O Let My Prayer Rise Before You (Audio Sample - 869 KB) Lucernarium Incense Psalm 141 A Cry for Help in time of Persecution (vv 1-5) I cry out to you, O Lord, make haste to help me, listen to my voice as I call upon your name. My prayer rises as incense before you, my hands are raised as an evening offering.   Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord, your watchman at the gateway of my lips. Keep watch over my heart lest I turn to wrong, guard my steps lest I should turn to evil ways.   Keep me from the company of those who take delight in evil, preferring instead correction from someone good. Better the blows of the good than the approval of the wicked whose malice and pride I counter each day with prayer.   Cry in Anger against the Persecutors (vv 6-7) When at last you break the power of darkness, then shall all rejoice to hear your words. Let your words be a warning against injustice; the bones of the wicked are scattered at the mouth of the grave.   The bones of the wicked are scattered as the dust, crushed as the broken mill-stone by empty stream. Lord, my God, I turn my eyes to you alone, you are my shelter, keep me safely in your protection.   Oracular Consultation (unrecorded) Seeking counsel from God through a Temple Priestly Prophet, one through whom God speaks (pro-phates)   Cry of Confidence in God's Protection (vv 8-10) Keep me from the snares laid to catch the sinner, keep me from falling into the hands of the unjust. May the wicked fall into the traps set before them, but guide my steps, that I may go safely on my way.   A Reflection on Exodus 30:1-10   You will make an altar on which to burn incense. Make it of acacia wood. Overlay it with purest of gold.   You will put it in front of the veil by the Ark of the Covenant, in front of the mercy seat, where I shall meet you.   On it, Aaron will burn fragrant incense each morning. He shall burn incense every morning when he tends to the lamps; and he shall burn it at twilight when he lights the lamps. He will burn incense as a regular offering before the LORD for all ages to come.   Composer's Reflection Psalm 141 was sung in the Temple to accompany the burning of incense during the evening sacrifices. The Early Eastern Churches used incense in the evening liturgy of kindling the lights, as a sign of humble access. Only later in the West did this become a symbol of honor. No longer in the context of blood sacrifice, the spiritual sacrifice of thanksgiving closed the old day and welcomed in the new at 6:00pm. In the Temple, incense was sprinkled on glowing coals in a bowl placed on a stand. The custom of using processional thuribles came from the Roman Imperial Courts. This psalm is to be sung in a leisurely, reflective way, which should allow plenty of time for members of the assembly to come forward at random, if they so wish, and sprinkle grains of incense on the glowing coals as a symbol of their own repentance. Incense was burned in the Temple during the evening sacrifices, the cloud of smoke symbolizing God's presence. Moses spoke with God through the flames of the bush, and on the mountain top wreathed by the clouds of smoke. The name Shekinah described the God of Glory whose face was too bright to gaze upon except through the obscurity of the cloud. The cloud and pillar of fire of Exodus were signs of God's presence. In Is. 6, the smoke and glowing coals of Isaiah entering God's presence for the gift of prophecy (the Holy Holy text we use to approach the eucharistic table) were signs of God's power and presence. The darkness which covered the deep at Creation, the cloud overshadowing Mary at Jesus' conception, and the darkness smothering Calvary, all spoke of the God in the cloud. After the Fall, no one could approach or face God directly. We all need some rite of humble access. The smoke of incense became a penitential symbol, a cloak allowing such access. Incense was burned to make the sacrifice being offered acceptable to God. Pagan deities were placated by the sweet smelling smoke in their nostrils. Israel's God was pleased by the burning of incense as a symbol of Israel's unworthiness. Putting incense on glowing coals became a rite of purification, burning away past sins. The destruction of the past meant embracing new ways, metanoia, of repentance and conversion. Once the past had been so destroyed, there was no going back. That which had been sacrificed to God and sealed with the burning of incense could not be reclaimed. Burning incense during the evening sacrifice of praise became a rite of passover, passing over from one day to the next. The Jewish day began with the evening praises. Regardless of accomplishment or imperfection, each day passed on, never to be repeated. God alone endures for ever. Our days are as grass, vanishing like smoke, dreams banished by the morning breezes. Incense on burning coals makes smoke waft in every direction. Smoke rising is a sign of our prayer ascending heavenward. Smoke drifting around us is a sign of God's presence among us. Incense is a symbol of heaven-here-on-earth. It is a visual reminder of Covenant, of what we give to God and of God's promise to be always among us. In the early East Syrian Christian tradition, the Church of Antioch began each new day at sunset with the lighting of the evening lamps. This liturgy of Lucernarium or the lights blended Jewish and Pagan Greek customs. In the Greek tradition, acclamations and hymns were sung as the evening light was carried through the assembly. In Jewish households, the evening meal began with lighting two candles on the table, followed by prayers for peace. The Syrian rite began with kindling the lights, followed by a rite of incensum (that which is burned), a penitential liturgy, where incense was burned during the singing of Psalm 141, not in praise but as an act of entreaty, a liturgy of purification and refinement. The liturgy ended with the Intercessory Prayers of the Faithful, a threefold blessing, and an exchange of signs of peace. The West refused to burn incense, which was a sign of apostasy, honoring the pagan emperor-gods of the Roman Court. It was admitted only after the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine, alongside the other trappings of the Imperial Court, as a sign of honorification. In the Syrian liturgy, the burning coals were placed in a bowl standing before the altar, as in the Temple, and incense added. Then Psalm 141 was sung. Due to the later Roman influence, when incense lost its penitential purificatory aspects, it was then carried around in a bowl (thurible) for blessing the ecclesiastical dignitaries and liturgical objects (the Book of the Gospels, the altar, the statues, icons, etc.) As monasticism developed alongside regular daily hours of prayer, Psalm 141 was gradually replaced by other psalms in a cyclic pattern of rotation. This penitential section became a rite of psalm praise. The pristine simplicity of the single psalm of repentance was lost. The custom of burning incense was retained, but its function altered. Instead of being placed in a standing bowl during the singing of the penitential psalm, it was carried in procession and, during the singing of the Magnificat, used to cense the altar, the presider, other ministers (including the choir) and lastly the congregation. Some elements of the biblical rite were preserved, including censing the altar as the place of the evening sacrifice. But the use of incense as a symbol of humble access to the deity had been lost.   Part One: A Cry for Help in a Time of Need (vv 1-5) Call for God's attention Call for Acceptability of the Psalmist's Prayer Call for God's help to prevent the Psalmist from Apostatizing Call for God's protection against those engaged in heathen ritual and practices Call for faithfulness to the memory of the Just One   Part Two: Anger towards Those Who Oppress (vv 6-7) Condemnation of those who have put the psalmist on trial and his defense The fate awaiting the psalmist's persecutors: destruction of their power (bones)   Part Three: An Oracular Consultation seeking counsel from God through a spokesperson (a priest-prophet) the result: a rejuvenated state of mind   Part Four: Cry of Trust and Confidence in God (vv 8-10) The psalmist turns to God, whose protection is guaranteed God will direct the psalmist along the right path the psalmist has no interest in the ways of the unjust Back