Catholic Incense & Charcoal | Church

Catholic Incense & Charcoal | Church

Incense in the Catholic Church

Incense holds significant importance in the Catholic Church. It is an element that is part of many liturgical rituals.

It is commonly used in Holy Week processions, during Mass, and other relevant moments. 

The Purpose of Incense in Mass

The presence of incense smoke has great relevance within the religious celebrations carried out by the Catholic Church. Thus, a series of properties and symbolism are attributed to it. 

• Symbol of prayers and petitions

The first of them, perhaps the most important, is that which continues the tradition reflected in Psalm 141:2, "Let my prayer be set forth as incense before thee...". In this sense, incense symbolizes the prayers and supplications of the priests and faithful. The smoke rises towards Heaven to reach God. 

The prayers of the believers are a conversation with our Savior, the incense smoke is the representation of this conversation between the earthly world and Heaven. 

• Element of purification and reverence

The Catholic tradition associates incense with the purification of the liturgical space, as well as of the people present. 

Through the incensation of the altar, offerings, and other elements, their purification is sought. On the other hand, the incensation of other elements such as the Blessed Sacrament is an act of reverence that highlights the importance of these objects. 

• The mystery of the Liturgy

The Liturgy is a crucial moment in the life of the Church, where the divine presence is manifested. It is a community celebration in which all those present actively participate, the priest as the guide of the community and the faithful as members of the community. 

Incense is an element that helps create the right atmosphere to live the presence of God among the faithful. The smoke and scent of incense contribute to creating a conducive atmosphere, taking those present away from the earthly world and bringing them closer to Heaven, to the presence of Christ. It helps the faithful to delve more deeply into the worship experience, facilitating a state of contemplation and reverence.

Use of Incense in Mass

The use of incense in Mass is defined by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. In the Instruction, we can read that incense can be used in any liturgical celebration at the following times:

1. In the entrance procession and at the beginning of Mass. Moments in which the altar is incensed as a gesture of veneration and preparation for the beginning of the liturgical celebration. 
2. During the proclamation of the Gospel, highlighting the importance of the Word of God.
3. At the moment the gifts are prepared, the offerings, the altar, the Cross, the celebrant, the concelebrants, and the faithful participating in the Mass can be incensed. During this incensation, all those present are made participants as a way to strengthen the union of the parish community. 
4. At the moment of showing the host and the chalice after the consecration, underlining the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
5. Use of incense in other liturgical celebrations and rituals

In addition to the incensations made during Mass, incense is present at other times and in other religious rituals, such as:

1. During the consecration of the holy chrism and the blessing of the sacred oils, at the moment in which the act of sanctification is carried out
2. At the moment a church and an altar are dedicated, marking the beginning of their consecration for divine worship.
3. While the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the monstrance. 
4. During solemn Lauds and Vespers.
5. In the funerals of the deceased.
6. In various liturgical processions such as those of the Presentation of the Lord, those of Holy Week (Palm Sunday, Mass of the Lord's Supper, and Easter Vigil), the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, the translation of relics, and other solemn celebrations.

Incense during Easter

Holy Week is one of the pinnacle moments of the Catholic liturgical year. During the Easter week, we celebrate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. 

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal indicates that the Holy Week processions are one of the religious events in which incense can be used. 

It is usual for the brotherhood processions that take place during Easter to be surrounded by the smoke and aroma that emanates from the thuribles of the Brotherhoods and Guilds. It is a tradition with a strong root in the celebrations of Holy Week in a large number of localities. 

The incenses of Easter in Seville and Malaga are especially well-known. In both Andalusian cities, incense plays a leading role. The scent of the incense from the Brotherhoods and Guilds of Seville and Malaga are recognized as some of the best in the world. 

Incense creates a unique and deeply immersive atmosphere during the processions. By burning incense, a cloud of fragrant smoke is generated that envelops the brethren and spectators. Creating an environment conducive to awakening the emotions that characterize brotherhood processions: solemnity, respect, recollection, sorrow, etc.

This evocative atmosphere has been consolidated over many years. A large part of the attendees indefatigably associate the scent of incense with specific moments of the processions, with specific days of Holy Week. Thus, for example, it is usual for a Sevillian brother to associate Palm Sunday with a certain scent derived from the use of incense by a Brotherhood that processes on that day. 

The combination of scents, colors, symbols, and feelings creates a very powerful sensation among the brethren and attendees. A sensory experience that immerses people in reliving Christ's sacrifice.

Catholic Church charcoal

Liturgical charcoal is one of the religious consumables that we use the most in our churches and homes. We usually use charcoal to burn incense. Simply with an incense burner (censer), some grains of good incense, for example sandalwood-scented incense, and an instant charcoal tablet, we can give a special atmosphere to any celebration. From Eucharistic celebrations to Holy Week processions, or even evenings at home where we feel like enjoying the properties of incense.

How to burn incense using instant and self-lighting liturgical charcoal?

Many of the buyers of our online store have asked us what is the best way to light the incense with the liturgical coals that we have for sale. All our liturgical coals are instant , they are lit immediately using only a lighter or a match, and self- igniting , once combustion has started, it spreads throughout the tablet until it is completely consumed.

These two features make it extraordinarily easy to enjoy the aroma of incense quickly and safely.

The main steps to light aromatic incense with any of the liturgical coals that you can buy in our online store are as follows:

1. Choose liturgical charcoal for incense.

In our online store or store in Lugo you can find a wide variety. It is important to take into account the time we want to enjoy burning brotherhood incense for Holy Week or Church incense. The greater the interval of time that we want to have the coal lit, the greater the diameter of the tablet should be. In addition, we must take into account the size of our censer and the diameter of the area to burn the brotherhood or liturgical incense. If we use a domestic censer it may be advisable to use smaller charcoal tablets. However, if we use the charcoal in a parish censer or in a Holy Week procession, it may be more appropriate to choose larger charcoal tablets or even use several tablets.

2. Choose the brother incense or Church incense.

When we buy cofrade incense for Holy Week or liturgical incense we must take into account certain variables.

1. The first one is the use that we are going to make of the incense. That is to say, we are going to burn the incense in a Church to incense during a Eucharistic celebration, or we want the incense to use the brotherhood during a Holy Week procession, or we simply want to use the incense in our domestic censer and enjoy its aroma in our house. Depending on the use, we might be more interested in buying incense powder or incense grain.
2. The second point to take into account is the aroma of the incense. The smell is one of the most important properties of incense and will determine the purchase of one type or another of incense brotherhood or Church. There is a wide variety of aromas ( cofrade or Church incense smelling of sandalwood, brotherhood or Church incense smelling of roses, brotherhood or Church incense smelling of patchouli , etc…). The choice of one of them will depend on the use that we are going to make of the incense, as we have seen in the previous point, and on our personal tastes. In our online store we have many buyers who prefer liturgical incense or brotherhood incense for Holy Week with sandalwood aroma because they say that it is the most pleasant, others prefer liturgical or brotherhood incense with the scent of roses because it seems more natural, etc... One of the aromatic incense to burn in the Church, in brotherhood processions or in domestic censers is sandalwood incense . Sandalwood incense is made by combining two resins. On the one hand, the original resin of incense, known as Olíbano incense or Olíbano incense. On the other hand, the resin of the sandalwood tree. Sandalwood incense is born from the combination of these two resins, an incense highly appreciated for its penetrating and pleasant aroma. Sandalwood resin gives incense the aromatic properties that characterize it. The aroma of sandalwood incense is very pleasant and relaxing. The resin is extracted from the sandalwood tree. Tree from which sandalwood incense is named.
3. The third variable is the censer that we are going to use to light the incense. We have to take this into account because there are censers that are designed for grain Holy Week incense and are not suitable for ground Holy Week incense, and vice versa.

3. Open a box of charcoal for incense

Once we have chosen the size of the charcoal tablets and the type and aroma of the brotherhood incense for Holy Week or Church incense, we must open the charcoal.

We open a box of liturgical charcoal, we open a tube of ten tablets and we take a charcoal tablet. Some censer tongs are very practical to facilitate lighting. This article allows you to bring the flame closer to the tablet without running any risk of burning.

Once we have taken the pills we need, it is important to close the hermetic tube as best as possible and place it back in the box. Once we have the box of charcoal closed, it is advisable to store it in a dry, dark and cold place to guarantee the perfect state of conservation.

4. Light charcoal for incense

Using a lighter, matches or a household blowtorch, we bring the flame close to the charcoal tablet for a few seconds. After a short period of time we will begin to see how the coal begins to emit small sparks. At this time the materials of the liturgical coal are working to spread the combustion throughout the tablet. In this way, with little effort, the surface of the coal will burn automatically. If we want to speed up the ignition process we can move the flame over the entire surface of the coal.

5. Deposit the liturgical coal in the censer

Once we see that the charcoal tablet has sparks over most of its surface and turns red, it is time to place it in our censer or incense burner. Using the censer tongs, we will deposit the charcoal tablet in such a way that the convex part is upwards. If we proceed in this way, it will be easier for the brother incense for Holy Week or Church incense, whether powdered incense or grain incense, to remain on the surface of the charcoal tablet and not spread throughout the censer.

6. Deposit the brother or church incense in the censer

We take incense for the Church, it can be grain incense or ground incense, and we will put it on top of the convex part of the coal.

For this stage it is very useful to use a censer spoon. The teaspoon will allow us to put the right amount of brother incense for Holy Week or Church incense that we want to burn. If we try to pour it directly from the bag or box, it is likely that we will not measure the amount of brother incense for Holy Week or Church incense properly.

7. Enjoy the brotherhood or Church incense

Once the incense brother or Church begins to smoke, all you have to do is enjoy its smell ( incense brother or Church smell of sandalwood, incense brother or Church smell of roses, incense brother or Church smell of patchouli , etc...).