How to Cense Your Home: Order and Prayers from an Orthodox Family Tradition
What the video says
After lighting the charcoal and adding incense or blessed olive leaves, we say a prayer before censing: 'Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense; the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. Hear me, O Lord. We offer incense to You, O Christ our God, as a sweet spiritual fragrance. Having received it upon Your heavenly altar, send down upon us in return the grace of Your All-Holy Spirit.' We then pick up the censer with the right hand and begin censing.
The first honor goes to the Holy Trinity, the second to Jesus Christ the Son before the cross or icon in the prayer corner, and the third to the Holy Spirit, each time moving the censer three times in a circular motion while saying 'In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.' In the family tradition from Greece and Cyprus, one first steps outside and censes toward the open air, honoring God.
After the Holy Trinity, the icons are censed in one of two ways: moving the censer over the icon three times, or making the sign of the cross over the icon three times with the censer. Once all icons are censed, we cense ourselves, our loved ones, and the rooms of the home. As the incense rises, we are reminded that our prayer also rises before God.
Key moments
- Before censing, say the prayer: 'Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense; the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. Hear me, O Lord. We offer incense to You, O Christ our God, as a sweet spiritual fragrance. Having received it upon Your heavenly altar, send down upon us in return the grace of Your All-Holy Spirit.'
- Pick up the censer with the right hand to begin censing.
- First honor is given to the Holy Trinity: raise the censer and move it three times in a circular motion while saying 'In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.'
- In the family tradition from Greece and Cyprus, one first steps outside and censes toward the open air, honoring God.
- Second honor is given to Jesus Christ the Son: turn toward the cross or icon of Christ in the prayer corner and cense it three times with the same words.
- Third honor is given to the Holy Spirit: raise the censer and cense three times, repeating the same words.
- Cense the holy icons in one of two ways: move the censer over the icon three times, or make the sign of the cross over the icon three times with the censer, repeating the same words.
- After all icons are censed, cense yourself, your loved ones, and the rooms of your home; as the incense rises, our prayer also rises before God.
This guide walks through the practice of censing the home, from lighting the charcoal to the final blessing of the rooms. After the charcoal is lit and incense or blessed olive leaves are added, one says a prayer before censing: 'Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense; the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.
Hear me, O Lord. We offer incense to You, O Christ our God, as a sweet spiritual fragrance. Having received it upon Your heavenly altar, send down upon us in return the grace of your All-Holy Spirit.' The censer is then taken in the right hand. The order of honors follows: the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Each honor is given by moving the censer three times in a circular motion while saying, 'In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.' For Christ, one turns toward the cross or his icon in the prayer corner. A family tradition from Greece and Cyprus adds a first step: going outside and censing toward the open air in honor of God.
After the Holy Trinity, the icons are censed in one of two ways, either by moving the censer over the icon three times or by making the sign of the cross over the icon three times with the censer, repeating the same words each time. Once all the icons have been censed, one censes oneself, one's loved ones, and the rooms of the home.
The video closes with the reminder that as the incense rises, our prayer also rises before God.
Main points
- Say the prayer before censing: 'Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense; the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. Hear me, O Lord.'
- Take the censer in the right hand and honor the Holy Trinity first, moving it three times in a circle with the words 'In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.'
- In the family tradition from Greece and Cyprus, one first steps outside and censes toward the open air, honoring God.
- Honor Christ at the cross or icon in the prayer corner, then the Holy Spirit, each with three motions and the same words.
- Cense the icons (over the icon three times, or the sign of the cross with the censer three times), then yourself, loved ones, and the rooms of the home.