From Fr. Dan+
Like many Christian liturgical practices, the use of incense
goes back to the Old Testament where it figured regularly in the worship of
God. The books of Exodus and Leviticus establish what might be called the
“theology of incense” and give details of the use of incense at the altar. In Jewish practice a brazier was located in the tabernacle for the specific purpose of
burning incense and incense was offered in the morning and in the evening. On the Day of Atonement the cloud of incense served as a sign of God’s
real yet mysterious presence. In the
Book of Revelation incense 1s a sign of the prayers of God’s people ascending
to him, which is why the Early Church continued the practice found in Judaism. Incense still carries all these meanings when
used in the church today and has less to do with “high” or “low” church, than
with theology that the worship of the Church maintains continuity with that of
Israel.
“There is no liturgical practice more
firmly rooted in scripture than the use of incense; the image of fire and smoke
is a common one in the Bible, constantly reminding the reader of scripture of
the exodus of Israel from Egypt”” (Clayton Morris, in As We Gather to Pray,
p.142).
The Rev. Dan Brown is a priest at The Church of the Holy Trinity, North Augusta.|
|
I just love listening to Father Brown talk about history and how things came to be. He brings things down to the average everyday person. I never will forget how he brought the Spanish Inquisition down to a 10 year old level so that she could understand what it was about. I got a good lesson that day too. Thank you Father Brown for being at The Church of the Holy Trinity. You are a wonderful asset to the church. So far we have someone who financially smart and can guide us where we need to be, someone who is well educated in the history of the Church so we get a wonderful understanding of who and where we are and someone who gives the gentle, caring side of christianity. What a blessed group we are. We have the best of the best.
ReplyDelete