Incense.

        Besides the lampadas, candlesticks and candelabra, with their burning candles and lamps, an important item of divine service is the burning and swinging of incense (a fragrant tree-gum). This swinging is performed sometimes before the altar and the icons; then it expresses the wish of the worshippers that their prayer may ascend to Heaven, as the fumes of the incense mount aloft. Sometimes the incense is swung towards the worshippers; then it expresses the wish of the celebrant that the grace of the Holy Spirit may encompass these souls of the faithful as the fragrant cloud of the incense encompasses them. The vessel which holds the incense is called a censer; it is a cup with a cover running on three slight chains, which all unite into one handle.