Olibanum Lacrima Christi Resin Incense — Pure Frankincense

A single-resin liturgical incense of pure olibanum, the biblical frankincense, presented in its unblended form as tears of resin straight from the tree.

The grains are harvested from Boswellia sacra growing in the Dhofar region of southern Oman, the arid coastal mountains that produced the finest frankincense of the ancient world and supplied the caravan routes of Arabia, the Levant, and Rome. The name Lacrima Christi — tears of Christ — reflects the form the resin takes as it weeps from a cut in the bark and hardens in pale golden droplets. No additional notes are added: what burns on the charcoal is the same aromatic gum that was carried into the Temple of Jerusalem and offered, in the Magi tradition, to the infant Christ at Bethlehem.

Frankincense has been used in Catholic liturgy since the earliest centuries of the Church, and remains one of the four classical resins of Western worship alongside myrrh, storax, and benzoin. Olibanum from Dhofar is prized for its bright, lemon-citrus top note and its long, clean burn — the standard against which other frankincense is measured. The resin is named in Exodus 30 among the ingredients of the sacred incense, and again in Matthew 2 among the gifts of the Magi.

• Intensity: Pure resin, single note
• Scent notes: Olibanum (Boswellia sacra), bright and lemon-citrus
• Type: Italian-style resin incense

Dhofar olibanum is the same frankincense referenced in Matthew 2:11 among the gifts presented at the Nativity.