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.