Why Catholics Use Incense: What the Bible and the Mass Say

Catholics burn incense because Scripture does. God commands it for the altar in Exodus, the Psalms make it a picture of prayer, and the Book of Revelation shows angels offering it in heaven with the prayers of the saints. At Mass the smoke honors what is holy and carries the same meaning: our prayer, rising to God.

Here is where incense appears in the Bible, how the Church came to use it, what it does at Mass today, and how to use it at home.

Incense in the Bible

The first detailed instructions come in Exodus 30. God tells Moses to build a separate altar just for incense: "Thou shalt make also an altar to burn incense, of setim wood" (Exodus 30:1). Aaron is to burn incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps and every evening when he lights them, "an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations" (Exodus 30:8).

The same chapter gives the recipe: "stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet savour, and the clearest frankincense" (Exodus 30:34). Then comes a warning. The blend is "holy to the Lord," and no one may make it for their own enjoyment (Exodus 30:37-38). Incense in Israel was set apart for God alone.

Psalm 141 turns the practice into a prayer. "Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight; the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice" (Psalm 141:2, numbered 140 in the Douay-Rheims). The Church still prays it at Evening Prayer on the eve of Sunday.

The New Testament opens with incense too. Luke's Gospel begins in the Temple, where the priest Zechariah has been chosen by lot "to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord," while "all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense" (Luke 1:9-10). An angel appears to him "on the right side of the altar of incense" and announces the birth of John the Baptist. In Matthew's Gospel the Magi bring frankincense to the Christ Child, the gift you offer to God (Matthew 2:11). There is more on that in our guide to gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The Bible ends with incense in heaven. In Revelation 5:8 the elders around the throne hold "golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints." In Revelation 8, "another angel came, and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God. And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God from the hand of the angel" (Revelation 8:3-4).

Read together, these passages make one point. Incense is what prayer looks like. When a censer swings at Mass, the Church is copying the liturgy of heaven that Revelation describes.

Why the first Christians held back

Christian worship did not use incense from the start. The Catholic Encyclopedia puts it plainly: during the first four centuries there is no evidence for its use in the liturgy.

The reason was persecution. Roman authorities tested Christians by ordering them to burn a few grains of incense before the emperor's image or a pagan god. Under the emperor Decius in 250, those who gave in were called thurificati, "the incense-burners." For people who had watched friends die rather than make that offering, a censer in church would have looked like surrender.

Once the persecutions ended, the older biblical meaning came back. By the late 300s the pilgrim Egeria described censers being carried into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem until the whole basilica was filled with their scent. From there incense spread through the liturgies of East and West.

How incense is used at Mass today

In the Roman Rite incense is optional, and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal allows it at any form of Mass (GIRM 276). It is a sign of reverence and of prayer. When it is used, it marks five moments:

1. The entrance procession, with the thurible carried at the front.
2. The start of Mass, when the priest incenses the cross and the altar.
3. The Gospel, when the Book of the Gospels is incensed before it is proclaimed.
4. The preparation of the gifts, when the bread and wine, the cross, the altar, the priest and the people are incensed.
5. The elevation of the Host and the chalice after the Consecration.

Before any of this, the priest puts incense on the coals and blesses it with the Sign of the Cross (GIRM 277). Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament, the Gospel book, the offerings and the people all receive three swings of the thurible. Incense is also used at funerals, at Benediction and in solemn Evening Prayer. The people in the pews are incensed along with the altar and the Gospel, because every baptized person is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

A sacramental, not a sacrament

The Catechism calls sacramentals "sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments" (CCC 1667). They do not give grace the way the seven sacraments do. Through the Church's prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and help us cooperate with it (CCC 1670). Holy water, blessed candles, rosaries and palms all belong here.

Incense works the same way. The smoke has no power of its own. It gives the senses something to hold on to while the heart prays, and it keeps a household connected to what happens at the altar on Sunday.

Burning incense at home

The Church has no rule that limits incense to churches or clergy. Many Catholic families burn it at a prayer corner, a crucifix or an image of Our Lady. The gesture is simpler than at Mass: a small burner, one charcoal tablet and a piece of resin. The meaning is the same.

A few places it fits well:

• Evening Prayer, especially on Saturday evening, when Psalm 141 comes round.
• The rosary or a novena, with a Marian or saint's blend.
• Feast days the household keeps: a patron saint, a baptism anniversary, the anniversary of a death.
• Epiphany, when many families bless the house.

If you have never lit charcoal before, our step-by-step guide to burning resin incense covers it. If you would like the swing of a censer at home, read how to use a hand censer or thurible at home.

Frequently asked questions

Why do Catholics use incense at Mass?

Incense is a sign of reverence and of prayer. It honors what is holy (the altar, the Gospel, the offerings, Christ in the Eucharist and the people) and its smoke rising is the image Psalm 141 and Revelation 8 use for prayer going up to God.

Where is incense mentioned in the Bible?

The main passages are Exodus 30 (the altar of incense and its recipe), Psalm 141:2, Luke 1:9-11 (Zechariah in the Temple), Matthew 2:11 (the Magi's frankincense), and Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4 (incense and the prayers of the saints in heaven).

Can lay Catholics burn incense at home?

Yes. No Church law reserves incense to clergy or to churches. Burning it during prayer at home is an ordinary Catholic devotion. What belongs only to the priest is the liturgy itself, not the resin.

Does the incense need to be blessed?

At Mass the priest blesses the incense with the Sign of the Cross before he uses it. For prayer at home no blessing is required. If you would like your resin blessed, you can ask a priest.

How much resin should I use?

A piece or two the size of a pea on one lit charcoal tablet is enough for a room. Resin makes more smoke than stick incense, so add a little more only when the smoke fades.

Is Catholic incense the same as smudging?

The resins can be similar, but the prayer is not. Catholic incense is offered to God as part of the Church's worship and devotion. It is not used to clear spaces or energies.

Or browse:

• Pure resin incense, single resins and devotional blends in larger sizes
• Incense kits, with a burner, charcoal and tongs included
• Related: What is resin incense?

Milagros incense is made in Aparecida, Brazil. Every order ships from Florida.

Scripture quotations are from the Douay-Rheims Bible.