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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Eccles: Incense and thuribles
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dj_ordinaire
Host
# 4643
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Posted
hmm... the usual arrangements I've seen involve the thurifer either being on the south horn throughout the EP, or starting off on the steps in front (usually to the north side, ot, exceptionally, in the middle - when we're showing off!) and switching to the south horn during the Sanctus.
These things are probably subject to the constraints of the building though.
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
As a point of curiosity, why is everyone convinced that those who complain of being allergic to the incense are really allergic to the coals? I really don't react to coal smoke and I've had enough exposure to know about that one. And I also know that I'm not the only person in my church who either doesn't attend or finds ways around the services with incense.
It took my two days to recover from the last but one Christmas midnight mass I attended and for those two days the stuff that was wheezing out of my admittedly asthmatic lungs was the incense. I also had puffy and swollen eyes, which are another allergic reaction. I coped with the last midnight mass by strategically seating myself as far away as possible from the thurifer's path and a pre-emptive dosing with asthma drugs. It's not too bad at Christmas because I've got a few days to recover before the term starts, so it's worth the recovery time for the service. We do have incense during other services. I avoid Easter by attending the dawn service and taking creche duty during the main parish mass. Last Epiphany the reader wouldn't allow incense as the congregation weren't given advance notice, although I was expecting and had prepared myself for some avoidance tactics if necessary.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
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The Silent Acolyte
Shipmate
# 1158
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Posted
Good question Curiosity k. I suspect it is because those of us who aren't allergic think the junk the manufacturers of the fast-light charcoal treat it with smells bad, so it must be bad, so it must be the allergen, not the natural stuff that gets burned as incense. But, as you imply, 'taint necessarily so.
Posts: 7462 | From: The New World | Registered: Aug 2001
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Amazing Grace
High Church Protestant
# 95
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Posted
Data point: I have noted that the complainers complain less when the residual gunk is cleaned out of the thurible properly.
We also got more complaints when someone decided to tart up the blend for the Epiphany, instead of our usual straight frankincense.
Charlotte
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WTFWED? "Remember to always be yourself, unless you suck" - the Gator
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Sacristan
Shipmate
# 3548
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
RuthW, I thought my memory had the position of the thurifer in the Tridentine Rite be as you describe, but when I just checked my Fortescue, they both (1920 & 1958) have schematic of the elevation at high mass with the thurifer next to the MC at the south side of the altar steps. This is where my crowd parks the thurifer, too. I hope someone comes by with an answer. Some of the stiffer Anglocatholic places I've been to (though not for a looong time) put the thurifer in the midst on the pavement.
Our thurifer kneels also on the South (Epistle) side. I think this is the most common, if the setting allows it.
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More abomination, more abomination
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Mr. Rob
Shipmate
# 5823
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Nunc_Dimittis:
I will check Ritual Notes on this RC, but what I learnt, and what I have observed re thurible and the Sanctus was:
The bell is rung three times. At each ring, the thurifer swings the thurible thrice in the manner of censing someone/thing. (Assuming he/she is kneeling before the Altar...) The Thurifer then continues to swing the thurible in small rapid arcs side to side until the Agnus Dei, repeating the censing figure at the elevation of both elements.
I don't know if this is correct.
Well to be blunt, it's not correct. LOL!
The thurible is gently swung from side to side at the Sanctus (holies). It is swung the same way during the reading of the Holy Gospel. After the the the words of institution or epiclesis, the thurifer may exit. He may also exit after the canon at the beginning of the Lord's Prayer. Anything longer smokes up the sanctuary or altar area too much.
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Mr. Rob
Shipmate
# 5823
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jim Olson:
Hello everyone, I've just found this message board while doing a search for thuribles online. Fascinating...I've spent over an hour reading back through the posts.
I teach worship and liturgy at Boston University School of Theology. As you can imagine, most Methodists can't figure out the reason for a good thurible, hence my online search for an inexpensive one. Of course, I know you get what you pay for, so here's the rub...
Would any of you have a thurible that is no longer used that you would be willing to donate to Boston University? It does not have to be in great condition, simply usable. I would prefer a four-chain, (I have access to a single chain one that the Catholics who use our chapel keep...). You would receive in return three things. 1) My personal gratitude. 2) The knowledge that 40 students in the Arts of Worship class each term will at least have had some experience of a thurible and 3) a nice donation letter on Chapel letterhead thanking you for your donation, suitable for tax purposes.
What say you? You can reach me directly at revjj@bu.edu.
Thanks everyone. I will keep reading with great interest.
If you'v been very, very good, the folks at the Advent, Boston, might help you out. Get in touch with them.
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RCD
Shipmate
# 11440
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Posted
Does the south side or center position for the thurifer have something to do with whether there is a subdeacon (or equivalent) or not?
[ 25. September 2006, 18:19: Message edited by: RCD ]
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leo
Shipmate
# 1458
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Rob:
quote:
Originally posted by Nunc_Dimittis:
I will check Ritual Notes on this RC, but what I learnt, and what I have observed re thurible and the Sanctus was:
The bell is rung three times. At each ring, the thurifer swings the thurible thrice in the manner of censing someone/thing. (Assuming he/she is kneeling before the Altar...) The Thurifer then continues to swing the thurible in small rapid arcs side to side until the Agnus Dei, repeating the censing figure at the elevation of both elements.
I don't know if this is correct.
Well to be blunt, it's not correct. LOL!
The thurible is gently swung from side to side at the Sanctus (holies). It is swung the same way during the reading of the Holy Gospel. After the the the words of institution or epiclesis, the thurifer may exit. He may also exit after the canon at the beginning of the Lord's Prayer. Anything longer smokes up the sanctuary or altar area too much.
'He should not swing it while the gospel is sung.' - Fortescue Ceremonies of the Roman Rite described p. 97
'During the godspeol he keps the censer swinging slightly or even motionless (so that the charcoal still glows but not more than required for this). Ritual Notes p. 161
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The Silent Acolyte
Shipmate
# 1158
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
I'm disinclined to leave any fire untended, so the idea of leaving the coals in the thurible untended makes us uncomfortable. So, we don't [ever] leave the thurible untended during the mass.
A variation on this fear is the set-up at St. Paul's Savannah. The thurible is suspended on a rack mounted on the east wall directly next to the altar, visible to alll in the nave and to most in the sanctuary. This is where it is kept during the mass. So, coals are added and blown upon by the thurifer in plain sight of God and everybody.
When I visited the church the Saturday before the mass, I noted the holy spoon and tongues on the south steps to the altar and thought they had been mislaid.
Has anyone else ever seen this arrangement?
Posts: 7462 | From: The New World | Registered: Aug 2001
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Spiffy
Ship's WonderSheep
# 5267
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Posted
So, I'm at work and I've got the Ordination of Bp. Paul Swain webcast up in the other window for fun. And I click over and see what appears to be a guy censing the lectern microphone.
Took me a minute to realise that he was preparing to read the Gospel.
Is this SOP for big cathedrals/parishes? I'm more familiar with a wireless miked or large-lunged deacon wandering down the center aisle and doing the censing stuff there, but I am yet young.
[Preview post! Preview post! Preview post!]
[ 26. October 2006, 19:35: Message edited by: Spiffy da WonderSheep ]
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Posts: 10281 | From: Beervana | Registered: Dec 2003
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Low Treason
Shipmate
# 11924
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Spiffy da WonderSheep:
I'm more familiar with a wireless miked or large-lunged deacon wandering down the center aisle and doing the censing stuff there, but I am yet young.
[Preview post! Preview post! Preview post!] [/QB]
We certainly have the Gospel proclaimed from the centre aisle in the midst of the people (who all get thoroughly fumigated in the process!)
I would have thought the only reason for using the lectern would be insufficient servers...
Incidentally, we bought some new incense last week, and it is foul - think of burnt rubber with overtones of plastic, coal tar and turpentine.... It's even worse than the stuff brought back from Greece which smelt like lavatory cleaner.
BTW incense is very good from preventing churches being infested with unwelcome insects. Allegedly no Catholic church ever gets zapped by deathwatch beetle. I'm wondering what the effect would be on a resident colony of bats.....
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He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.
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The Silent Acolyte
Shipmate
# 1158
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Posted
Well this is just the pic to draw this thread up after a dormancy of a month. I found it sulking on page 6.
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The Silent Acolyte
Shipmate
# 1158
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Posted
And this one, too.
Orthodox thurifer-deacons are apparently able to incense, walk backward, and carry candlesticks at the same time for great prelates, perhaps there should be less fussing about Anglican thurifers who do the same for the Most Blessed Sacrament.
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dj_ordinaire
Host
# 4643
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Posted
Thank you TSA! I can practically smell it!
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Flinging wide the gates...
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Time for me to trawl through this whole thread seeking the magic answers as we try to create nay-sayer-friendly-scented smoke for Christmas. Quick summary AIUI is:
1. Clean the thurible.
2. Use real charcoal, not self-lighting; and get to white-hot temperature. (Prerequisite: acquire brazier and tongs.)
3. Use the right brand of incense (this is the one I need to trawl most totting up which brand is most bestly recommended here).
Anything else I've missed for the quick summary?
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
What's wrong with self-lighting charcoal?
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Maybe I used the wrong word. Quick lighting? Tiny round bricks for putting right in the thurible instead of starting in a separate brazier?
Anyway, what I gathered from skimming this thread is that the stuff added to certain brands of charcoal to make it work the way it does is smelly & icky & contributes to people not getting along well with the smoke thereby produced.
Maybe it's only the little round bricks named for the Magi that go right in the thurible that are the problem; and not real charcoal-made-from-wood pillows that go in a brazier separately though, self-lighting or not.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Our church uses self-lighting stuff. It has something in it that makes it pop and sparkle, but has no smell that I can discern (even on my best days, nasally) of its own.
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Amazing Grace
High Church Protestant
# 95
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
Time for me to trawl through this whole thread seeking the magic answers as we try to create nay-sayer-friendly-scented smoke for Christmas. Quick summary AIUI is:
1. Clean the thurible.
2. Use real charcoal, not self-lighting; and get to white-hot temperature. (Prerequisite: acquire brazier and tongs.)
3. Use the right brand of incense (this is the one I need to trawl most totting up which brand is most bestly recommended here).
Anything else I've missed for the quick summary?
For number 3, save yourself time and use frankincense. I know that the true connisseurs (sp) will argue with me but it's both easily found and seasonally appropriate.
The only time I know of that we switched to something else brought complaints from even the incense lovers!
Charlotte
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WTFWED? "Remember to always be yourself, unless you suck" - the Gator
Memory Eternal! Sheep 3, Phil the Wise Guy, and Jesus' Evil Twin in the SoF Nativity Play
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Joan Rasch
Shipmate
# 49
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Posted
I believe 'self-lighting' charcoal has a bit of gunpowder on the surface. When I have used it, the procedure was to get it going over an ordinary candle flame. I never noticed any fumes from it myself, but in any case, if the coals are started well ahead of the time they are needed, any possible fume-producing part will have burned off.
Our strategy to keep the thurible clean was to line it with a bit of clean aluminum foil each time it was used.
cheers - Joan
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Choirboy
Shipmate
# 9659
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Posted
The gunpowder/self lighting stuff does indeed smell fairly acrid when you light the thing up. That should pass quickly - unless the thurifer is making the mistake that self-lighting means he/she doesn't need to spend time before mass getting the thing good and hot.
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
I recently bought a small pack of Prinknash incense to use in my little brass burner. The self-lighting charcoal provided gave off quite a bit of rather acrid smoke when ignited, but this quickly dissipated and gave way to the sweet, sweet smell of the incense itself..........
Ian J.
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Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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seasick
...over the edge
# 48
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Posted
I don't know what was going on in the Cathedral's thurible this evening, but the smell was predominantly of charcoal smoke... The smell of incense would have been preferable!
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We believe there is, and always was, in every Christian Church, ... an outward priesthood, ordained by Jesus Christ, and an outward sacrifice offered therein. - John Wesley
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Laurence
Shipmate
# 9135
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Posted
With regard to Protestant coughs, a little while ago I had the joy of getting married! Thus my family composed of Welsh Presbyterians and the bride's semi-atheistic Cornish tribe gathered together in a very spangly Oxford chapel. This was liberally filled with incense. And there was not a cough to be heard, despite the use of quick-lighting charcoal! I'm convinced there were four factors in this:
Firstly, the inside of the thurible was given the cleaning of its life beforehand. It was a good, big, shiny thurible, borrowed from a high AngloCarthlick establishment, not the mean little College thurible!
Secondly, the chapel was sufficiently high (in terms of altitude, tho' the theology was pretty good too...) that there was no stale smoke lingering; it came out of the thurible and went straight up.
Thirdly, we used pure frankincense with a sprinkling of rose scent- no potions or strange mixtures for us.
Fourthly, I imagine the Protestants in the congregation were stunned into silence by the roaring of the bombardes on the organ anyway!
But a clean thurible, an airy church and good pure incense definitely go a long way to quelling the Calvinist consumptives in the congo.
L.
PS There are some quite fun photos, too, if anyone wants to see a good tat-laden procession. It was all very Sarum- lots of copes and lovely winged English surplices. I was sorely tempted to Mystery Worship it, but had other things on my mind at the time...
[ 30. November 2006, 22:11: Message edited by: Laurence ]
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The Silent Acolyte
Shipmate
# 1158
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Posted
Autenrieth Road, check with Ultraspike (does he still post here any more?) for a lead on suppliers. You'll be glad you did.
MT, I fear you may be terminally nasally challenged. To clear yourself of this charge, should you so choose, can you tell us what brand of quick lights your crowd uses? Joan Rasch's explanation is also the one I use.
Our lot uses a hobbyist's butane torch with tongs for lighting the charcoals, with a candle nearby for quick relighting when the gunpowder ignites and blows out the torch.
Before we added boatbearing ankle-biters to our rota, we would keep the sacristy door shut when lighting a new pot after dumping it after the gospel. Now it seems prudent to leave the view of the thurifer and the thurifer's seven-year-old charge in the sacristy unobstructed, during these depressingly hysteria-freighted times.
Perhaps this question will finally expose me as not knowing my anatomy from a rabbit hole, but who says that a thurible has to be clean to be sweet smelling, and, if so, why exactly is this the case?
Laurence: post the pics! Post the Pics! [please?]
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Fishngrl
Shipmate
# 11094
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Posted
AR, over here at SMV, we use a major well-known barbeque type charcoal in the thuribles. They are cleaned out on a pretty regular basis and polished using Brasso (our task this Saturday).
For your information, A Friend Who Is Expert highly recommends using acetone to get a thurible really super clean. This same friend makes her own incense, on account of she's that cool. But as The Silent Acolyte suggested, I don't think the cleanliness of the thurible affects coughing, it seems to do more with how hot the charcoal is.
Regarding types of incense, ours is homemade in the basement (and sold in the gift shop). (You can go to the photo gallery on our web page to see how it's done.) I think there is also a brand called Resurrection that a former parish used to use on occasion.
Have a great time with it - thank you for smoking!
Posts: 155 | From: New York, NY | Registered: Mar 2006
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Pearl B4 Swine
Ship's Oyster-Shucker
# 11451
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Posted
thank you for smoking!
![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
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"I do a good job and I know how to do this stuff" D. Trump (speaking of the POTUS job)
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The Silent Acolyte
Shipmate
# 1158
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
And this one, too.
Orthodox thurifer-deacons are apparently able to incense, walk backward, and carry candlesticks at the same time for great prelates, perhaps there should be less fussing about Anglican thurifers who do the same for the Most Blessed Sacrament.
I know this is a little obsessive, but here is another shot of the deacon-thurifers. I'll cease and desist now or start a new thread if more pics come to me that absolutely must be seen.
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Thanks for the comments.
A check of the sacristy reveals Three Kings quick-lights. Do these burn hot enough? We only do incense during the procession in, and then at the offertory. I.e. don't need something that can last for the entire Eucharistic Prayer or something.
If we use a separate brazier to get a heap of coals going in, and then transfer some to the thurible, do we need to station someone to stay with the brazier? I'm nervous about leaving fire unattended. We haven't got adequate ventilation in the sacristy to leave carbon-monoxide producing coals burning for too long, so I guess we'd have to set it up outside.
We have Almy Revelation (or is it Resurrection? rats, I've forgotten) in a can. Also a baggie labelled Frankincense, but I've forgotten what vendor it said (if it did). I'm inclined to try the Frankincense instead of the pre-made stuff, on the grounds of it being least likely to have random irritating things in it, and I want the highest probability of success in pleasing those who have had problems with our smoke in the past.
Plus two tiny little packs marked Frankincense and Myrrh, with an instruction sheet for various ways of releasing the scent including by warming between the hands. No little packet marked Gold though; maybe I can lend my gold locket for an authentic three kings procession at epiphany.
Early in the thread people had said the cleaning is important because the leftover resins in the thurible produce bad smells the next time. I don't know if it also produces coughing, but I'm inclined to try all the stops simultaneously.
[ 01. December 2006, 15:33: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Amazing Grace
High Church Protestant
# 95
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Posted
AR - if there is a free-standing coat hanger somewhere in the church, get it out.
Also, if you don't have a gas match (available in any hardware store and larger groceries with the barbeque or fireplace supplies), get one. It's a useful thing to have in the sacristry anyways ![[Biased]](wink.gif) .
Charlotte
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WTFWED? "Remember to always be yourself, unless you suck" - the Gator
Memory Eternal! Sheep 3, Phil the Wise Guy, and Jesus' Evil Twin in the SoF Nativity Play
Posts: 6593 | From: Sittin' by the dock of the [SF] bay | Registered: Jul 2003
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
And what are these implements for?
By the freestanding coat hanger, I presume you mean a coatrack? We have many freestanding coat hangers, although more frequently they are free-lying at the bottom of the closets ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) . But what is this freestanding coatrack for?
By a gas match, do you mean one of those sort of long things that you click and a flame spouts out of it? And why would it be useful in the sacristy apart from lighting coals?
I gather that it's better to light the coals by holding it with tongs over a flame -- rather than our current procedure, which is to put them in the thurible and then poke at them from the top or sides with the same tiny matches we use to light the torches. Yes?
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
By a gas match, do you mean one of those sort of long things that you click and a flame spouts out of it? And why would it be useful in the sacristy apart from lighting coals?
Lighting candles and lamps?
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Our most frequently used candles are tall or high or both so are lighted with the taper. The lower-down candles are easily lighted by continuing on with the taper since it's already being carried about for the tall candles, except for the window candles which have chimneys, but to use the gas match effectively on them would require a tall person in any case to reach in over the chimney, so not necessarily a win over current procedure which involves one acolyte lifting the chimney so the other can use the taper.
The torches it would occasionally be useful to have something other than a match (for when the acolyte fumble-fingers trying to light the match); on the other hand a small box of matches is easily put in an acolyte robe pocket. People have occasionally suggested we use cigarette lighters instead; I've ignored this suggestion since I'm not particularly enamoured of new-fangled technology and have seen enough cigarette lighters (or even gas matches) being ineffectually clicked with no flame emerging to not see it as a particular improvement over matches.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Amazing Grace
High Church Protestant
# 95
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by MouseThief:
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
By a gas match, do you mean one of those sort of long things that you click and a flame spouts out of it? And why would it be useful in the sacristy apart from lighting coals?
Lighting candles and lamps?
Correct and correct.
I often use it for the sanctuary candles (which are lit when nobody else is around ) and to light the wick on the ceremonial brass candle lighters/snuffers because someone bought the el-cheapoest matches and I dislike using them.
I had pilotless gas stoves previously so relied on them at home!
Charlotte
[ 01. December 2006, 16:19: Message edited by: Amazing Grace ]
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WTFWED? "Remember to always be yourself, unless you suck" - the Gator
Memory Eternal! Sheep 3, Phil the Wise Guy, and Jesus' Evil Twin in the SoF Nativity Play
Posts: 6593 | From: Sittin' by the dock of the [SF] bay | Registered: Jul 2003
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Amazing Grace
High Church Protestant
# 95
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
And what are these implements for?
By the freestanding coat hanger, I presume you mean a coatrack? We have many freestanding coat hangers, although more frequently they are free-lying at the bottom of the closets . But what is this freestanding coatrack for?
Yes, it's a coat rack. We use it for holding the thurible.
If you have sufficient humans around, it's not necessary, as one of them can hold it.
Charlotte
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WTFWED? "Remember to always be yourself, unless you suck" - the Gator
Memory Eternal! Sheep 3, Phil the Wise Guy, and Jesus' Evil Twin in the SoF Nativity Play
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The Silent Acolyte
Shipmate
# 1158
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
By the freestanding coat hanger, I presume you mean a coatrack?...But what is this freestanding coatrack for?
These things are properly called Dumb Acolytes or Silent Acolytes. They are various in shape, but essentially consist of a heavy base attached to which is a single vertical shaft (about five feet tall) surmounted by a hook or cross bar from which the central discus ring of the thurible can be hung. Having one made from wrought iron is best.
Some places have two: one in the sanctuary and one is the sacristy. Some places make do with a large hook mounted on the wall.
Proper silent acolytes are better, because with a wall-mounted hook, the thurible usually rests against the (potentially inflammable) plaster wall of the sacristy.
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
I gather that it's better to light the coals by holding it with tongs over a flame -- rather than our current procedure, which is to put them in the thurible and then poke at them from the top or sides with the same tiny matches we use to light the torches. Yes?
Well...it's like this. Don't light the coals with matches. If you must, use a taper instead, but these tend to be expensive. Spend a couple sawbucks on the hobbyist butane torch. That'll allow you to spill flame on the top, sides, and bottom of the coals placed in your thurible.
Tongs are okay, but there is a drawback. The advantage is that you can view the entire coal as you flow the flame (from the torch) over its surface, thereby visually confirming that you have ignited all the accelerant. The drawback is that you can fumble and drop the coal (bad), or hold the coal so tightly that you fragment it and scatter pieces (much worse).
In any event--and, I know this isn't practical for your lot AR--it is best to have a portion of the sacristy reserved for *just* this activity. Purchase a large glass cutting board for your work surface if you can't have the work surface properly tiled over. Tiling the backsplash and the proximate flooring and wall, too, is also a good thing.
Regarding the long-skinny clicking things (gas matches), there are some foamers who think they hew to the 'old ways of striking fire from flint' (wtf?) by using these new-fangled cigarette lighters instead of safety matches. Ignore the the foamers and use these devices or matches as you find convenient.
Posts: 7462 | From: The New World | Registered: Aug 2001
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Choirboy
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# 9659
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
Tongs are okay, but there is a drawback. The advantage is that you can view the entire coal as you flow the flame (from the torch) over its surface, thereby visually confirming that you have ignited all the accelerant.
-- which also points out a possible problem with the self-light charcoal that I hadn't thought of. With more stale coals, or if you don't put enough effort in to getting it going properly, there may still be unburned accelerant on the coals when mass starts. Eventually as the thing heats up during mass, it will spark and light, but discharge the somewhat acrid accelerant odor.
Could someone recommend brands or suppliers of non-self lighting charcoal for thuribles? I've only seen the self-lighting varieties out here.
Posts: 2994 | From: Minneapolis, Minnesota USA | Registered: Jun 2005
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Autenrieth Road
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# 10509
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Posted
Finished reading all 109 (!!!!) pages (printed) of this thread.
Next task: cleaning of thurible, using some assortment of tools recommended by all and sundry here: rubber gloves, goggles, toothbrush, plastic scourer, ventilated area, container for putting cleaner dregs in so as not to put them down a drain or on the ground, and cleaner -- variously acetone, mineral turpentine, ethanol, paint stripper, wd-40, jellied methylene chloride, olive oil w/ elbow grease, and/or boiling water.
All this for the once-a-year appearance of the thurible. ![[Help]](graemlins/help.gif) .
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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The Silent Acolyte
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# 1158
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Posted
AR, forget the turpentine, boiling water, mineral whatever, and go directly to the jellied paint stripper. Gloves are a prudent precaution.
It is a solid brass thurible, though, isn't it?
Maybe you should ignore my first paragraph if your forebears invested in some plated affair.
Please tell us how it goes, though!
Posts: 7462 | From: The New World | Registered: Aug 2001
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dj_ordinaire
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# 4643
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
These things are properly called Dumb Acolytes or Silent Acolytes.
Our most usual thurifer is a gentleman who suffers from any number of mental difficulties, and who absolutely refuses to be instructed in any degree of how to thurify. But, if he isn't allowed to thurifer, he just elopes to a different church, so it appears that we are stuck with him ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
His latest trick is to use the curtain rail above the door to the sacristy - which once had a drape suspended from it, but no longer - as a silent acolyte, during the EP. It looks really rather weird...
Anyway, I'm off to Hispaniola for a week.
See all soon, and please for me to ensure I don't catch malaria or get kidnapped by pirates!
Peter
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Flinging wide the gates...
Posts: 10335 | From: Hanging in the balance of the reality of man | Registered: Jun 2003
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scopatore segreto
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# 11848
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
And this one, too.
Orthodox thurifer-deacons are apparently able to incense, walk backward, and carry candlesticks at the same time for great prelates, perhaps there should be less fussing about Anglican thurifers who do the same for the Most Blessed Sacrament.
No prelates required: Orthodox clergy and servers do this every (liturgical) day of the year, although it might disquiet the Anglo-Catholic mind to know that the honor is paid to the offerings of bread and wine before, not after, the metamorphosis!
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"Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with it." Flannery O'Connor
Posts: 291 | From: the Christ-haunted South | Registered: Sep 2006
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The Silent Acolyte
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# 1158
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Posted
It doesn't disquiet this Anglican mind in the least. With Schmemann, she understands the profitable meaning of predestination of the gifts.
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moveable_type
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# 9673
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
AR, forget the turpentine, boiling water, mineral whatever, and go directly to the jellied paint stripper. Gloves are a prudent precaution.
I found this out the hard way renovating this summer: there are special gloves for using paint stripper, which is what is required. They're quite long and thick. Home Depot stocks them with the paint stripper, conveniently enough.
Posts: 1062 | From: Toronto | Registered: Jul 2005
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Autenrieth Road
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# 10509
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
AR, forget the turpentine, boiling water, mineral whatever, and go directly to the jellied paint stripper. Gloves are a prudent precaution.
It is a solid brass thurible, though, isn't it?
Maybe you should ignore my first paragraph if your forebears invested in some plated affair.
Please tell us how it goes, though!
I don't know if it's solid or not. It seems rather too lightweight to be solid, but who knows.
It's now clean. Tools: acetone, goggles, gloves, rags, turkey roasting pan, two jars, an outside deck, and one teaspoon.
I'll wait till I'm on the brass-polishing rota later this month to polish it; there are different procedures for plain brass vs. lacquered brass (or lacquered brass plate), and I don't know how to tell which is which yet.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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pater ursus
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# 2512
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Hi Folks.
I am off to bed now, but just stopped by and saw this thread.......I found the following MANUAL on the web. Not sure it is universally correct, but hey!! its fun to read.
And NEVER forget the "chink", where else do you get the true "smells and bells" from?
Peace and Love
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"fides quaerens intellectum"
"faith seeking understanding".
“Anselm of Canterbury”
Posts: 75 | From: UK | Registered: Mar 2002
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Autenrieth Road
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# 10509
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Posted
Whether or not we're going to have an incense is up and down like a hot potato (to mix metaphors) at the moment. On the chance that we have it, a suggestion that has been made is that only one coal be used instead of three.
Is this likely to be of any use, in reducing the number of irritations caused?
Our thurible is of a size that three of the round Three Kings brickets nicely cover the floor (for lack of a better word) and tuck up a bit on the sides.
AFAICT we are going for a token amount of scent, and no attachment to visible smoke necessarily.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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dj_ordinaire
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# 4643
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Posted
I am thurifering at Mass this Sunday, and want to make use of what I take to be a stock of resin which I found at the back of the vestry cupboard in a clear unmarked plastic bag (yes, I know this could go v. badly wrong, but I'm not one to let I dare not wait upon I want like the poor cat i'th'adage, so here goes)...
What would be a good procedure? Just grind it up in a pestle and mix with the usual stuff?
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Flinging wide the gates...
Posts: 10335 | From: Hanging in the balance of the reality of man | Registered: Jun 2003
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Bishops Finger
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# 5430
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Posted
Hmm. Have a little practice with it first! It may be absolutely ghastly........
Ian J.
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Autenrieth Road
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# 10509
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
Is this likely to be of any use, in reducing the number of irritations caused?
More accurately, is this likely to be counterproductive?
(e.g. is a single coal more liable to go cold, and does a cold coal (after having been hot) tend to produce more obnoxious stuff as opposed to just nothing; or other possibly unforeseen results?)
I'm starting to wonder if it would be easier simply to dab some rose oil liberally behind my ears and wave an empty thurible.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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