INCENSO. — A resinous substance which, when burned, emits a pleasant aromatic scent and smoke.
I. SACRED SCRIPTURE
The Bible often speaks of incense (Hebr. lābhōndh, Hellenized as Māvec, because “white,” at least in the finest quality, cf. Pliny, Hist. natur., XII, 14), especially in the ritual legislation. The use of incense recurred continually in Jewish worship.Already in the Mosaic altar (v.) of incense, on which morning and evening the priest burned a mixture of aromatic substances, namely storax, onycha, galbanum, and incense (Ex. 30, 34). This mixture, called thymiana (ibid. 30, 9; Num. 16, 7, 47), was reserved for cultic use under penalty of death (Ex. 30, 38).
Incense was prescribed for offerings (Lev. 2, 1. 2. 15. 16), whereas it was forbidden in sacrifices of expiation (ibid. 5, 11) and in offerings for the rite of jealousy (Num. 5, 15); the twelve “loaves of presentation” were also sprinkled with it (Lev. 24, 7). So great was the importance of incense that it is sometimes expressly mentioned together with animals and other bloodless offerings (cf. Ier. 17, 26; 41, 5); at the beginning of the Christian era, it is mentioned in a chronological indication as the “hour of incense” (Lc. 1, 10). The fragrance of incense suggests graceful images in the Song of Songs (4, 6, 14); its column of smoke rises pleasingly to God like prayer (cf. Ps. 140, 2; Apoc. 8, 3, 4). The Bible alludes to its high cost, since it was a product imported from Sheba (Ier. 6, 20) and from other localities of southern Arabia (Is. 68, 6). The same provenance is indicated by classical authors (cf. Virgilio, Georg., I, 58). Incense appears to have been extracted from Boswellia Carteri of the family Burseraceae.
Angelo Penna
II. LITURGY
The use of incense in worship is attested from the remotest antiquity among all the Eastern peoples. Malachi had prophesied its use in the New Testament: « Et in omni loco thus adolebunt » (I, 11, according to the Hebrew text and the Greek version of the LXX). For some time Christian liturgy was hostile to it, solely because it was concerned to distance itself from pagan practices. Thus one can explain the precise statements of Tertullian, who, in listing the Christian’s gifts to God, declares: « non grana thuris unius assi arabicae arboris lacrimas » (Apolog., 30); and of s. Agostino: « Securi sumus: non imus in Arabiam thus quaerere » (Enarr. in ps., IXI, 14). For this reason, other statements dating from before the middle of the 4th century that seem to allude to the Christian use of incense must be understood allegorically; the statement in the Liber pontificalis concerning Pope Sotere (162–70), moreover, dates from the 6th century. Nevertheless, the use of incense in Christian homes and occasionally in sacred buildings was not excluded, but only for the purpose of perfuming the surroundings: this was the purpose of the censers donated by Costantino to the Lateran Basilica. When, during the second half of the 4th century, the pagan danger diminished, incense probably entered liturgical use.Some authors doubt whether a passage of s. Ambrogio: « utinam nobis quoque adolentibus altaria, sacrificium deferentibus » (PL 15, 1625) has a literal rather than an allegorical meaning; others consider it the oldest text attesting the use of incense at Mass. Explicit statements, however, are found in Paolino da Nola (ibid. 61, 637) and Gregorio Magno (ibid. 77, 980). The first direct text, however, dates from the 6th century (Ordo rom., I), and incense is used in honour of the Pope and the Gospel Book in the procession accompanying the Supreme Pontiff to the altar for the celebration of Mass. The liturgical use of incense in the West is therefore later than in the East, where it is certainly attested from the 4th century.
Eastern influence was subsequently felt first in Gaul and then in Rome, where, in the 9th century, the incensation of the altar and then of the clergy and the oblations was introduced. In the first half of the 14th century (Ordo XIV), the practice prescribed by the rubrics today was established. At the same time, incense was introduced at Lauds and Vespers during the singing of the Benedictus (in the Ambrosian liturgy, incensation is postponed until the psalms in Laudate) and of the Magnificat. Incense was also used in honour of the dead, especially if they were martyrs or confessors; indeed, from this arose the practice of incensing on every side the altar where the relics of the saints are gathered. In the late Middle Ages, once the original purposes of incense had been forgotten, it was assigned the Office « ut omnis nequitia daemonis propellatur; fumus enim incensi videre creditur ad daemones effugandos » (Innocenzo III, De sacrificio Missae, 2, 17). Its purifying power, however, was not understood as intrinsic to incense, but as deriving from the fact that it had been blessed. From then on, palms, candles, ashes, etc., were incensed in the various ceremonies. It nevertheless remains fundamental that incense is offered directly to the divinity, or indirectly through persons or things that recall God. It was always regarded as the most beautiful symbol of prayer, according to the very words of the Apocalypse
(8, 3-4): « I saw an angel coming, carrying a golden censer, and he appeared at the altar; and he was given much incense, and the fragrance of the incense rose from the angel’s hands through the prayers of the saints, ever upward to God ».