St. John Neumann
Catholic Church

The book of Revelation (8:1-4) gives us a description of a heavenly liturgy in the presence of the Lamb---sitting on the throne---as soon as he opened the seventh seals. Seven angels were given seven trumpets and another one came in with a censer of gold.  He was given a large amount of incense “together with the prayers of all of God’s holy people. From the angel’s hand the smoke of the incense went up before God, and with it the prayers of God’s people”

That is why we use incense. Its smoke takes our prayer to God and expresses our desire to be united with him. As a religious ritual is an ancient one and precedes Christian times. It is also a connection with the past, near and distant, and reminds that one day we will be in heaven, in front of the throne of the Lamb.

The use of incense then contributes powerfully to a sense of mystery. We are approaching the season of Advent and Christmas which tells us of the biggest mystery of them all---the coming of the Son of God to live with us.

The use of incense in our worship is very appropriate at this time of the year. We will use at two masses every Sunday and other celebration. The exact times are indicated in another section of this bulletin.

May our prayer rise to God as the incense.

Next >