Frankincense - what it is, varieties and varieties, medicinal properties, how to ignite and use at home. What is church incense: how it smells, where to buy

Knowing about its extraordinary properties, many are wondering: how to use incense at home.

The oldest incense is frankincense, traditionally used in divine services in churches. Previously, this incense was valued even higher than gold.

Let's talk more about the properties of incense and how to use it at home.

How to use church incense at home

Frankincense is a fragrant resin that the wise men brought as a gift to the newborn Jesus Christ. The oldest recipe was received from God by the Prophet Moses (the book of Exodus, chapter 30, verses 30-38). It is used in churches for worship.

Priests kindle incense on burning coals in a censer. When burned, incense is formed - fragrant smoke.

However, you can also light incense at home. In addition, incense has not only sacred properties that help us turn to God, but also heals many diseases, and generally improves human health.

The most common way to burn incense is with censers. But for their use, coal is needed, which makes this process a little difficult at home. It is easier to use a lamp with a spider, a special metal device.

At home, incense should be kindled during prayer or to strengthen the general state of mind and maintain health. If you have a difficult state of mind, then, having walked around the house with a censer, you will cleanse your home and fill it with a light and favorable scent.

How to light incense at home

Heated charcoal is placed in the censer; the easiest way is to heat it on a gas burner. Pieces of resin are placed on the side or on top of hot coals, which heats up and begins to release fragrant smoke.

Be very careful with the coals so that they do not fall apart, and you should not use paper or plastic covers.

To use the lamp, you need oil and a wick, the wick should be dipped in oil, passed through a specially designed hole and set on fire.

The fire will heat up the metal spider, on which incense will be located. The incense will heat up and release fragrant smoke.

What are incense candles for at home?

Using censer candles at home is much easier than using a censer or a lamp.

You just need to take a censer candle (it can be divided into parts if you do not want a too strong smell), set it on fire, after a few seconds blow out the fire so that the candle smolders.

With the help of smoke, a pleasant aroma of incense will spread throughout the room, the candle in the delivery can also be carried throughout the apartment.

The healing properties of church incense

First of all, incense has specific properties based on religious belief. But it also has medicinal properties that are widely used in medicine, for example, it strengthens memory, soothes well.

In addition, the aroma of this resin rejuvenates the body, heals old scars, improves brain and gastrointestinal tract activity, has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. Therefore, in Russia, even in ancient times, incense was a folk remedy for all diseases.

Incense incense has a healing effect on demon-possessed patients. Like prayer, incense is more medicine for the soul than for the body.

What to do with used incense

In no case should the pieces of incense and coals left after combustion be simply thrown away, since not a single sanctified thing should be trampled underfoot.

Remains of candles, shells from consecrated eggs, paper from cakes, etc. - the priests of Orthodox churches recommend burying these remnants in a clean place where people do not walk with their feet, or pouring them out into the river. You can also burn.

Proceed in the same way with pieces of used incense. It would be most correct to lower the remnants of tar and coal into a channel or river and let them float away. You can also put them in a special, inviolable, revered place like a special casket.

Conclusion

If you are puzzling over where to get incense, then the answer is very simple. In any Orthodox church there is a church shop where you can buy incense and the corresponding accessories for its use.

The smell of incense is known to everyone who has ever been to church.

It is this soothing aroma, coupled with atmospheric architecture and dim candlelight, that helps one to abandon worldly problems and immerse oneself in prayer to God.

And it is with its help that incense is carried out, when the fragrance can be felt many times stronger. So what is this substance?

What is incense

Frankincense is the resin of the Lebanese cedar. This is a very rare type of tree, which can only be found in Africa, India or Arabia. In other areas, the tree does not grow and does not take root, despite numerous attempts by researchers to spread the cedar. Due to the fact that a tree can only grow under certain conditions, it is listed in the Red Book. In addition, cedar does not give so much resin, so real incense is quite difficult to find; substitutes are often used instead.

One of the plants that make up the substitute is the Indian red pear, whose resin has a scent similar to frankincense, but is much easier to obtain. Besides India, the pear also grows in China and Vietnam.

Real incense is known both in Europe and in Arab countries, but it has different names. So, the British gave him the name "incense of the Franks", as they learned the substance from the French. The Arabs call it milk, having found the external resemblance of the juice flowing from the tree to this drink. The Latin name for aromatic resin sounds like olibanum, as it is called in Russia.

Frankincense composition and properties

Frankincense includes many components, but of which one can distinguish three main:

• vegetable boswellic acid, which is the main constituent of the resin;
• sap of the bark of a tree called gum or gum;
• aromatic hydrocarbons found in essential oils.

Thanks to such components, olibanum only partially soluble in water, forming a cloudy emulsion. Prolonged heating leads to a softening of the substance, which then ignites with the formation of a thick, pleasant odor. Antidepressant effects of smoke on the nervous system is largely determined by the presence of Incensol acetate in its composition. This substance can even lead a person into a state of euphoria.

Resin grades

Real incense can be obtained only in the places where the Lebanese cedar grows. It is highly prized as a single tree can produce no more than 400 grams of resin at a time. But if you collect olibanum from all growing cedars, you can get up to several thousand tons of incense per year.

Of all the countries where cedar grows, Somalia is the leader in the amount of incense produced. The plantations of this African country account for more than 80% of the harvested resin. This is due to the fact that Somalia has the most favorable conditions for tree growth.

Frankincense production begins with the collection of the resin. This process has been known for many millennia and does not represent anything complicated. The main thing is to collect before the rainy season begins.

At the end of February and the beginning of March, there is a period of active pouring of sap inside the tree. At this time, deep cuts are made on adult cedars, from which a milky liquid flows out.

This liquid is allowed time to drain as much as possible and harden. The resulting substance thickly covers the trunk of the tree and the place under it.

When collecting, the resin is broken into pieces, different in color and density, up to 10 mm in diameter. Because of this, olibanum is divided into varieties not only depending on the deposit, but also on which pieces of resin were used in the production. There are two varieties.

1. Selected incense... It is a transparent shiny oval pieces. They can be white, yellow or pink. If you rub them together, light dust will appear on the surface. Selected olibanum is soft enough, it can be ground into powder, which immediately begins to exude a tart odor.
2. Normal... All parts of the resin that cannot be classified as selective are included in this grade. They are dark in color and contain many side inclusions in the form of crustal or earth particles.

How incense began to be used

How it smells and what incense is, people learned long before the beginning of our era. The incense was actively sold in Phenicia and was valued so much that people lined up for it.

In religion

As incense is used now, for religious rituals, it was also used then, at the dawn of our era. The use of incense was found in the rituals of different religions.

In mystical rites

It was believed that incense has the ability to protect a person and his house from evil spirits. His incense in the room increased the positive energy in the dwelling and expelled everything bad from it, so they did not move into the new house until it was purified with incense smoke.

People believed that the valuable resin brings health not only to people, but also to pets. With its help, they protected property from theft, and themselves from witchcraft and damage.

In addition, a small piece of olibanum was sewn into a bag and used as a talisman. This protected travelers on a long journey and helped in important matters.

In medicine

Even in Ancient Egypt, olibanum began to be used for medicinal purposes. With its help, they not only expelled demons from people, but also cured very real mental disorders. The scent soothed the sick, eliminated anxiety, and helped fight insomnia. In rare cases, doctors insisted on taking olibanum for the treatment of internal organs.

On the basis of incense, ointments and rubbing were made. The healing power of the resin has been used to heal joints and cleanse the skin. Thanks to the latter, Egyptians made masks from incense that have a rejuvenating effect.

Photos of incense, its use

Modern research on beneficial properties

It was not in vain that ancient healers included incense in the arsenal of medicinal preparations. Scientific studies have confirmed the benefits of Lebanese cedar resin. Modern doctors know the following about the benefits of incense:

All these healing properties are provided by the chemical elements that make up olibanum. With the correct preparation of a recipe, which includes not only resin, but also other useful components, you can get a very strong remedy.

Application today

In the modern world, incense has found its use due to the properties described above. There are several areas in which it has been used successfully to this day.

Perfumery and cosmetology

The sweet scent that powdered incense has is used in perfumery. One of its valuable properties is compatibility with other fragrances, which allows you to create a beautiful perfume composition with oriental notes.

Olibanum essential oil, which is a concentrate of all useful components of this resin, participates in the processes of skin regeneration, heals wounds, and has a tonic effect. In addition, it has a beneficial effect on hormones and the acceleration of metabolism.

Homeopathic remedies

In alternative medicine, the resin of the Indian tree is mainly used. Homeopathic remedies for pain relief and wound healing contain incense extract. On its basis, tinctures are also prepared, which patients are recommended to use for gynecological diseases, diseases of blood vessels and body tissues. Resin helps to maintain the health of skin, hair, teeth. A patch with the addition of incense is used by homeopaths to treat joints, purulent diseases, and stop bleeding.

Church rites

No matter how many ways this wonderful substance is used, the most common is church incense. For what incense is used in the church, every parishioner knows from his own experience. The fragrant smoke soothes the senses, helps to focus on the service, carries prayers and requests straight to God.

But, besides this, it also brings quite physical benefits. A lot of people come to the church, so the House of God just needs to purify the air. The antiseptic and bactericidal properties of incense help to freshen the air space and protect it from infections.

Church incense is made in monasteries. The most common products are the products of the monasteries of Athos and Jerusalem. Incense granules are subdivided into grades depending on the composition, qualitative and quantitative content of impurities. In addition, each type of incense has its own purpose, according to the purposes of use, it is divided into the following varieties:

• Tsarsky, has the highest quality and price, is used in services for important events.
• The altar one is slightly inferior to the royal one in quality and is used for daily incense.
• The cell was mainly used in the dwellings of monks, sometimes it is also used in temples, but this usually happens during fasting.

Home use

If you want to purify the air and feel the aroma of incense at home, incense can be bought at any church shop. To burn incense, you need a katsea, which will make the process safe. It has the same principle of operation as the church censer, but is smaller. A piece of incense is placed in it, which is set on fire and immediately begins to emit fragrant smoke.

The incense must be carried around the entire perimeter of the house, starting from the front door. According to the rules, you need to move clockwise and do not forget to baptize the doors and corners. Censing should be accompanied by the prayer "Our Father".

During the entire process, the vents in the house must be open. The emitted smoke has a very strong odor; it will be difficult to carry it in an enclosed space.

If done correctly, the scent of incense will help bring peace and tranquility to the house, calm your nerves, and lift your spirits. It attunes a person to prayer and heals the body. Purification of the air is accompanied by the purification of thoughts and feelings, which leads not only to bodily but also mental health.

Question number 715

The Importance of Smells in the Spiritual and Church Life of People

Andrey Maslennikov , Russia
06/07/2003

Dear Father Oleg!
Thank you for your attention to Father Sebastian's work. We value every opinion very much, it will help us in further work on the study of this odorological topic.
Best regards, Andrey Maslennikov.

Father Oleg Molenko's answer:

I would like to add that you should devote more attention to the problem of smell, as highlighted in the experience of the Holy Fathers of the Church. For example, to mention that the great reverend fathers (for example, Ioanniki the Great) had the gift from the Lord to distinguish sinful passions (including such as love of money) by smell! After all, each passion has its own special malignant smell. It would be nice to make a selection of extracts from the lives of the saints, which deal with the manifestations of demons to them, which were evidenced by a disgusting stench.

Should have cited the teaching of the Church that one of the nine basic hellish torments is an incomparable and ineffable stench or stench! And vice versa, that the appearances of the Lord, the Mother of God, holy Angels and the souls of holy people were always accompanied by ineffable fragrances. You can place extracts from the lives of the saints (for example, Andrew Christ for the sake of the holy fool), where it is a question of their visits to Paradise and other heavenly abodes associated with the transmission of experiences of unspeakable fragrances. After that, we can make the obvious conclusion that sin, evil, passion, demons and hell are certainly accompanied by a disgusting stench or stench, and grace, virtue, Paradise, angels and saints - ineffable and wondrous fragrances.

That the smell through malice serves as a punishment for the sinner, and through a fragrance (in this case it is called a fragrance) - a reward for the saint and the righteous. It is from this real and God-created regularity that the fragrance through natural substances collected and excreted by the labor of people is used in the divine services of the Church, as a symbol of that ineffable spiritual and natural holy fragrance that is characteristic of everything divine and heavenly. At the same time, it should be emphasized that the Lord God, establishing the composition for myrrh and other church fragrances, strictly forbade the use of this composition anywhere and in any other way. This should be confirmed by reference to the relevant Scriptures. Moreover, every holy saint of God has its own unique aroma, so that it would be possible to determine by the smell - which of the saints it is - and compose a kind of aroma library of saints!

It is imperative and very important, for the sake of spiritual security, to communicate the experienced teaching of the holy fathers about the forgery of fragrances by demons.

Demons are well aware of the importance of smells in the spiritual and church life of people. Therefore, they maliciously use the composition of fragrances from substances stolen from God (for demons are not creators and themselves can do nothing but sin, theft, destruction and destruction) to try to seduce the holy saints, novice ascetics and ordinary believers.

They do this during their visits under the guise of the Lord, the Mother of God (by the way, in the MP there is a widespread myth that, they say, demons cannot take the appearance of the Mother of God, which is a pernicious lie and delusion), holy angels and saints of God, in order to cover up their real stench and pass off the "fragrance" they compiled as true and blessed.

In this regard, it is appropriate to cite cases of mass seduction of many people from the MP by numerous "myrrh streams" from icons, photographs, packs of icons standing on a store shelf, stacked in one row of paper icons, etc. Such "myrrh streaming" is very easily carried out by crafty demons. To do this, they prepare an oily odorous substance from natural substances (and they can do this better than people) and invisibly lower this "myrrh" in various places of their chosen icon or photograph in order to seduce believers infected with false spirituality with its passion for various miracles and signs ...

Of course, there are real blessed myrrh streams from the skulls, bones and relics of saints. But very rarely they were in the history of the Church from icons. The icon is a living spiritual reality, and the myrrh is inherent in a shrine, but dead, sleeping or buried. Even the act of chrismation in this great and necessary Sacrament of the Church has a funeral meaning. We die to a sinful life with Christ and are buried with Him in the waters of the baptismal font:

Rom. 6:
3 Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 So we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also can walk in a renewed life.
5 For if we are united to him in the likeness of his death, we must also be united in the likeness of the resurrection,
6 knowing that our old man was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be abolished, so that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
7 for he who is dead is freed from sin.
8 But if we died with Christ, then we believe that we will also live with him,
9 knowing that Christ, having risen from the dead, no longer dies: death no longer has power over Him.
10 For that he died, he died once to sin; and that which lives, it lives for God.
11 Likewise, reckon yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And by chrismation we seal this burial or tomb for sin, so that it will never come to life in us. For this, the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to us, in order to live with God and in the scent of grace, and not in the malice of sin.

The myrrh flowing from the icon itself, even grace-filled in origin, is not the main sign of grace or its manifestation through this icon, but only concomitant, while other more important signs and manifestations are needed - true healings, exorcism of demons, consolation in sorrow, resolution of problems, fortifications in exploits, a call to repentance, contrition, weeping, spiritual tears, etc.

Therefore, it is impossible to believe on one fact of the emanation of "myrrh". At the same time, representatives of the true clergy must read a special prayer before the icon that has started streaming myrrh for the exorcism of the demon, and only after that, if the myrrh flow does not stop, declare it a miracle or a sign of God. In cases of the myrrh-streaming of icons according to God's action, this is a gracious but formidable warning sign of the spiritual dying or death of a given church structure, monastery or temple.

That is why it is in no way possible to rejoice in the myrrh streams of icons and charmingly take them as a sign of the presence of grace in the structure itself or in a given temple, thereby deceiving oneself and others.

It is interesting to point out the connection between the fragrant smell and the Cross of the Lord, both the most authentic cross tree and the many copies or symbols that should be worn with reverence by every faithful Christian on the chest, kept in houses and churches. The cross tree itself was composed of three non-rotting resinous trees of noble species: cypress, Lebanese cedar and pevga. Each of these trees has a pleasant-smelling wood in nature. This smell is all the more pleasant in a three-part cross-tree. To this natural fragrance was added the smell of Christ's consecration and the fragrance of the great shrine.

In this regard, it should be noted, especially for the manufacture and wearing of under-worn, intra-temple and domed crosses, that they should mainly be made of noble wood species. We received this command from the Mother of God herself. This command can be found in the description of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God and the Tikhvin Monastery. Appearing in reality together with Saint Nicholas of Mirliki to the sexton George chosen from all the monastic brethren, the Most Holy Theotokos commanded to convey that they should not put a metal cross on the dome of the built church, but wooden, for My Son - explained the Lady - did not crucify on an iron cross, but on a wooden one! George fulfilled the order of the Queen of Heaven and the cross was replaced. It is interesting to note that later, when God allowed this monastery to burn to ashes, only two relics remained unharmed on the ashes: the Tikhvin icon and this domed cross, which was made of the same oak tree on which the Most Holy Theotokos pleased to sit during her conversation with George.

This appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos was reflected in the "Besednaya" icon. On it we see the Most Holy Theotokos sitting on the trunk of an oak tree (and the tree bent so that part of the trunk where the Queen of Heaven sat was parallel to the ground, and the rest, with the crown, remained vertical. - young man Georgy lying face down in bow.

From memory I bring many information about the Cross of the Lord from it.

Without this addition, your work on smells in Christianity loses and loses a lot and looks incomplete.

From literary works and from our own experience, we know that incense always smells in the church, that the fragrant smoke of incense accompanies solemn church rites. A person who is very old or hopelessly ill is said to be "on his way." Everyone knows this saying: "afraid as the devil of incense." It used to be thought that incense wards off misfortune. A bag of incense was worn around the neck as a talisman, it was called incense. In houses, a la-tributary was placed in front of the icons - a small vessel made of copper in the form of a ball with a cross at the top. Frankincense has entered both everyday life and the sayings of the Russian people. Frankincense is the aromatic resin of evergreen cistus shrubs. Their leaves are slightly covered with hairs. They also give off an odorous gum, which we call incense. The hairs are single or gathered in bundles. Delicate flowers of cistus with white, pink, red petals are similar to rose hips, and therefore the plant is sometimes called "rock rose". Surprisingly, this aromatic plant has flowers without nectar or scent. The cistus bush blooms in the morning. All flowers open at the same time, but by the middle of the day their petals have already fallen off. Bees, bumblebees, beetles, flies flock to the flowers. It is curious that when they collect pollen, the stamens quickly, right before their eyes, bend outward and open the stigma for pollination. After 10-15 seconds, the stamens again take a vertical position. By autumn, the fruit-boxes are already hanging on the bushes and swinging on long stalks. Mature capsules open with three or five valves and three-edged, like buckwheat, seeds spill out of them. If they get on wet soil, they become covered with mucus and swell. When dry, the mucus adheres the seeds firmly to a lump of soil, legs, paws, hair of animals and birds. Cistus plants prefer dry, open, sunny locations. They grow on the prairies and deserts of America, in the light pine and juniper forests of the Mediterranean, in the South Crimea, in the Western Caucasus, in Iran, in Western and Central Asia. Some species of cistus grow in southern Sweden and even on the Kola Peninsula and northern Canada, where there are severe frosts in winter. The most extensive genus in the cistus family is sunflowers. There are more than 100 types of shrubs or grasses. They got their name because their yellow, less often white flowers, in clear, sunny weather, face the sun and turn after it. In the Arabian and Egyptian deserts, where the sun mercilessly warms, in the cracks of rocks, on sand and pebbles, the Cairo sunflower grows. With the onset of rains, large, flat, almost hairless leaves appear on it. Then shoots with completely different leaves appear in their axils. They are small, narrow, wrapped around the edges and covered with such a thick felt of hairs that they appear gray. In the most intense heat, the plant also sheds these leaves. And when it rains again, it is all covered with small flowers hanging down on long stalks. All cistus are resistant to heat, and cistus seeds germinate especially well and quickly after fires. These are strange plants - fires encourage them to germinate while others die in the fire. Animals do not touch their leaves, protected by thorns and a rather strong scent. The fragrant incense resin was highly prized as medicine in the last century. It was used to fumigate the houses of plague patients. In the East and in Egypt, fumigation with incense gave solemnity to rituals and ceremonies. Perfumers these days add incense to shampoos, creams and perfumes.

The Byzantine liturgical canon includes an important element - smells. Unlike other components of the canonical system, aromatization, its principles and ideology have changed very little throughout the history of the church. In fact, modern Orthodox churches use them in the same way as at the beginning of the history of Christianity.

Before considering the olfactory ( odor-related) aspects of the Christian cult, it is necessary to characterize the ones used in it aromatic substances... In fact, there are not so many scents in the church.

1. Incense (in Hebrew - lot) - aromatic wood resin ( fragrant tree sap, air-hardening). Collected from the plant cystus croticus (Boswellia, Burzer family) - a thorny tree that grows on about. Cyprus, Arabia, Syria, Palestine. One of the oldest incense, it is also used in perfumery. In ancient times, it was considered one of the most valuable gifts that were presented to kings and nobles as a sign of special reverence: the offering of incense to the baby Jesus by the magi, along with gold and peace, is evidence of recognition of his royal dignity (Matt. 2:11). Used for incense in the temples of various pagan religions. The first Christians used incense when conducting rituals of burying the dead ( according to Tertullian's testimony). It is currently mined mainly in India. Frankincense is mainly used for burning incense in liturgical ceremonies. Frankincense with additional aromatic additives is called incense... It must be assumed that censing in modern churches is carried out precisely with the use of various incenses.

Incense

2. Miro- aromatic oil used in the sacrament of anointing. According to the Old Testament regulations (Exodus, 30, 23-25), it was composed of self-flowing myrrh, fragrant cinnamon, fragrant reed (calamus), cassia and olive oil. In the modern Orthodox Church, myrrh includes about 50 components. World-making is carried out by the highest hierarchy in the Great Four and spreads to all dioceses. Confirmation is a sacrament in which the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to the believer by bringing peace to various parts of the body. The anointing with holy myrrh is used in the consecration of temples.

Ingredients for the world

3. Lamp oil (spruce)- vegetable (primarily olive) oil, which is used for burning in lamps and for anointing believers. May contain aromatic additives (eg rose oil).

Lamp oil

4. Wax candles- a source of faint honey odor. Made from beeswax, Japanese, Chinese, carnauba wax. Beeswax candles burn longer and brighter than paraffin wax candles and are preferred by connoisseurs because they are natural.

Wax candle

5. Other fragrances are not strictly regulated. For example, it can be added hyssop(hyssopus officinalis) in holy water for sprinkling. In festive rituals, there are smells of fresh flowers (for example, for the Assumption of the Virgin), branches of trees and grass (for Trinity), etc.

Hyssop

We must also not forget about the fragrance of the holy gifts- in essence, the most important church aroma.

The Christian cult system is designed in such a way that it influences all human senses.

The semantic meaning of smells in the church

At all times, the air of the church has been a specific beauty of the ministry. Incense, having gone from the Old to the New Testament, has not lost its most important role in the spiritual life of the world.

As already noted, the smells of the church are, first of all, the fragrance of the Holy Gifts, incense, the aromas of myrrh, oil, candles, scented water, living plants. Some of these scents are canonized, others are not, however, even if there are no unambiguous characteristics of aromatic substances in the church life, tradition regulates the use of certain odorous substances at the level of the senses. It would never occur to anyone to use strong, pungent odors that are in conflict with others.

It should be noted in the church smells of icons... Applying to the icon, you feel its specific pleasant aroma. It is pleasant not only because the icon painters used natural paints, the best types of wood and linseed oil, which covers the entire space of the icon. The smell of the icon is pleasant, since it is close to the liturgical ritual and incense. The icon not only exudes a fragrance. The icon breathes the air of the church together with the faithful. The icon lives on. It seems that our gifts, brought to God, stand with us - transitory and fleshly. These gifts take on fragrances, thereby creating universal unity. The fragrances of icons invite a person to sanctify his life, to start living from the beginning.

Man accepts the heavenly presence with all his senses. God participates in the person who sacrifices from the excess of his love in taste and smell. The sense of smell is " which shows our thought directed towards Him and our disposition, due to the fact that through this feeling we have a perception of fragrance", Says St. John Damascene. The fragrances symbolize the various gifts of the Holy Spirit.

« When we smell, we make the most direct contact with the world around us ..., - writes the American odorologist R. Wright, - a more direct connection with the environment is difficult even to imagine«.

« Next to the olfactory brain is the limbic system, which is responsible for our emotions. That's why all smells are emotionally colored, all cause in us certain emotional experiences, pleasant or unpleasant, there are no “indifferent” smells ... It is smells that most quickly awaken memory, and not logical, but emotional»[Ryazantsev S. In the world of smells and sounds. - M., 1977. - S. 195].

The meaning of incense in the symbolism of Divine services

The smoking of incense, incense is the oldest form of sacrifice to God.... Incense was placed on hot coals, and their smoke went under the dome of the temple or into the sky, carrying away with the aroma of incense all the requests of a person, tears, prayers and gratitude to God.

« We bring the smoke of incense to You, O Christ our God, as the aroma of a spiritual scent, having received it into Your Altar, which is above all heavens, bestowed upon us the grace of Your Most Holy Spirit"- this is how, translated into Russian, a prayer sounds, which any priest must read before each censing in the church.

According to the ancient Russian tradition, the priest, while censing the people with the help of a special metal censer on chains, quietly says: “ The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you“, And the laity mentally answer:“ The same Spirit helps us all the days of our life (i.e. our life)«.

Here we see how important the Church of Christ attaches to censing, as a symbol of the power of the Holy Spirit that revives us and constantly helps us, One of the Hypostases of the Holy Trinity.

The scent of incense permeates everything that surrounds it: walls, shrines, the robes of priests. The fragrance seems to be absorbed into the psalmody and prayer. This is the manifestation of the words: “ I am everything and everything«. Fragrance is a state of heaven. This is especially evident in the incense ritual and is well understood by theologians. " The deacon censes everything in order, not just burning incense, but capturing and sanctifying everything and through prayer bringing and uplifting it to Christ with a prayer that the censer will be accepted and may the grace of the All-Holy Spirit be sent down to us.", - says Bl. Simeon Solunsky.

Actually, the canonical text of the Liturgy speaks about this. At the end of the proskomedia there are the words: “ We bring you a censer, O Christ our God, in the stench of a spiritual scent, a hedgehog reception in Thy heavenly altar, send us the grace of Thy Holy Spirit».

From the photo album of Priest Konstantin Parkhomenko

There are other semantic shades of incense. For example, censing during the reading of the Apostle "is established as a sign of reverence for the forthcoming reading of the Gospel and indicates that through the preaching of the Gospel grace of the Holy Spirit, spreading to all ends of the world, enveloped the hearts of people and turned them to Eternal Life."

Or in the prayer for the consecration of fragrant potions it is said: “ Fill their houses with all kinds of incense, in this hedgehog and all those who howl I keep, and those who burn them in observance, and I will deliver from all the enemy's incantations", - i.e. accentuated the value of censer smoke as a means of fighting evil spirits.

Censing is extremely important in the symbolism of the Liturgy. According to N. Gogol: “.. . as in the life of the home of all ancient eastern peoples, they were offered to every guest at the entrance of ablution and incense. This custom passed entirely to the heavenly feast - to the Last Supper, which bears the name of the liturgy, in which service to God is so miraculously combined with the friendly treat of everyone ...". You can also quote the words from the sermon of Pope John Paul II during the Coptic liturgy of the “incense prayer”: “ the rising waves of censer smoke, like a human spirit, ascends to heaven, a spirit bursting out of everyday life, in the hope of knowing the meaning of its existence and merging with God.<…>Waves of incense, relentlessly flying into the sky, carry along with them our prayer to God, emanating from the very depths of our hearts. Incense accompanies the raising of hands to heaven, expressing our thirst for God and at the same time calling on Him to look upon people and things, desires and aspirations».

Svmch. Seraphim Zvezdinsky discusses smells in an even more sublime way, considering the Liturgy itself as an image of the Divine aroma: “... women who followed Christ - Mary Magdalene, Salome and others - after the burial of Christ the Savior, prepared aromas in order to anoint the Most Pure Body of the Lord the next day. My friends, my beloved, my flock, these scents have survived to this day, we smell their fragrance, we experience their comforting power; these aromas are Divine, secret, great, wonderful, beautiful, healing, revitalizing, most precious, holy Liturgy. These are the aromas that the first followers of the Lord gave us ... If it were not for this gift, we would have perished in this world full of impurities and all kinds of filth, we would have rotted alive in it, suffocated in malice».

Repetitive small and great incense begins in the Holy of Holies - the altar of the church. Rising under the dome, mixing during the morning reading of psalms with the rays of the rising sun, and at the evening service gliding past the icon lamps and burning candles, the fragrant smoke of the censer turns the church into an image of the lost earthly Paradise. Paradise is lost, but the fragrance reminds of heavenly.

Indeed, Christian worship is saturated with fragrances. As Fr. P. Florensky: “ Smells permeate the entire organism, it floats in them, they flow and stream through it, as through a stretched muslin, the flow of air and the spiritual quality of the smell is then indisputable and obvious. And from these "ordinary" smells, like, for example, mint, incense, rose and so on, there is a direct transition to mysterious fragrances, in which their spirituality appears already for all consciousness. This is the well-known fragrance of the saints ...«.

If we delve deeper into the texts of the Old Testament, we will find that the meaning of sacrifice in the Pentateuch looks exactly like creating a special kind of smell. " Offer it for a sweet scent, as a sacrifice to the Lord"[Ref. 29.41]. "On it Aaron will smoke fragrant incense"[Ref. 30.7]. “Take for yourself the best fragrant substances ... This will be ointment for the sacred anointing"[Ref. 30,23-25], - we read in the book "Exodus". This is the very heart of worship. Similar definitions are found everywhere when it comes to sacrifice.

As you know, Catholics have reduced the use of aromatic substances in their worship, and Protestants have practically excluded them from their everyday life. The reason for this, presumably, is that the rationalization of religion in the West makes the forms of sensory influence irrelevant (the logic of the transformation of the musical and cult canon testifies to the same), and this, in turn, distracts attention from them in theological practice as well.

Due to the fact that Christian odorology (the science of odors) is poorly developed, today we only know the basic substances (and even then not in full measure) that are used in worship. So far, neither the reasons for the selection of these particular substances, nor the principles of their compatibility, nor the relationship with other canonical means in the process of service are clear.<…>

The value of fragrances for God and man

The value of aromatic products is extremely high. Let us recall that the wise men bring gifts to the baby Jesus, where there are incense - incense and myrrh - along with gold.

It is quite clear that the aroma carries a certain superphysical meaning for the Christian.

The Bible contains a long list of aromatic substances used for burnt offerings. Among them, besides incense, are onikha, stakti, halvan and others. Obviously, this is not just an optional additive that can be neglected.

For whom are these fragrances intended: for God or for man? This is not an idle question. If the substance of fire or censer smoke is transformed into spiritual power and can be understood as a transformation into the physical plane of Divine power, then the smell as such is more difficult to interpret in this way.

Perhaps one can get closer to understanding this issue by paying attention to the fact that the grain sacrifice has a different name - offertory... In this regard, the Agad (part of the Talmud) contains the following reasoning: “ Why does the law on gift-giving, in contrast to sacrifices, say “soul” (instead of the usual “person”). Because: “By whom,” the Lord said, “is the gift usually performed? Poor man. And this is as valuable to Me as if He sacrificed His soul to Me"[Haggadah, p. 176]. In this case, we can assume that the combination of flour, oil and incense should be understood as the transformation of the soul that is burned for the Lord... Obviously, the smell of incense contains something that expresses a connection with spiritual purity, holiness. How else to explain that one of the main signs of a person's holiness before the Lord is the fragrance of holy relics?

Thus, the aroma, apparently, should be understood as a testimony equally carried out for the Lord and for the people standing before Him, like fire and incense smoke.

On the intolerance of the smell of the Church

— "Oh, you know, but I can't go to church at all!" - an agitated woman in her 30s complains , - “I immediately faint from the smell of incense. As soon as the incense smoke reaches me, it immediately becomes bad!»

The women of different ages present during the conversation nod sympathetically, and only one, a parishioner of a well-known monastery compound in the city, solemnly says, looking somewhere to the side with a clear sense of superiority: “ She needs a report! It is known who is afraid of incense!«

Why do people who consider themselves Orthodox sometimes do not tolerate the smell of incense, sometimes they even faint? Probably, the reasons should be looked for in the following:

1. The intensity of the spiritual influence of the atmosphere of the Church is such that without habit (and most often people who rarely visit the Church fall into swoon) a person, especially sensitive, can find it difficult to withstand it physically.

2. A person may not be aware, but his mental structure, determined by passions, may be in such contradiction with the value system of the Church that a conflict arises, and by opening himself to church influence, a person receives disharmony, which externally manifests itself as a reaction to a smell.

As a person develops spiritually in the direction of church values, this reaction disappears.

The material is based on the book Andrey Lesovichenko, prot. Sebastian Lycan "The Smells of Christian Worship"

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