Went to a funeral today and....

[gurneyhalleck1]

It was at my old Catholic parish...it was the funeral for the father of one of our fifth grade teachers, a devout Catholic. Anyway, he passed away at the age of 83. Nice guy.

At the funeral, I found it a bit odd when the priest, a guy in his 70's, told everyone, "we're now going to do something very special that we don't normally do! We're going to use incense! Now I'm going to light the incense into this censor and smoke will be coming out. Don't worry, everyone. Please realize it's quite beautiful actually! The incense will come out and create a lovely smell. it will fill the whole church and you'll be very uplifted! It will bless you and you'll be just fine! He went on to explain why incense can be used at church, the significance of it, etc.

I thought, "what in the world? This guy has to give the people some kind of primer on incense and prep them? And he acts like it might scare them or something?" LOL

And then when the altar boys handed him the censor, he acted like he had never held one! He could barely work that thing?

Very weird. I really couldn't get over just how much Vatican II poisoned the Catholic Church. What is a given, standard fare, normal thing for Orthodoxy is like a special treat for Catholics. I just thought it was sad. Maybe I'm overdoing it....

 

[GoingByzantine]

That is very, very odd. A Roman Catholic should know what incense is and what it is used for. Growing up Roman Catholic my childhood parish did not use it all that often as I can recall, but by Grandparents parish definitely used it. The parish I attended before turning to Byzantine Catholicism, likewise used the incense and the RC parishes near my University also use it.

Perhaps the priest just was trying to help any Protestants in the building understand what incense is, I have noticed a trend lately where RC parishes are trying to look and act more Protestant. Churches that were once well decorated in the Roman style now are stark and whitewashed (Not all of course, but a growing number). It could be some RC churches are simply doing away with incense and censors, this would be a crying shame. My childhood church at least censed once and awhile, but to think there might be RC churches that don't use it at all is scary!

 

[ArmyMatt]

memory eternal!

I remember getting a prep talk when my old Episcopal priest broke out the censor for the first time. I didn't think much of it before since I was a teen, but now the idea of preparing someone for something AS BIBLICAL AS USING INCENSE, is odd.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Keep in mind I attended this parish all my life up until a few years ago, and I can count on one hand how many times that incense has been busted out and used!

That is very, very odd. A Roman Catholic should know what incense is and what it is used for. Growing up Roman Catholic my childhood parish did not use it all that often as I can recall, but by Grandparents parish definitely used it. The parish I attended before turning to Byzantine Catholicism, likewise used the incense and the RC parishes near my University also use it.

Perhaps the priest just was trying to help any Protestants in the building understand what incense is, I have noticed a trend lately where RC parishes are trying to look and act more Protestant. Churches that were once well decorated in the Roman style now are stark and whitewashed (Not all of course, but a growing number). It could be some RC churches are simply doing away with incense and censors, this would be a crying shame. My childhood church at least censed once and awhile, but to think there might be RC churches that don't use it at all is scary!

 

[Kristos]

Maybe he didn't want anyone to think it was "strange fire" ...anyway

Memory eternal!