*REVISED* Incense Frequency poll

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Thanks. I happen to love the smell of incense. I get the others. For a moment, it seemed as though there was some kind of extra grace granted not relating to our own predisposition to the Mass. I hadn’t heard about those, so that was the nature of the question.

I had answered the poll: at the discretion of the Priest.

Blessings,
Stephie
 
What, exactly, is “lost”?
Transubstantiation still happens, with or without incense.
 
Ours is a sacramental Church. Outward signs matter. Christ became flesh… God joined Himseld to His physical creation. The Church as the body of Christ, the mystical extension of the incarnation, continues to sanctify matter. Incense is one way to do this. Incense has a long and rich history in divine worship going back to the Old Testament. I love incense.
I remember last year I attended an evening Mass at the cathedral on the feast of the Assumption. As Father incensed the Gospel Book, a cloud of incense formed above his head. As he began chanting the Gospel, the sunlight coming through one of the stain glass panes hit the cloud of incense just right… it looked like there was a glowing cloud hovering above Father’s head. It was beautiful.
 
It also happens with or without music. With or without a congregation. With or without an altar. With or without statues or images of Our Lord and the saints.
…so not the best argument?
Incense isn’t required in the current form the Mass, but it’s still a beautiful part of our tradition.
 
twf said:
It also happens with or without music. With or without a congregation. With or without an altar. With or without statues or images of Our Lord and the saints.

…so not the best argument?

Incense isn’t required in the current form the Mass, but it’s still a beautiful part of our tradition.
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Precisely…

I believe very strongly that one of the things that has taken a real toll on the Church is what I call “utilitarian” Masses. They may be 100% valid and even 100% licit, but needlessly stripped down Masses are just sad.
 
I am thankful that Pope Francis uses copious amounts of incense at his Masses…
 
Oh my goodness I have a story.

My grandfather was not a fan of the liturgical changes. When the new Mass came into being, our church also got a new parish priest, and he didn’t use incense at Mass and granda was so used to having incense at Mass. In fact, he couldn’t perceive of Mass being anything but that which includes incense.

When he asked the new priest why there was no incense at Mass and the priest gave his answer (probably what he was taught at seminary, God love him), my grandfather said “well we can have a group of men opposite the choir light up our pipes and cigarettes if it’s easier for you and the boys.”
 
LoyalViews said:
Oh my goodness I have a story.

My grandfather was not a fan of the liturgical changes. When the new Mass came into being, our church also got a new parish priest, and he didn’t use incense at Mass and granda was so used to having incense at Mass. In fact, he couldn’t perceive of Mass being anything but that which includes incense.

When he asked the new priest why there was no incense at Mass and the priest gave his answer (probably what he was taught at seminary, God love him), my grandfather said “well we can have a group of men opposite the choir light up our pipes and cigarettes if it’s easier for you and the boys.”
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I like the cut of your Grandfather’s jib…

I forgot to mention. I’ll bet at least half the artificial coughers I have come in contact with are actually smokers. Ironic, aye?
 
Did a study on incense whilst doing my undergrad, nasty stuff and a good majority is carcinogenic. Definitely avoid like the plague in closed in areas. Continued exposure is as bad as passive smoking. Sometimes worse.

Not sure what people’s fascination is with smoke of any kind. It’s toxic. Show some respect to your lungs and body.
 
I mean I don’t dispute your statistics…

but I would say that incense, and even fire has a symbolic meaning… burning something makes it rise, essentially offering it to God, whether that’s the bulls of the ancient Hebrew tradition, the burnt money of the Chinese buddhist tradition, or the burnt tree sap of the Catholic and orthodox traditions.
 
ErraticFaith said:
Did a study on incense whilst doing my undergrad, nasty stuff and a good majority is carcinogenic. Definitely avoid like the plague in closed in areas. Continued exposure is as bad as passive smoking. Sometimes worse.
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Naw. I did a study too. Including a formal write-up. The ONLY instances of people being negatively impacted by incense smoke from a health standpoint worldwide are Tibetan monks who literally bath in the smoke for hours at a time each day. Their exposure is greatly amplified because the incense they use is often choke-full of heavy metals induced by the processing of the incense into sticks.
ErraticFaith said:
Not sure what people’s fascination is with smoke of any kind. It’s toxic. Show some respect to your lungs and body.
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How about you provide some examples where Christian’s health was impacted due to their exposure to incense within the context of Mass?
 
midori said:
I had a parish in my old city where the pastor was a former Episcopalian priest. He loved his incense! And I loved it, too. It was a poor parish, and there were probably fifteen parishes within a 30-minute drive of it, but that place was always packed. It was a really thriving community, and I was happy to see it.
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If you ever get to NYC check out The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Times Square. “Smokey Mary’s” is an Episcopal parish church that uses A LOT of incense…
 
I am an altar server (and answers to my question on my account would be great,) and I serve just about every year on Easter. I use that and I have to swing it around, and I’m afraid I’m going to lose control and spill it, hit someone or myself and burn who is hit, or there will be a fire. I honestly DO NOT want to use it more often than necessary, but it does seem to be necessary on days where someone reserects. Not sure why.
 
I am going through RCIA in the Roman rite. Our parish does not use it for every Sunday but uses it for Easter, solemnities, exposition/benediction, and vespers on All Souls Day. They can also use it at their discretion for other purposes like weddings and funerals. They publish an incense schedule ahead of time. On Holy days of obligation there are masses at 9 am, 12 pm, and 7 pm. 9 and 12 are in English. 7 is a bilingual Spanish-English mass. We always use incense for the 9 am mass and the bilingual mass. I used to be one of those sorts who scoffed at those who didn’t tolerate incense until I nearly saw my pregnant sponsor faint in the middle of a badly ventilated Byzantine church during divine liturgy. Ventilation is important. Also, keep in mind that folks might not just be talking about respiratory ailments when it comes to issues with scents. My sponsor has vasovagal syncope and that has weird triggers. One of hers is scents. And unfortunately it’s not something she can be prepared for; she could feel fine one day and have a fainting fit the next. The only thing that she can do is try to leave before she gets too lightheaded.
 
Sarah_loves_God said:
I use that and I have to swing it around, and I’m afraid I’m going to lose control and spill it, hit someone or myself
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Rather than wait for Easter, spend some time manipulating the thurible outside of Mass…

You can put a fistful of oatmeal or uncooked rice in the thurible to give it the right heft.
 
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