Incense
by VP
Posted on Friday October 22, 2021 at 12:00AM in Books
"The incensing of the altar symbolizes and calls to mind the sublime holiness of the consecrated altar. The blessed clouds of incense, therefore, not merely admonish us, but also obtain for us from above the necessary assistance to enter with a pure intention into the Holy of Holies, to stand at the altar and to celebrate the Most Holy Sacrifice with a devout heart. The fragrant clouds of smoking incense signify, at the same time, that this Sacrifice, by the power of the Holy Ghost, will ascend to Heaven as a "sweet odor", and be for us the source of all spiritual odors of grace. Finally, the celebrant himself, and he alone as the visible representative of the invisible High priest, Jesus Christ, receives by the threefold incensing the veneration due to this sacred character."
Source: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by Nikolaus Gihr p377
