The Dance of the Holy Smoke

The title itself makes me laugh hysterically, which is exactly what I did in the library earlier today as I opened up a book entitled Parish Liturgy: A Handbook for Renewal by Robert D. Duggan and saw a section in Part II entitled Incense: The Dance of the Holy Smoke. As most of the regular readers of this blog (all five of you) know, I love using incense in the Sacred Liturgy. So, when I find such an interesting section title I just have to read it. I found this section to be particularly amusing because it provides a glimpse into a particular period in the development of liturgical thought. We look back and chuckle at it, but at the time it was considered by many to be quite serious. So, here are a few of my favorite excerpts from the section on incense.

For some people the use of incense at a liturgical celebration is a sign of the Tridentine Mass mentality and a sure indicator that those who favor it are stuck
in a rigid conservatism. For others, incense is a symbol of New Age exotica that brings to mind hippies smoking pot in the sixties and all the bad things one might imagine about the liberal Left...

The liturgical "dance of the holy smoke" triggers subliminal memories of childhood reveries, watching clouds form mysterious shapes on a sunny afternoon in mid-summer. It recalls campfires and family fireplaces, slender columns of smoke rising from birthday candles, and a hundred other forgotten memories...

But there may be times when a much more effective use of the symbol is achieved by a stationary container holding burning charcoal on which are placed (by a graceful liturgical dancer?) the grains of incense. The movement of the one applying the incense is, in fact, a kind of liturgical dance, despite the reluctance of many to use such terms to describe what is occurring. The stylized gestures called for in the ritual books (bowing, swinging arms, specified steps and paths to be taken) certainly qualify as choreography. And, like any dance form, its execution needs rehearsal, critique, and repeated practice if it is to seem - in the moment of celebration - effortless and un-selfconsciously graceful...

Thank God, that for the most part, such silliness is no longer commonplace in the Liturgy. Now that we have safely moved through that period in our liturgical history we have more noble and dignified ways of using incense - ways that are rooted in our 2000 year history. For that, let us thank the Almighty.