CENSER (THYMIATERION)

 

During an Orthodox Church Service, the Priest censes the Holy Objects and the people with incense. He does this to remind us of the incense (frankincense) which the three Wise Men brought as gifts to Christ.

We are reminded of the sweet-smelling Myrrh with which Christ was anointed for His burial. The smoke of the incense reminds us that our prayers rise toward God like the sweet fragrance of the incense.        What is incense? Incense is the hardened sap (gum) secreted by a tree which apart from other names was known by the Greek name ‘Livanos’ from which the current Greek name for incense ‘livani’ derives. The tree is native to Arabia, India, and Somalia. In order to make it burn, it must be placed in a vessel with burning charcoal. The vessel we use is called a censer.

What is a censer? The censer is a covered dish suspended on four chains. It is used to convey the fragrant smoke of the incense to the Holy Objects. Its parts represent all of God’s creation. By current practice within the Orthodox Church, afer censing the altar, the celebrant comes out of the upper step of the Royal Door and begins censing as follows: first the icons on the Iconostasis (right to left), then the Icon of Christ on the Bishop’s Throne, and beginning with the cantors he censes the right wing of the nave and then the left; then again the Iconostasis, the Icon of Christ on the Bishop’s Throne and finally he enters the sanctuary. When censing of the congregation is prescribed, the censing of the Iconostasis is done from the middle of the Solea and the cantors, together with the other people on the Solea, before the celebrant begins to go down the aisle censing the people.

As expected, incense has been interpreted in many ways. It seems that the most prevalent interpretation is that it represents the prayer of mind and heart and is directed to heaven in the words of the Psalmist ‘let my prayer be counted as incense before Thee...’ (Psalm 141 (140):2).