Holy Smoke: Burning incense, candles pollute air in churches

Science News ^ | 8/19/06 | Ben Harder

[Tamar1973]

Weber installed two devices that continuously sampled air during a 13-day period that began on Christmas Eve of 2004.

How convenient that they chose one of the busiest times of the year in your typical Catholic Church to do this "study". I'm sure that inflated their numbers quite a bit to make their point.

[JohnnyZ]

I am incensed

[LadyDoc]

when I worked in a coal mining region, a lot of our people had black lung. So Father only used incense at the 10 o'clock mass, and would announce the week before if there would be incense, so the miners with black lung could go to 8 am mass

[NYer]

The use of incense in the ancient world was common, especially in religious rites where it was used to keep demons away. Herodotus, the Greek historian, recorded that it was popular among the Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians. In Judaism, incense was included in the thanksgiving offerings of oil, grain, fruits and wine (cf. Nm 7:13-17). The Lord instructed Moses to build a golden altar for the burning of incense (cf. Ex 30:1-10), which was placed in front of the veil to the entrance of the meeting tent where the ark of the covenant was kept.

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[Alia]

Ping.

[Diva]

And after the churches will come the back yard BBQ.

[knuthom]

There are some kinds of incense that bother me a lot. Can make my eyes water. The priest thought I was really affected by the service, but I had to tell him it was only the incense.

[BelegStrongbow]

Thanks for the ping!

[Northern Yankee]

Even brief exposure to contaminated air during a religious service could be harmful to some people, says atmospheric scientist Stephan Weber of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Essen, Germany.

Ahhh... but for the soul, an enternity of salvation.

Take your pick! ; )

[Northern Yankee]

It was cold and damp outside yesterday as I made my way to morning Mass. When I walked into St. Stephen's, one of our Catholic churches, I could smell the candles burning, and the see quiet glow of the candle light before the altar.

It brought a warmth to the soul that cannot be described. I gazed over to the alcove to see statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, bathed in the light of the blue votive candles, and thought to myself, "This is home".

Bring on the candles!

[stocksthatgoup]

atmospheric scientist vs GOD
Listen to the Higher Authority!

[sneakers]

Yeah, you'd better correct it,or the spelling and grammar police will be hounding you! I once, accidently, spelled it "alter" instead of "altar" and it didn't take long before the self-righteous spelling hounds were rudely correcting me in public!

[Straight Vermonter]

Poor spelling bothers me but I keep it to myself.

[Aquinasfan]

I say we show up at their lab with pitchforks and incense-burning torches.

[IrishBrigade]

The deep pockets of Big Incense are about to be raided...kind of gives a whole new meaning to the word censor...

[sneakers]

I love the atmosphere of a Catholic church before an early morning daily mass (not that I've had an opportunity to go in a looooong time!) It's the most peaceful and perfect time to spend before the Blessed Sacrament.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

If frankincense and myrhh were appropriate gifts for Jesus, how could a church ignore this tradition?

[F.J. Mitchell]

Holy Smoke is not a pollutant.

[Tokra]

Next cooking will be banned. We'll all be eating tofu soon.

And raw tofu to boot.

[Northern Yankee]

I love the atmosphere of a Catholic church before an early morning daily mass..

I hope that you can do so again soon.

Nothing quite like it! ; )