IXCENSE, Christiax. The use of incense in wor- ship was not carried over from the Jewish to the Chris- tian Church; yet it is still employed, with other super- stitious usages, in the Romish Church, and in some of the Oriental churches. The incense used is either the resinous gum ollhanum, brought from Arabia or the East Indies, or an imitation of it manufactured by the chemists. The latter is most common now..
1. It is certain that incense was not used in the first three ages of the Christian Church. Indeed the use of It was a mark of paganism, as is fuUy evinced by the
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enactments of the Christian emperors against its nse. " The very places or houses where it could be proved to have been done were, by a law of Theodosius, confis- cated by the government" (comp. Gothof, De Statu Pa- gan, sub. Christ. Imper. leg. 12). A few grains of in- cense thrown by a devotee upon a pagan altar constituted an act of worship. The apologists for Christianity, Ar- nobius {Contra Gent. 2), Tertiillian {Apol. 30), and Lac- tantius (i, 20), make distinct and separate statements that " Christians do not burn incense" like pagans. It appears likely that the use of incense was first begun in order to piu-ify the air of the unwholesome chambers, caverns, etc., in which Christians were compelled to worship, just as candles were employed necessarily, even by day, in subterranean places. Even Komanist writers (e. g. Claude de Vert) assert this. Cardinal Bona, indeed (Res Litm-gic. i, 25), seeks to derive the use of incense in worship from apostolical times, but his argument is worthless. The principal argument of the Eomanists rests upon Eev. v, 8 : " Golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints ;" as if anything could be argued, for practical worship, from the highly symbolical language of that beautiful passage. Censers are not mentioned among the sacred vessels of the first four centuries. The first clear proof of the use of in- cense at the communion occurs in the time of Gregorj' the Great, in the latter part of the 6th centnrj'. After that period it became common in the Latin Church. Its mystical representation is, according to Roman Cath- olic authorities, (1) contrition (Eccles. xlv); (2) the preaching of the Gospel (2 Con ii, 14) ; (3) the prayers of the faithful (Psa. cxli, 2 ; Rev. v, 8-24) ; (4) the vir- tue of saints (Cant, iii, 6). See above. Incense is chiefly used in the solemn (or high) mass, the conse- cration of churches, solemn consecrations of objects in- tended for use in public worship, and in the burial of the dead. There are, however, also, minor incensations, and some of the monastic associations even differed in its use. Thus the Cistercians used incense only on fes- tivals, while the Benedictines and Clug-niacs introduced its use on most public occasions.
2. The ceiwer (thuribulum) is a brazen pot holding coals on which the incense biu-ns. The censer is held by three chains, varying in length, but generally about three feet long. When longer, the use of them by the boys who act as censer-bearers becomes quite a feat of gymnastics. During the mass, the incense is thrown over the altar and over the " sacrificing priests" by the deacon who serves, kneelmg. The Roman writers jus- tify this mcensing of the priest on the theory that he represents Christ, and that therefore the homage, typi- fied b)' the incense, is rendered to Christ through his representative at the altar. A curious rule with regard to "incensing" the pope is, that "when the pope is standing, the servitor who incenses him must stand; when the pope is sitting, the incenser must kneel." No symbolical or mystical meaning has been found for this odd rule : the real one doubtless is, that when tlie pope is standing, a kneeling boy could not so manipulate the censer as to make the incense reach the pontiff's nos- trils. After the altar and officiating priest are incensed, the censer is thrown in the direction of the other priests present, and last of all towards the congregation. As incense is a mark of honor, and as " human vanity creeps in everywhere" (Bergier, s. v. Encens), kings, great men, and public officials are incensed separately, and before the mass of the people. See Bergier, Diet, de Theolo- gie, ii, 423; Migne, Diet, de Liturgie, p. 535 sq.; Bing- ham, Oi-ig. Eccles. book viii, ch. vi, § 21 ; Coleman, An- cient Christianity, xxi, 12; Walcott, Sacred Archeology, p. 325 sq.; Adiolptms, Co7njje)idi)im Theologicrim,]\7i; Broughton, Bibliotheca Hist. Sacra, i, 527'; Middleton, Letter from Rome, p. 15 ; Riddle, Christian Antiq. p. 599 sq.; Siegel, Ilandh. der Christl.-Kirchl. Alterthiimer, ii, 441 sq. See Censer.
Incest (Lat. in, not; castus, chaste), the crime of sexual commerce with a person within the degrees for-