the gifts

"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh." Matthew 2:11

I don't know how many times I've heard this verse in church or recited it in a Christmas play. Per the many illustrations, animations, and recreations of this scene, I visualized the three magi trudging up to Mary and Joseph's house with beautifully decorated vials of these expensive oils, frankincense and myrrh. I never figured out what the holy family would do with such things, but I guess I attributed the uselessness of the gifts to the cluelessness of the magi, who had no idea the King of the Jews they were visiting was the son of a carpenter.

This weekend, my childhood picture of this event was shattered by the discovery that frankincense and myrrh are dried tree sap crystals which are burned as incense, particularly in the Catholic church. Sam's father had always liked the smell of the incense wafting from the censors, and asked for some to burn in his own home. It is a lovely smell, reminiscent of my time at the ecumenical monastery Taize in France.

Anyway, now I have these conflicting notions of the uses of frankincense and myrrh. How was it used historically, as an oil or as incense?