Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 14: aspergillum

If you've ever seen a priest sprinkle holy water on parishoners using some sort of stick, you've seen the aspergillum in action. It's either a brush (which more closely represents the description of an aspergillum that appears in Leviticus) or a metal ball with small holes, which is dipped into a bowl of holy water (the bowl has its own name, too: aspersorium) and then shaken to get the water onto the people. Some of these have a sponge or other reservoir in them to capture more water.

Fun fact: this gave its name to the Aspergillus species of mold, as they were said to resemble the water shakers by the man (who was also a priest) who first recorded the mold's appearance.

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 13: chasuble

This is the outermost garment worn by a priest during mass or other services. It's a longish covering that, in its most common form, covers the front and back of the wearer and runs almost to the ground, while the sides are more open, allowing for reasonably unrestricted arm movement.

There's apparently been some conflict over the shape and decoration of the chasuble over time, with earlier versions having more material on the sides that required draping to give the arms room to move, while a smaller version was in vogue for a while. Someone finally figured out early in the 20th century that, rather than banning the use of certain forms, the decision on what sort of chasuble to wear would be made locally. Which seems like a good idea for most of what the church does, if we're being honest.

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 12: misericord

So back in the day there could be a lot of standing during services, between prayers, chanting, singing and the like. And if you were an older member of a monastery or other order, standing so much wasn't that easy. The stalls used for sitting had folding seats, so someone came up with the idea of putting a little shelf on the underside of the folding seat so there was somewhere to lean and get a little relief.

Misericords were also often carved to represent a religious figure or scene, giving them their own niche in religious art.

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 11:  gremiale

This is pretty much an apron, which a bishop would have over their other vestments during certain points of a mass or during special occasions like distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday or anointing new priests when they take their orders. It really does just seem to be protection for the other vestments, and as such isn't blessed or held to have any specific meaning. They've been used since the Middle Ages, but there's not much known about their origin. I would half expect the church to have some 400 page treatise on them in a corner of the Vatican Library, though.

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 10: mozzetta

The Catholic love of capes continues with the mozzetta, which is part of the choir dress set of vestments worn during a liturgical ceremony that isn't mass or by clergy attending a mass who aren't involved with preparing or distributing the Eucharist. The color of the mozzetta can denote rank (scarlet for cardinals, purple for bishops, etc.) or membership of a specific order.

The pope has five different mozzettas to choose from, four red and one white. Two ermine-lined ones were not used by John Paul II (one for winter and one for use during the Easter season). Benedict brought them back, though I have to say seeing the winter one I think it can go back into disuse. It's a little showy for a pope.

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 9: Infirmarii

With a conclave coming up soon to elect the successor to Benedict XVI, we might as well throw some related terms into the mix. The Infirmarii are three cardinals selected before voting to get votes from cardinals who are too sick to leave their rooms to vote. All three apparently visit each cardinal who needs them, and they tally the votes collected to make sure that the number of votes match the number of cardinals visited. Infirmarii fulfill their role for only one morning or afternoon of voting (typically two sessions are held during each morning and afternoon of a conclave), and three new ones are picked before starting the next two sessions.

Can't find any information about how often the infirmarii have to collect votes, wonder if better health care and the age limit on voting eligibility has made an impact. Just have to wait for the Vatican Journal of Clerical Health article on the subject.

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 8: piscina

The piscina is the basin used to wash the chalice and other eucharistic vessels after mass. The piscina is designed to return holy water and any bits of consecrated host directly to the ground rather than have them enter the sewer system, septic tank or the like. There's even a special name for the drain, the sacrarium, that feeds the washing water from the piscina to the ground.

The one thing that can't get washed down the piscina is consecrated wine. The priest or one of the lay eucharistic ministers has to polish that off. Washing wine down the drain can apparently get you excommunicated (though not hosts, though in the few times I've seen a priest have leftover hosts that couldn't be properly stored he just ate them).

The real question, though is can any old plumber work on the piscina, or is there a deacon or some Brothers of the Blessed Pipe Wrench who take care of things? 

 Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 7: burse

So there are a number of cloths that are used in relationship to the chalice, the vessel that holds the sacramental wine, and most have been used for centuries. One that you're not likely to see in practice anymore is the burse. The purpose of the burse was simple - it was the cloth that covered everything else. 

Not that it was a cloth like the others. It was actually two pieces of cardboard, bound together and covered with cloth so there was a hinge in the middle. It would then stand on its ends, with one side left open so the chalice and everything else could be slid under it.

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 6: flabellum

As originally used in pre-Christian and early Christian times, this was a simple fan used to keep insects away from things (in this case, the Eucharist). As time moved one, they were more often made of feathers (peacock and ostrich became common), and would later include covers like umbrellas or canopies used primarily to indicate high rank or status.

Their use in either context faded out by the early 20th century. Some Eastern Orthodox churches use a metal version in some instances. 

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 5: maniple

The maniple is a piece of cloth that hangs off the left wrist and is colored to go with the other vestments worn by the priest. Its practical use is kind of murky to me - most suggest it started out as a cloth the priest would use to wipe his face and hands, and somehow reminiscent of the cloth used to wipe Jesus' face before the crucifixion - and its use was not required after 1967. Its use wasn't outlawed, however, so many of the more conservative groups have started to wear it again during mass.

There's all sorts of detail about the maniple in the Catholic Encyclopedia, which I will not bother with here. Leave it to us Catholics to work up so much detail over a hankie. 

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 4: ambo

So in most churches you have a lectern (to your right as you face the altar), which is used for announcements, non-Gospel readings and the like. To your left is the pulpit, from where the priest will read the Gospel and give his sermon (though in our church the pulpit is used for almost everything, with the lectern mostly being used to announce hymn numbers).

But in some churches there's only a speaking area in the center of the front of the church. That's an ambo. They're apparently more common in Orthodox churches as a raised area of floor rather than an actual stand like a lectern. I have to say I don't think I've seen one in a Catholic church, but there's a picture of one in Wikipedia so we know it's possible. 

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 3: antependium

The antipendium is any cloth that hangs down the front of an altar, lectern or other stand/table. It can reach all the way to the floor or, in the case of an altar with a carved or painted front piece, it can just hang a few inches.

They can also be called paraments, or even just hangings. Which makes you wonder why they even bothered with the Latin name in the first place. 

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

Day 2: thurible

Odds are if you've seen at least one mass you've seen someone using a thurible. It's the metal case on a chain that's used to burn incense. Typically you'd see the priest swinging it around the altar while preparing the Eucharist. Not much to it, really; you put charcoal in the base, light it, and then dump the incense on top of it. I've lit one or two thuribles in the past, and it's pretty easy.

Not so easy is the five foot tall thurible used at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Known as Botafumeiro, it's swung over the crowd Phantom of the Opera-style, and considering the pulley used to hoist the thing was built over 400 years ago, it's surprising that it doesn't go crashing into people more often than it does (which is apparently not often).

Going back to the hand-held model, there is apparently a name for the altar server who uses the thurible (thurifer) and for his assistant, who holds the container of incense while the thurifer scoops it out. That assistant's title? Boat boy (the boat being the vessel holding the incense). It would probably sound more dignified in Latin.

So Lent is upon us again, and while we may have a lame duck Pope, I won't leave you hanging. Remember that those of you who get to vote for the new Pope. Introducing our annual 40 day trip through the world of Holy Mother Church, Inc.:

Lentorama 2013: There's a Name for That

The Catholic church is full of items with specific names and functions that no one outside of the Curia would know or care about. Certainly enough to fill 40 days worth of posts, a fact that I didn't quite get until the last week of last year's posts. So if you ever saw something being used by a priest or when flipping by Catholic TV and wondered what the deal was, this may clear things up.

So let's ease into this with an item that's not even specifically Catholic.

Day 1: monstrance

A monstrance is a vessel or stand used to display relics, or more commonly, a consecrated host. The idea of the vessel is that you can see what's in it so you can reflect on it during individual prayer or during a service. The ones that carry a host tend to have metalwork in the shape of a sunburst with the host at the center, and can be quite ornate (shockingly). And while there are some philosophical differences regarding what the consecrated host represents, Anglican and Orthodox churches also use a monstrance to display the host.

For Catholics, you'll most often see a monstrance during Corpus Christi, a feast day celebrating the body and blood of Christ that often sees a procession with the host. The priest doesn't hold the monstrance with his bare hands, but instead does so using a humeral veil (look, you get a bonus thing for free!), a wide piece of cloth that's draped over the shoulders and down the chest and has pockets on the inside for the hands. And while I understand not touching the monstrance directly in respect of the Real Presence, it does make me wonder how you get the host out. I can't imagine opening the thing up while wearing a large, fancy oven mitt is easy. 

Word today that the International Olympic Committee, in their typical wisdom, has decided to jettison wrestling as of the 2020 Summer Games. They can petition to get back in, which several other sports are trying to do already (such as baseball and softball). The decision was made to "streamline" the Games, which is kind of a funny rationale given the recent inclusion of golf and rugby. It's also odd that they'd try to streamline things by taking out one of the sports contested in the original Olympics. So much for tradition.

There are better ways to fix things. In fact, I can think of five things, which brings us to:

MAKING IT BETTER: THE SUMMER OLYMPICS

1. Give the IOC a line item veto for events. Part of the problem currently is that the IOC can't adjust events, they can only add or drop an entire sport. So instead of cutting down on the number of weight classes or something, they have to drop the entire thing. I'm sure there's some sort of political reason for this between the IOC and the governing bodies of each sport, but having the ability to cut some events rather than an entire sport makes more sense. Some humble suggestions:

• Race walking
• Trampoline
• Synchronized diving
• Duet synchronized swimming
• At least one weight class in men's weightlifting and boxing.

Granted, this would be an annual bloodbath, but at least it would give the IOC more flexibility and more opportunity to do what it does best: behind the scenes politicking and bribery.

2. Get rid of tennis and golf. I'm assuming that their inclusion in the Games is an attempt to draw some star power, as you can wedge the Olympics into the schedule every four years in a way that you can't with, say, baseball. Still, it hasn't worked quite so well for tennis, which has drawn some big names but seems to be just below Davis/Fed Cup in terms of excitement for players. I can't imagine this will work any better for golf, though maybe there's a groundswell of interest in it as we get closer. Still, neither has much Olympic pedigree and fans can just tune into any of the dozens of events that normally dot the tennis and golf calendar to see their favorites.

3. Move some stuff to winter. Rather than cut stuff entirely, let's load level and push some stuff that doesn't need to be held in the summer on to the Winter Games. Wrestling would work here, as would weightlifting, fencing, badminton, table tennis, volleyball (with beach staying in the summer, of course), judo, taekwondo, and shooting.

4. Use the LIFO method if you have to cut. If you have to cut something from the program, using a "last in, first out" method causes the least disruption, certainly in tradition if not in practice. The IOC would not be getting the negative reaction they're getting if they dropped taekwondo,which was only added as an official sport in 2000. Well, except from South Korea, who would likely take it personally.

5. Go for the one or two nation dominated sports first. Like any sport, wrestling has its dominant nations, but if you look at the 2012 results you see a pretty diverse group of countries. Russia won the most, but the top 10 includes countries like Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Hungary. Compare this to table tennis, which saw half of all medals go to China. In fact, half of all medals in the history of table tennis have gone to China.

Not that table tennis would get bumped, because who wants to piss off China? But the point remains, if half of your medals go to one or two countries, maybe you shouldn't be an Olympic sport quite yet. It's the same logic (sort of, and only in part with respect to baseball) that saw baseball and softball dropped.