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by nan welsh on October 16th, 2005

nan welsh

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In the Catholic Church, incense is used only on very special occations. Why so sparingly?

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  • by Grandma Roses - my avatar is my real dog on January 16th, 2006

    Grandma Roses - my avatar is my real dog

    This is not official Catholic info but ... when I was a child, I was told a.) it's expensive, and b.) it is reserved for the most holy occasions. As a symbol, it would lose much of its meaning if used frequently, as many symbols do. If you were born on a Thursday, would you celebrate your birthday every Thursday? You would soon lose the celebratory quality of it.

    Okay, my husband and I were married on April 1st (yes, April Fool's day - long story) and we still wish each other 'Happy Anniversary' every first day of the month, but then we're a little eccentric all around; we certainly don't go out to dinner and give each other gifts every first day of the month. BTW we just celebrated our 69th 'anniversary'.

    As I said, this is not official info about the Roman Catholic use of incense.

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  • by Alatea on December 28th, 2005

    Alatea

    It may vary from place to place but in general incense isn't used as it once was because of breathing problems and allergies. When it's used in a big church it doesn't present as many problems. At one time it was a requirement for all high masses. In the Eastern Orthodox churches, which are quite big, a lot of incense is used.

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  • by av8or47 on February 23rd, 2009

    av8or47

    If you search on line, you can see that you can buy a 5-lb. box for $20 or so. During one Mass, an ounce or two might be used. So it is not that expensive.

    In my opinion, the "New Mass" of Vatican II has gradually been "dumbed down" over the years. These days, it is rare for a priest to use insence, even on Christmas or Easter. They also do not sprinkle the congregation with Holy Water. Critics of the "New Mass" have said that the Catholic liturgy has been excessively Protestantized, even down to the shape of the churches built after Vatican II.

    I speculate that the priests are concerned about complaints from the congregation about the smoke, and excessive length of the Mass if the rites of incense and sprinkling were to be used.

    For these reasons, I have been attending the Tridentine Mass which is offerred where I live.

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  • by aiar on August 15th, 2011

    aiar

    expensive?

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