In the Orthodox faith, we put grains of incense on burning charcoal in the censer with the prayer, "We offer you incense, Christ our God; receive it on your heavenly altar, and send down to us in return the grace of your all-holy Spirit.” Incense is a mix of spices and gums that we burn during services and at home to produce fragrant smoke.
Burning incense symbolizes prayer. As Psalm 141:2 says, “Let my prayer come before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice...” In Old Testament times, people prayed before the Holy of Holies while the priest made the sacrifice within. As Luke 1:10 describes, “And the whole multitude of people were praying outside at the hour of incense.” Symbolically, the incense represents prayers rising to God.
To use: Carefully position a burning censer charcoal in the middle of the receptacle. Carefully place 1-3 pieces of your incense atop the burning charcoal. Your censer is ready to be used. Once incense and charcoal have burned, discard. Some line their censers with aluminium foil, aiding with cleaning between each use.
