What type of incense is used at church?

  • Thread starter Thread starter psalm126
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
P

psalm126

Guest
My church has a certain smell, it is subtle but always there when I walk in. It is defibnitely not floral or from the flower arrangements. I am thinking it is from the incense that is used. Does anybody know what type of incense is normally used at church? If I can find out I will try to find an essential oil of the same scent. That would be very soothing to have. Thank you!
 
There are various kinds/blends used. I prefer pure Copal, which is the sole or predominant scent used in Mexico. But there are other blends used more often in the USA.
 
I think it’s frankincense and myrrh. There might be other ingredients, but I always thought it was those two because of the three wise men.
 
I attended a Mass this summer in a different church one Sunday and they did not use incense at all. What does that mean? I thought it was odd. :rolleyes:
 
There have been several threads about this. One which may be of interest can be found [thread=291524]here[/thread]. 🙂
 
Often it is frankincense or a mix of frankincense and myrrh.
 
KimberlyCat said:
I attended a Mass this summer in a different church one Sunday and they did not use incense at all. What does that mean? I thought it was odd. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Lol, odd? It is pretty much the de facto norm to not use incense. I find that sad, because it adds so much.
 
Thanks everyone for the info! I just ordered a frankincense and myrrh essential oil room spray from amazon. It has good reviews so I’m hopeful. 🙂
 
I’ll post back when it comes in. I can’t do real incense because I have little ones. I even have a battery operated candle on our prayer table because I worry about them hurting themselves. I plan on spritzing the cloth that I have on our prayer table with the spray. Estimated delivery is in 7-10 days.
 
Church supply catalogs offer many brands and scents of liturgical incense. Some of it, particularly the western European types, mingle frankincense with aromatic wood shavings or oils derived from flowers. Some are made from crystallized sap of other trees beside frankincense - I know of one parish where the priest gathers dried sap from a nearby spruce tree. Eastern Rite churches often prefer floral-scented incenses and change them with the liturgical seasons - I frequently order these from the Orthodox Incense website.
 
alexandratm said:
I think it’s frankincense and myrrh. There might be other ingredients, but I always thought it was those two because of the three wise men.
Click to expand...
Nobody knows how many wise men there were. People assume there were three simply because three gifts are mentioned. The Bible does not state the number of wise men.
 
QUOTE=YoungTradCath;11241233]Lol, odd? It is pretty much the de facto norm to not use incense. I find that sad, because it adds so much.

Not so. Certianly within the Anglican World as much as we love incense too and all our sung services have incense our said services do not. Some churches also high anglican list when they are not using incense to allow those people who are genuinely badly affected by incense to have the glory of full sung Eucharist without being ill from incense. I am affected in a mild way nd when I was serving every week my chest would be sore only on Sundays. For entirely other reasons am singing/serving alternate weeks and now my chest isn’t sore even on those Sundays am serving so I do appreciate when someone really can’t manage the stuff. It not thru not wanting to because it all part of tradition though the caveat here is are we worshipping a kind of tradition if we think it odd when there isn’t any incense. Allow those to breath freerly and not moan about being ill. We don’t want to moan about it and therefore don’t but some people geunily suffer. Why should they miss out on full sung Eucharist because smoke affects them:thumbsup:
 
thistle said:
Nobody knows how many wise men there were. People assume there were three simply because three gifts are mentioned. The Bible does not state the number of wise men.
Click to expand...
Well, you know what they say, “Wise men still seek Him”. 😉
 
thistle said:
Nobody knows how many wise men there were. People assume there were three simply because three gifts are mentioned. The Bible does not state the number of wise men.
Click to expand...
Well, there is the old tradition about Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top