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Our prayers for others rise up like letters carried on a cloud of incense to the floor of Heaven, to God the Holy Trinity, bearing all the names of our dear ones.

Our prayers for others rise up like letters carried on a cloud of incense to the floor of Heaven, to God the Holy Trinity, bearing all the names of our dear ones.

In the early Church in Rome, faithful Christians did not offer incense to the Emperor, who was widely regarded as a God. They refused to do so. They honoured Christ as God - as we do today. And we Christians today should avoid participating in the worship of non-Christian religions.

In the early Church in Rome, faithful Christians did not offer incense to the Emperor, who was widely regarded as a God. They refused to do so. They honoured Christ as God - as we do today. And we Christians today should avoid participating in the worship of non-Christian religions.

Our prayers, with the prayers of the Saints (whose intercession we seek), rise up like incense to Heaven, like a fragrant offering which is acceptable to Him.

We are right to be confident when we ask the Saints of Heaven to pray for us or for people in need. Their prayers rise up like incense to the throne of God, and bring down upon us graces from Heaven. This is especially true when we pray at the shrine of a Saint: a shrine blessed by the Church.

When people are taught about the Mass, the focus of the teaching should be on God, to Whom our prayers rise up like incense, and on what we can understand about our relationship with God the Father, through His Son, in the Holy Spirit. That is even more important that what is true about the Mass as a gathering of the Faithful.

There is often too much emphasis on the gathered people, in catechetical teaching about Mass. The smoke of incense rises towards the Godhead, as do the prayers of the People of God. The greatest prayer is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is Christ's prayer, offered from within our midst, from the altar, through the priest who offers the Holy Sacrifice. Teaching about the Mass, therefore, should be focused primarily on God. There should be vigilance, about childrens' textbooks.