WORDS TO THE WHYS

The truth will make you odd. Flannery O’Connor

Of Incense

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The Blessing of Incense at Mass (Divine Worship)

p. 50, Ritual Notes 11th Edition

Prior to the Entrance; prior to the Gospel.

Be thou blessed by him in whose honour thou art to be burned. Amen

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At the Offertory

The priest says in a low voice:

Through the intercession of blessed Michael the Archangel standing at the right hand of the altar of incense, and of all his elect, may the Lord vouchsafe to bless this incense, and to receive it for a sweet smelling savour; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

- excerpt from The Eve of St. Agnes
by John Keats

St. Agnes' Eve—Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limp'd trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold:
Numb were the Beadsman's fingers, while he told
His rosary, and while his frosted breath,
Like pious incense from a censer old,
Seem'd taking flight for heaven, without a death,
Past the sweet Virgin's picture, while his prayer he saith.

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