If you love the smell of Catholic church incense, Pontifical Incense is the exact product you need. A small piece of charcoal is needed for burning.
Our Holy Church has always recognized the value of rites and ceremonial observances, not only for increasing the solemnity of her services but for arousing a spirit of devotion in those who minister at them and those who attend them.
What is the meaning of the use of incense in the Mass and other offices of the Church?
Incense is an emblem of prayer, ascending to God from a heart inflamed with his love, as the smoke of incense ascends on high from the fire of the censer. Hence the royal prophet, Psal. cxl. says, ‘Let my prayer, 0 Lord, be directed like incense in thy sight.’ And St. John in the Revelation, chapter v. 8, and chapter viii. 4, saw the four and twenty elders and the angel offering up to God odors and incense, which were the prayers of the saints. Moreover the incensing of the altar, of the priest, &c., is, according to the use of the Church, a token of honor to the thing that is incensed; not of divine honor, since we also incense the whole choir and the people, but of a due respect for the things of God, for his ministers and people. (THE MANUAL OF THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, 1906 Edition)
The way that the incense is burned is as follows:
The censer or thurible is hung on three chains, and has a lid that can be lifted by another chain. The lid is pierced with holes, so that when the censer is swung to and fro, the air passes through the holes and makes the lighted charcoal in the censer bum brightly. When the time comes to offer the incense, the lid is lifted by the “ Thurifer,” who carries the censer, and the priest places a little incense on the burning charcoal, blessing it with the words, “By Him may this incense be blessed, in Whose honor it is burnt,” making also the sign of the Cross oyer it. The censer is then closed and swung to and fro, so that the coals bum brightly and the smoke ascends. The word “Thurifer” is a Latin word that means “the bearer of the incense,” and the word “ Thurible ” means the vessel in which the incense is burnt, i.e., the censer.
