The great holiday of the Nativity of Christ is coming, and it is important for us to remember - and tell others - what it means. The Gospel says that the Magi, “when entering the house, saw the Infant with Mary, His Mother, and fell down and worshiped Him; and having opened their treasures, they brought him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Mat. 2:10,11)." This detail (which we obviously know from Mary Herself) was not accidentally preserved in the memory of the Church - the first Christians considered it important. She tells us something about the Child himself that we absolutely need to know.
Gold pays tribute to the King. Frankincense is a fragrant incense used in worship. Smyrna - the composition that was used during the burial. The Child who is born is the King, the God, and the man who is to die and be buried.
Jesus is the true King and He comes to establish the Kingdom of God. We often mean by "Kingdom" an area that can be marked on a map, and by "Kingdom of God" a certain place where the righteous go after death. But Holy Scripture has something else in mind - the Kingdom is "kingdom", the dominion of God.
In those days, people eagerly awaited the intervention of God in history, that great day when the Lord would stand on the side of His people, crush their oppressors and establish a Kingdom of peace, righteousness and abundance. On the one hand, this happened - God did not just intervene, in the person of Jesus Christ He personally entered human history, He really established the Kingdom. On the other hand, the Kingdom turned out to be not what people wanted. They wanted (as they want now) to get rid of external troubles - from injustice on the part of other people, from illness, from want. But the Lord says that our main trouble is within ourselves. “For from within, out of the human heart, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, malice, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all this evil comes from within and defiles a person. (Mark 7:21-23)" Unjust people cannot build a just society - and all attempts to do so stumbled upon the same obstacle: the depravity of the human heart. Yes, the Romans, who then ruled the people of God, were cruel oppressors; but the main misfortune of the people was not in the Romans - it was and remains in sin.
It is sin that makes people hostile to God and to each other, it is it that makes earthly life unhappy, and it is it that ignites the fire of Gehenna - for people who arrange hell on earth will arrange it all the more in eternity. Therefore, the Kingdom cannot simply be imposed on people from above; they must change profoundly from within in order to enter into it. And now God himself descends to earth to save his people from their sins (Mat. 1:21).
Just like God the Infant and bring Incense. Long before His birth, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah proclaimed: “For a child is born to us - a Son is given to us; dominion on his shoulders, and his name will be called: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)." At Christmas this prophecy is read in the Church. The mysterious baby to be born is the "Mighty God" and the "Eternal Father". How can a newborn baby be God? For the pagans, there would be no problem here - for them the word "god" was not very big, there were many gods, people could worship the forces of nature, outstanding people, and anyone. But in a biblical context, these words sounded amazing - the only God that the Bible recognizes is the Creator of heaven and earth, everything visible and invisible. Not “one of”, but the one and only God, and it is He who becomes the Child, takes on human nature.
The Church calls this event the incarnation of God, relying, in particular, on the words of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father (John 1:1-14).” Jesus Christ, as a single person, has two natures - on the one hand, He is wholly and completely God, the Creator of the universe, the One who created it and maintains it in being, as it is said, for example, in the epistle to the Colossians, “for everything was created by Him, what is in heaven and what is on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or authorities, all things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him everything stands. (Col. 1:16,17)”, eternal, beyond time and space. On the other hand, He is wholly and completely a man, similar to us in everything, except for sin, a baby born at a certain time and in a certain place.
The Magi also bring myrrh to the baby - indicating His death and burial. Christ Himself later says that the purpose of His coming is to die. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)” From Christmas begins the journey to Golgotha. “To this hour I have come” (John 12:27) Christ speaks of the hour of his death. The King and God, the Creator of the universe becomes a man in order to live a difficult life and die a hard, painful and shameful death. What for? The apostles repeat many times - "for our sins" in order to free us from the burden of our crimes and grant us forgiveness and new life. He has risen from the dead and is with those who believe in Him.
He grants forgiveness of sins and new life to everyone who repents and believes - and everyone can come and join His Kingdom, become His subjects, because His Kingdom is already present on earth. As He himself said, “The kingdom of God will not come in a conspicuous way, and they will not say: behold, it is here, or: behold, there. For behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20,21)” The Kingdom will open explicitly on the day of the Second Coming, but it is already present among those who believe in Christ - in His Church.
At Christmas we come to temples to worship our King and God - the One who is our King now and will be so in eternity.
“When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, they came to Jerusalem from the east and said: Where is the King of the Jews who has been born? for we saw His star in the east and came to worship Him” (Matt. 2:1–2), says the Evangelist Matthew.
Even 6 centuries before the birth of Christ, during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, religious thinkers of the East discovered the Bible for the first time and got acquainted with the ancient prophecy about the Bethlehem star of the seer and soothsayer Balaam, who predicted the coming of the Messiah: “A star rises from Jacob and a rod rises from Israel” (Numbers 24:17). Then, during the Babylonian captivity, the prophet Daniel predicted the exact date of the birth of the Messiah (Dan. 9:25). Every Jewish home knew about it. King Herod also knew her.
That is why the questions of the Magi about the Royal Infant so frightened Herod. After consulting with the chief priests and scribes, Herod found out that it was Bethlehem that was the place where the Messiah was to be born according to the prediction of the prophet Micah (Micah 5:2).
Then, “secretly,” as the Gospel tells us, having called the Magi to his palace and learning from them that the star became visible in the sky even before the birth of the One they were looking for, and that it was she who led them on their way, Herod instructed them to find in this small town of the Child, so that he, Herod, could worship Him. When the Magi left Jerusalem, the star again illuminated their path and led them to the house where at that time the Mother of God with the Son and the righteous Joseph the Betrothed were: “And entering the house, they saw the Infant with Mary, His Mother, and fell worshiped him” (Matt. 2:11).
Who were the Magi who came to bow to the Divine Infant? This event becomes the subject of reflection of many interpreters already in the earliest monuments of Christian literature. Following the Old Testament tradition, Christianity initially negatively assesses magic and astrology as occupations that are incompatible with the idea of free will and God's providence for a person. However, the Evangelist Matthew speaks of the Magi in a positive sense, as people who perform a pious deed, in contrast to the Jews who did not accept the Savior. The pagan world recognized the Savior, but God's chosen people did not recognize their Lord and Creator. Speaking of, the Evangelist uses the term μάγοι (magicians, wizards). In ancient literature, there are 2 meanings of this term: people belonging to the Persian Zoroastrian priests, and Babylonian astrologer priests. It is impossible to say for sure from which country these wise men-astrologers came: most likely from Persia or Babylonia. In these countries, the Messianic expectations of the Jews were known thanks to the prophet Daniel. Already from the 2nd century, in the early Christian literature, the Arabian Peninsula was often called the homeland of the Magi, thereby connecting them with the Old Testament prophecies about the worship of foreigners to the Messianic King of Israel: “The kings of Arabia and Saba will bring gifts; and all kings will worship him; all nations will serve him, for he will deliver the poor, the crying and the oppressed... and save the souls of the needy” (Ps. 72:10-13).
The Persian king Khosrov II Parviz, who destroyed almost all Christian churches during the conquest of Palestine in the 7th century, spared the Bethlehem Church of the Nativity of Christ because of the frescoes depicting the Magi in Persian robes.
The Gospel does not say exactly how many Magi came to the Child, but it is generally accepted that there were three of them - according to the number of gifts. Their names - Caspar, Melchior and Belshazzar - are first found in the Monk Bede the Venerable (†735). In some narratives, there is also information about their appearance: Caspar turns out to be a "beardless youth", Belshazzar - a "bearded old man", and Melchior - "dark-skinned" or "black", originating from Ethiopia.
So, having entered, the wise men “fell down and worshiped Him; and having opened their treasures, they brought him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11). Each of these gifts had a symbolic meaning. Gold was brought to Jesus as the King of the Jews, frankincense as God. Smyrna (myrrh) - an expensive aromatic substance used to embalm bodies during burial - as the Savior Who Became the Son of Man, Whom "many sufferings and burial" were predicted.
Having bowed to the Infant, the Magi, "receiving a revelation in a dream not to return to Herod", bypassing Jerusalem, returned to their lands.
According to tradition, they all later became Christians and preachers of the Gospel. They were baptized by the holy Apostle Thomas, who preached the gospel in Parthia and India. Western traditions even speak of their ordination as bishops by the Apostle Thomas. The relics of the Magi were found by the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Empress Helen in Persia and laid in Constantinople, and in the 5th century they were transferred to Milan. The gold one is currently in the Cologne Cathedral.
The honest gifts of the Magi were carefully preserved by the Mother of God all her life. Shortly before Her Dormition, She handed them over to the Jerusalem Church, where they remained together with the girdle and robe of the Mother of God until the year 400. Later, the gifts were transferred by the Byzantine emperor Arcadius to Constantinople, where they were placed in the church of Hagia Sophia.
So what are the gifts of the Magi? What are they?
In 1453, Sultan Mohammed (Mehmed) II besieged and took Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire fell. The mother of the young sultan was the Serbian princess Maria (Mara) Brankovich. During the Ottoman rule, European monarchs often sought to intermarry with Porto in order to somehow facilitate their existence. So the daughter of the Serbian ruler George Brankovich Maria was married to Sultan Murad (1404-1451). Mary did not convert to Islam and remained Orthodox until the end of her days. It is impossible to even imagine what she felt when she saw the walls of the great Christian city crumble and her brothers and sisters in faith perish in torment! But this personal tragedy of the Serbian princess turned into a real happiness for Christian history. Thanks to her, many Orthodox shrines were saved and preserved. Mehmed II, who loved his mother very much and respected her religious feelings, did not interfere with this.
In addition to collecting shrines, the Sultan allowed his mother to take under his personal patronage and protection the Holy Mount Athos, a monastic country, which all the previous rulers of Constantinople considered it an honor to help. The tradition started by Maria Branković pleased the sultanas of subsequent centuries so much that, even as Muslim women, they devoutly guarded this stronghold of Orthodoxy until the fall of the Porte.
In 1470, Maria Brankovich decided to visit Athos, which she loved so much since childhood and dreamed of visiting the land, despite the thousand-year-old monastic tradition forbidding women to come to the Holy Mountain. Most of all she wanted to see, in which many Serbs labored at that time. Her father, George Brankovich, loved this monastery very much. He built a temple here in the name of his patron saint George the Victorious.
Mary's ship landed on the shore near the monastery of St. Paul. Mary carried with her 10 arks with saved shrines, among which were the Gifts of the Magi. At the head of the solemn procession, Mary began to climb the mountain. Halfway to the monastery, she stopped in amazement when she heard a voice: “Do not approach! From here begins the kingdom of the Other Lady, the Queen of Heaven, the Lady of the Mother of God, the Representative and Guardian of the Holy Mountain. Mary fell to her knees and began to pray, asking for forgiveness for her willfulness from the Queen of Heaven. To meet Mary from the monastery, the abbot came out with the brethren, to whom she handed over the arks with the shrines. After that, Maria returned to the ship.
In the place where the kneeling Mary once stood, a cross was erected, called the Tsaritsyn. In the nearby chapel, the meeting of these great shrines by the monks is depicted.
And precious gifts are reverently preserved in the monastery of St. Paul to this day. The monks are well aware of how great the spiritual and historical value of the shrine is, therefore, after the night service, they take gifts from the sacristy in a small silver ark to worship the pilgrims. The gifts exude a strong fragrance, and when they are opened, the whole church is filled with fragrance. The monks of the Holy Mountain noticed that the gifts give healing to the mentally ill and possessed by demons.
... Some pilgrims say that when the monks brought one of the golden pendants to their ear, miraculously, a whisper was heard from it, telling about the miraculous Birth into the world of the Eternal Infant ...
Not a single church service takes place without the incense of oliban, because this is the oldest form of sacrifice to God in its peaceful appearance. Together with the smoke of incense, the prayers, tears and aspirations of Orthodox Christians, their gratitude to the father of the Savior, are carried into the sky. What is incense will be discussed in this article.
Frankincense - what is it?
Frankincense (Oliban) is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia. This is a component of Incense, which includes 11 incense used for incense in the Temple. The trees used for its production grow in the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, Cyprus and Palestine, but Somalia is the main exporter of resin. They collect it in the same way as pine resin, making cuts on the bark of a tree and waiting for the entire trunk to be covered with dried juice. Then it is broken off into pieces and divided into varieties.
What is church incense?
This is an invariable component of Divine Services, which emits a pleasant, sweetish balsamic smell when heated, and emits smoky smoke when ignited. This property is due to the composition of the material, because what is myrrh and frankincense is in both cases the frozen juice of plants. The first is the resin of the styrax tree. In the Gospel, they are mentioned as part of the three gifts that the Magi presented to Jesus at his birth. He received gold as a King, incense as God and the son of God, and myrrh symbolized death, because the Savior was to die for people.
What is church incense made of?
From the same tree sap. Those who are interested in what incense is made of can be answered that to obtain it, pieces of resin are ground into powder, fragrant oils and water are added, crushed, formed into sausages, crushed and dried. So that they do not stick together, sprinkle with magnesia. The composition may include ground herbs and other aromatic resins, but all of them will be called in one word - incense. It is used not only in temples, but also in dwellings.
Church incense - use at home
Churched Christians and Catholics who pray in front of the icons in their apartment also prefer to do this with incense. Church incense tunes in to prayer, helps to concentrate and think about the message sent to God and the Saints. In addition, the resin is used in meditation and aromatherapy to relieve stress and emotional arousal, tension.
Can you burn incense at home?
Its use is allowed, but for this special dishes are used - a censer. If you set fire to the resin in ordinary dishes, you can spoil it and not get the desired effect. In addition, strong smoke can provoke such a phenomenon as an allergy to incense, especially if you “overdo it” and smoke too many pieces. It is especially dangerous to do this before going to bed, because instead of calmness and tranquility, it is easy to get a headache, cough and sore throat.
How to kindle incense at home?
This is done immediately before the prayer rule. Those who ask how to light incense at home should be answered that for this, charcoal, better self-igniting, is placed in the censer, ignited with matches or a lighter, and pieces of resin are laid out on top. You should not put them immediately on hot fuel - it is better to let it cool down a little, otherwise the smell of incense will be very thick, the room will smoke very quickly and it will be difficult to breathe in it.
Another way involves the use of a "spider" - a special device that looks like a small bowl with three legs. Filled with pieces of resin, it is placed on top of a burning lamp, and judging by its popularity among Christians, it helps to get an unobtrusive delicate aroma without an abundance of blue smoke. Alternatively, you can use sticks with the addition of resin, which are convenient to set on fire from one side.
How to cleanse the house with incense?
You can improve the energy in your home by inviting a priest to bless the apartment. If this is not possible, then you can do it yourself. Those who ask how to fumigate an apartment with incense can be answered that for this it is necessary to set it on fire and starting from the front door, moving from left to right, go around all the rooms, reading, “Psalm 50”, “Creed” or any other prayer to Lord, what the owner knows. At the same time, it is important to overshadow all corners, doorways and windows with the sign of the cross.
Those who are interested in how to use incense more can sprinkle walls, floors and ceilings with holy water to enhance the effect, spraying it in the form of a cross. The ideal time for the ceremony is great, but if you wish, this can be done on other days. The main thing is to believe in the power of prayer and then it will be more pleasant and calmer to be at home, and in the future try not to quarrel with household members, especially with the use of swear words. Then the atmosphere in the dwelling will be no worse than in the temple.
How to extinguish incense?
At the end of prayer or cleaning the house, the incense must be stopped. It is advisable not to interrupt the fumigation of the house with incense, that is, put new pieces of resin in advance, and if the ceremony is over, and it still exudes aroma, then it is better to wait until it all burns out. Those wondering how to put out the incense, if due to circumstances this has to be done before complete evaporation, it is recommended to use holy water. In the future, the remaining pieces can be set on fire again.
Where to put used incense?
Completely burnt-out coal and resin are poured into an impregnable place or into running water, or a river. Those who ask what to do with burnt incense can be advised to take it to a church shop. There it is put in a special place and disposed of in accordance with the rules. Anyone who finds all these actions too tiring can be recommended to light special candles at home - nuns, which already contain wood resin.
Can I carry incense with me?
To date, on sale you can find amulets, which look like a small box, a compact handbag or a pouch. Inside is tree resin, which is designed to protect its owner from both spiritual and physical threats. The incense is worn around the neck along with a pectoral cross or attached to clothes with a pin, but always above the waist. Those who are interested in how often it is necessary to change the incense in the amulet should answer that it cannot be changed, just remove the bag before bathing, and when it becomes dirty, transfer the contents to a new one and carry on.
If for some reason the incense has become unusable, then it must be burned, the ashes buried in the ground and a new one purchased. Some believe that resin worn on the body for 3 months and buried on the territory of the active monastery can increase the protection of a person, but this is already an element of the occult and it is not approved by the church.
Incense from evil spirits
Everyone knows the expression "afraid like the devil incense." By itself, tree resin does not save from demons, and its burning without any purpose either. Those who want to know why the devils are afraid of incense should answer that incense is the oldest ritual of turning to God. In this way, the believer makes the Lord pleasant, attracts him, and where there is grace and the Holy Spirit, it is bad for demons and devils. The fragrance of Christ is unbearable for the brethren of the devil, which is why they flee from it without looking back.
Why does the smell of incense make you sick?
Not everyone likes the smell of burning tar, and this is normal, but the fact that smoke has an antidepressant effect on the body has already been proven. The properties of incense are due to its composition, and it contains incensol acetate, which some narrow-minded people compare with marijuana. It is not clear whether this is addictive, but there are those who specifically attend services to breathe and experience the euphoria effect.
Frankincense is a psychoactive substance, but so are the essential oils used in aromatherapy. Some are designed to calm, others to cheer up. Another thing is that the smoke rising from the censer is a symbol of prayer ascending to God. After all, what it is - incense, is clear only to true believers, glorifying Christ. And the one who came to the temple to “breathe” and get pleasure is a spiritual voluptuary, and not a humble Christian. The essence of worship is prayer and union with the Lord, but nothing else.
A person perceives participation in the Lord with all his feelings. And this is not only the sight of holy images and the altar, the prayer of the priest and the singing of the church choir, but also the fragrance of incense, the aromas of candles and oil. These unearthly scents remind us of Paradise Lost and evoke thoughts of eternity. They symbolize the various gifts of the Holy Spirit. Aromas accompanied the Savior from birth to death: the Magi brought precious incense to the newborn Jesus - incense and. The Savior taken down from the cross was anointed with myrrh and aloe.
Incense is a gift of God and the quintessence of nature. It takes five kilograms of rose petals to make one gram of rose oil. Incense has always been worth its weight in gold and has been a part of worship. The perception of smell through the inhalation of air filled with incense that accompanies the service is the most direct physical contact of a person with worship. One of the main signs of a person's holiness before the Lord is the fragrance of holy relics. Heavenly aroma exude miraculous and myrrh-streaming icons
Word " myrrh"(myrrh, myrrh) is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible and has different meanings. Holy myrrh should be distinguished from aromatic oils, myrrh and myrrh.
The word Miro (from the ancient Greek μυρον - "fragrant oil") in Christianity means a specially prepared and consecrated aromatic oil used in the Sacrament of Chrismation. It is also necessary during the consecration of a newly built temple, for anointing the antimension, throne and walls. Earlier in the Orthodox tradition, it was also used for anointing to the kingdom.
The first recipe for making myrrh is given in the Bible: “And the Lord said to Moses: take for yourself the best fragrant substances: self-flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, fragrant cinnamon half against that, two hundred and fifty, fragrant reed two hundred and fifty, cassia five hundred shekels, each sacred shekel, and oil olive gin; and make of this myrrh for the sacred anointing, a compound suit, by the art of making the suit: this will be the oil for the sacred anointing ”(Ex. 30: 22-25)
Since ancient times, the best aromatic substances have been used to make myrrh. Nowadays, myrrh is made from extra virgin olive oil with the addition of white grape wine and about 40 aromatic substances, incl. resins of boswellia, myrrh, stacti, violet and galangal root, rose petals and various essential oils.
On Calvary, the Savior was given to drink, according to the Gospel of Mark (15:23), wine with myrrh, and according to the Evangelist Matthew (27:34), vinegar mixed with gall. This drink dulled the pain and intoxicated the mind. It was given out of mercy to those condemned to be executed by crucifixion in order to lessen their suffering. The Romans called this drink "soporific". There is no contradiction in the interpretations: sour wine was then called vinegar, and the word "myrrh" here, obviously, means myrrh resin, which has a bitter taste - the taste of bile.
The term "miro" often refers to various types of aromatic oils. Here are references to them, extracted from the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament: “Mary, taking a pound of pure precious ointment, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the world” (John 12: 3). Here, myrrh is a precious aromatic oil obtained from the stems and roots of herbs, its cost in those days - 300 denarii - corresponded to the annual earnings of a peasant.
After the death of the Lord on the cross, Nicodemus brought "a composition of myrrh and aloe, about a hundred liters ..." (John 19:39), and the disciples "... took the Body of Jesus, and wrapped it in linen with spices, as Jews usually bury ..." (John 19:40), and Mary Magdalene with two other women brought fragrances for the same purpose to the Sepulcher on the third day after the burial (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56). A mixture of myrrh and aloe is an embalming compound. Sources differ on whether the "aloe" was the sap of the aloe vera plant or fragrant wood powder, but myrrh in this case is most certainly myrrh resin. The balsamic composition in ancient times also included, as a rule, wax, vegetable and mineral oils and resins.
Myrrh is obtained from the tropical trees Commiphora myrrha (or Balsamodendron myrrha) of the burseraceae family, the same family as Boswellia, which produces natural frankincense. Myrrh trees are native to East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. In ancient times, incense, including myrrh, was often brought to the city of Smyrna (now Izmir) on the western coast of Asia Minor - perhaps that is why myrrh in Russian translation was often called myrrh.
Also called myrrh gum, obtained from the plant Smyrnium perforatum (myrrh leaf).
To the Divine Infant Jesus, the Magi offered gold - as the King of the earth, frankincense - as the King of Heaven, and myrrh - as a Man who is about to die. Here, myrrh refers to aromatic oils that are the basis of balms used to anoint the dead. 
On icons, the gifts of the Magi are depicted as a box of gold, a box of incense, and a vessel of myrrh. The fact that aromatic oils are called myrrh in this case is indicated by the fact: the gifts of the Magi, stored in the monastery of St. Paul on Athos, are golden plates and fragrant balls, according to legend, rolled from a mixture of frankincense (crushed resin) and myrrh - aromatic oils. According to this recipe, Athos incense is made to this day.
Aroma oils - incense have always been worth their weight in gold. They were a luxury item and an attribute of worship. For the masses, only aromatic herbs and resins in their natural form were available. Today, fragrances accompany a person everywhere, they are used both in secular life and in the church. 
In Orthodox life, aromatic substances are called. Concentrated church incense of the highest quality is commonly called myrrh. They are made using natural essential oils and do not contain alcohol.
used for anointing with oil, in the production of incense, added to lamp oil. A few drops of myrrh in a lamp will take you to a spring meadow or create a prayerful atmosphere in your home. Incense can be used instead of perfume and applied to the skin, but with caution - it is necessary to take into account the individual intolerance of a person to certain components, due to the content of various constituent substances (natural essential oils) in the product, allergic reactions are possible.
To the collection Aromatic compositions of myrrh "Gifts of the Magi" includes more than 40 fragrances in floral and oriental scales.
Symbols of "gold", "incense" and "myrrh" April 26th, 2013
A few concise words about the symbolic meaning of the gifts of the Magi to Jesus. And then I was going to take it apart for a long time, but still the interpretation was not given in my hands. And then the case turned up.
The first gift is gold. Due to the multidimensionality of the symbol, we will consider it at the end.
The second gift is incense. Literally, this is an odorous resin, a fragrant tree sap that hardens in the air and is collected from some aromatic trees. Grains of incense, being placed on a smoldering ember, fill the room with a wonderful unique aroma. symbolizes the pure prayer of the heart, "a fragrance pleasing to the Lord", as well as the spiritual aroma of the grace of God, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
“Let my prayer be like incense before you,” proclaims the psalmist David (Psalm 141). "And the smoke of incense ascended with the prayers of the saints from the hand of an angel before God," we read in the Apocalypse (see Revelation 8.4). "And when He took the book, then the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book and break the seals from it for you were slain, and by your blood you redeemed us to God out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and made us kings and priests on earth" (Ibid., 5.8-10).
The third gift is myrrh (myrrh). Smyrna is a fragrant balm, an ointment that was used to anoint the body of the deceased, preparing him for burial. Smyrna was brought to the newborn Messiah as a gift to a man who was to die. Christ is both King and Priest, but He is also the Sacrifice - the Immaculate Lamb, offered for the sin of the world. And this, the last gift, was a type of the great and humble Sacrifice. The invaluable sacrifice of Christ ... An interesting point is that “myrrh”, “humble”, “humility” - apparently, they are words of the same root.
And the first gift is gold. As I said, this is a multifaceted symbol that occurs in a large number of places in the Text. And it has many gradations of interpretation. The most superficial is royal, as a symbol of power over all. Interpreters who adhere to this meaning say that in this way the Magi indicated that Jesus is the future king of the Jews. But then the question arises, what kind of kingdom are we talking about? So let's look at other meanings. One of them means "radiance like the sun" (but at the same time not the Sun). Gold is a very warm metal, it radiates like sunlight. Some ancient peoples say about gold that it is the tears of the sun. Most often, this symbol is used as an indication of the light of truth, as an image of spiritual grace. But there is also "unrighteous gold". In this case, it indicates only the aspect of the temptation and power of sin. Like, for example, in this case:
“And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls” (Rev. 17:4).
Andrew of Caesarea explains: “The wife is clothed in purple and scarlet - symbols and signs of power over everyone, which is why she is adorned with precious stones and beads.” and further: "and she held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominations and the uncleanness of her fornication."
Andrew of Caesarea explains: "The cup indicates the sweetness of evil before eating it, and gold indicates its temptation."
Summary:
That is, in fact, the sorcerers with their gifts predicted that Jesus is exactly what they crave and serve, what they offer prayers to, and what is to be killed by the World.
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