Before Divine Liturgy, Fr. Roman blessed a new censor which we received as a gift from Fr. Daniel who is a priest at Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church in Detroit. May God reward Fr. Daniel abundantly.
Here is some information about using the censor.
Incense is a commandment of God in the Old Testament and even shows us the way it should be made.
It made up of four ingredients, one of which is the resin that the cedars of Lebanon produce. From this resin comes the so-called frankincense, which is mixed with other ingredients mentioned by God in the Bible, and all that produce the frankincense we offer to God.
God Himself asks us to incense Him, and asks us to offer incense. In fact, in the Ark of the Covenant there was the golden censer that was made by order of God.
In the church, we use a specific censer that the priest uses in the parish and the monasteries. This particular censer has a theological interpretation. It symbolizes the Holy Trinity, the Twelve Apostles or the Four Evangelists, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, the faithful’s prayers, the roof of God.
We wholeheartedly offer to God and the church the best we have. We make the best we have for God and we do not offer what we have to throw away.
This is evident from the biblical account of Cain and Abel. God asked them to offer a sacrifice and let it burn and whatever smoke rises up, his prayer will be heard by God. However, the smoke that will be diffused by the wind means that he did not offer his sacrifice to God with his heart and that his prayer was not heard. This is true of Abel and Cain. Abel’s sacrifice was heard by God because he offered the best he could and did it with his heart, while Cain’s sacrifice was not good and he did not do it with his heart. That is why we chant in the church “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice”.
Divine Liturgy in the Eastern Church is a synaesthetic experience meant to give worshipers a glimpse of “heaven on earth”. It exemplifies “what earth would be like if the Fall had not taken place, or what it could be like if everyone lived ‘a life in Christ’ and the senses were ‘deified’”. All five sensory pathways—sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell— are offered input. The eyes are engaged by vivid icons, flickering candlelight, and the priest’s colorful vestments. The ears are filled with the sound of chanting, singing, and the ringing of bells. Lips brush the surface of icons, and fingers touch forehead, chest, and shoulders as they make the sign of the cross. Taste buds react to the sweetness of the communion and the yeasty saltiness of the prosfora (altar bread). The nose takes in the aromatic scent of smoldering incense.
All of these aspects of Divine Liturgy are important, but none arouses ecclesiastical feeling more powerfully than incense.
