christian liturgy from its earliest centuries. As a matter
fact, it was a part of the Jewish tradition that came before it, as instructed
by God himself and chronicled in Sacred Scripture.
If noticed, it is used during the entrance procession; at
the start of the Mass, to incense the altar; at the procession and proclamation
of the Gospel; at the offertory, to incense the offerings, altar, priest and community;
and at the elevation of the Sacred Host and chalice of Precious Blood after the
consecration. The priest may also incense the Crucifix and the Paschal Candle. On
funeral Masses, the priest at the final commendation may incense the coffin, both
as a sign of honor to the body of the deceased which became the temple of the
Holy Spirit at Baptism and as a sign of the faithful’s prayers for the departed
ascending to God.[2]
In the Old Testament, God charged Moses to build an Altar
of Incense for worship in the Tabernacle (Exodus 30:-10).
God also ordered how the incense should be made, a “holy
recipe”(Exodus 30:34-38)
Hence, from these passages and others it is deduced that incense was part of a ritual cleansing and purification of the sacred space of the Tabernacle, turning to be a worthy place for the worship of God, not according to anyone’s terms and convenience but to His terms. After all frankincense does no harm to one’s health but rather now known to have antiseptic and disinfectant properties.
Hence, from these passages and others it is deduced that incense was part of a ritual cleansing and purification of the sacred space of the Tabernacle, turning to be a worthy place for the worship of God, not according to anyone’s terms and convenience but to His terms. After all frankincense does no harm to one’s health but rather now known to have antiseptic and disinfectant properties.
God provided these particular instructions to Moses as
worship of God by Israel in His earthly Tabernacle was a pattern of the worship
by the angels in His heavenly throne; that is, worship on earth was to be
cohesive with the worship in heaven.
In the New Testament, the use of incense is also
recorded. Frankincense was one of the precious gifts that the Persian wise men or Kings brought in homage to the Infant Jesus, which was a sign of his role as priest
in addition to prophet and king.
In his apocalyptic visions of heaven, St. John the
Apostle documented that he saw incense being used in God’s heavenly throne
(Revelation 5:6-8). From this passage, incense is
identified with the prayers of the saints. Likewise, incense is added to the
prayers of the saints by an angel, underscoring the mediation of the angels in
humans’ worship of God (Revelation 8:3-4).
In Christian Liturgy, taken from the passages of both the
Old and the New Testaments, it can be viewed that incense is a significant part
of the worship of God on earth, first by the Jews, and regenerated by the
Christians.
The incense’s smoke is symbolic of sanctification and
purification, and symbolic of the prayers of the faithful, too. These two
intentions expose a deeper truth that prayer itself purifies and sanctifies us,
making us worthy of worshiping God in heaven for eternity with all the angels
and saints.
The Tabernacle in the Old Testament is a prototype of us,
human beings, as temples or dwelling places of the Holy Spirit. Before humans can dwell with God in eternity,
there is a need for purification and sanctification, the removal of sin – by prayers
as one of the approaches.
This spiritual sense is apparent in the Wisdom books of
the Old Testament, where prayer is linked with purification, making prayer a
sweet aroma rising up to God (Psalm 141:2; Sirach 39: 13-14)
Incense summons humans to Prayer invoking the mercy of
God. When incense is noticed being used
in churches, it is meant to remind us of heaven indicating our worship of God
in the Christian liturgy is divine in origin. Likewise, it reminds us to pray, denoting
that our prayer ascends to God like the smoke from the censer, purifying our
worship of God, and allowing his Holy Spirit to work in us to make us holy.
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