Swinging the censer at Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Swinging the censer (botafumeiro) at the Catholic cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It is supposedly the largest censer used in a church. It crosses the nave and into both transepts of this cathedral. This is usually done in the Mass for the Pilgrims and has been done for centuries. The reason why is there are a lot of unwashed masses who congregate inside the cathedral after doing the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage walk. There needed to be a way to cover the odor. Not sure why this is done after Mass and not at the beginning.
See 6-2022 updated video here: • Swinging the Censer at...

[@juanjosefontefeal902]

The “botafumeiro” (which means "censer" in Galician) is a large liturgical vessel that hangs from the dome of the Cathedral of Santiago and that spreads incense throughout the temple moving from one side to another thanks to a system of pulleys. The botafumeiro is operated by eight “tiraboleiros”, in charge of pushing it first and pulling the rope afterwards, in order to make the container full of incense and coal pick up speed. The tiraboleiros can move the botafumeiro so that it reaches up to 68 km / h, going up to a height of 21 meters, drawing an arch of 65 meters. This great liturgical object weighs more than 60 kg and measures 1.60 m in height; the botafumeiro has a silver bath and is tied to the transept of the cathedral by a large rope 62 meters long and 5 cm in diameter (the current rope is made of a synthetic material). When swinging from one side of the cathedral to the other at high speed, the botafumeiro can reach a great force, which sometimes has meant detachments of the rope, leaving the object fired. There is evidence of three detachments of this object until today; in 1499, 1622 and 1937. The function of the botafumeiro is to spread incense through the temple and in this way to perfume it to eliminate unpleasant odors. This tradition began in the eleventh century, with the rise of the Camino de Santiago, which attracted a large number of pilgrims to the cathedral just after finishing their trip, without having been able to wash or rest. In ancient times the churches and cathedrals of the “Camiño” sheltered the pilgrims at night, so the bad smells were concentrated in the temples, so it was necessary to use incense to scare away the stench. The size of the botafumeiro of the Cathedral of Santiago obeys to the dimensions of the temple and the fact of being the end of the "Camiño", which concentrated many pilgrims who concluded their pilgrimage to Santiago.

[@gratedrawur]

This is honestly nerve-wracking. It comes so close to the ceiling!

[@jondellar]

I think I'd sing off key if I had that flying overhead!

[@hoowlymacaroni]

I don't know why , but it looks a bit like a wrecking ball ....

[@bigman7856]

You know Gregorian chant sounds pretty good- you should it some day

[@Bellg]

I'm getting some final destination vibes from this. Imagine if it crashed or sprung open... yikes

[@eggheadusa9900]

I’m pretty sure it’s sealed tight and all the priests would have to drop it

[@NjeruThandi]

It has actually done so. At least 3 times.

[@malditaseaintensifies-kd8ec]

​@@NjeruThandimost recent being in 1937.

[@BeniVod7]

It's unforgettable moment :)

[@the_heat_hater]

Lo recuerdo perfectamente en el 2002, cuando visité Galicia. Que emocionante es esta misa, se enchina la piel y no puede uno contener las lágrimas.

[@josemartineziglesias7570]

Cuanta razón tienes, recibe un cordial saludo de un Peregrino desde Bacelona.

[@josemartineziglesias7570]

Gracias por comparti este maaviloso vídeo y te mando un cordial saludo de un Peeigrino desde Barcelona.

[@wemcal]

Wow!! Great video

[@nmcproductions5037]

I was half expecting it to wipe out everything on the altar

[@Blaqk_8298]

AMAZING

[@foundationsmedicalinformat2420]

Okay, this is impressive. But there is absolutely no way that this is safe!

[@anthonyw.5305]

What you don't see is before the video, a guy with a large frying pan walked right by me with a lot of hot coals. He nearly brushed me with the pan as he was working his way through the crowds to fill the censer!

[@greendiesel6869]

Who cares its gods work

[@paulbergeron9611]

This has been done for centuries and no one has ever had a problem-get over it and stop Criticizing the faith!

[@displaychicken]

Life is unsafe!

[@planetearth4362]

@@paulbergeron9611, what if or until someone gets hit by ....

[@lilyawood]

I should not be laughing this hard

[@robminmonaca]

Do those guys get paid or they just volunteer for the cathedral or church that does this ?

[@greendiesel6869]

rob mush paid by attention

[@katagirl3000]

beautiful

[@sauvageaux]

💖

[@christoursavior3853]

Imageine of the fell down and hit the preist

[@catholiccrusader5328]

It did fall once but nobody was hurt; one bit of advice learn how to spell, dude.

[@greendiesel6869]

God wouldnt let that happen

[@jurjenvanderhoek316]

@@greendiesel6869 Why not? There is so much misery happening in this world. This is just bad karma from previous lives.

[@user-wo5ii3he6s]

They aren't pulling it at the right time to get an optimal swing and it's SERIOUSLY bothering me. Because of this, I'm entirely convinced there is no dog.

[@witchreturns2263]

Dangerous job

[@philiphoward5877]

It's cool and amazing but as a Catholic I have to say that would really distract me from focusing on the Mass and I like masses w regular censors for incense .

[@georgecalvintharcisius586]

Very nice. Amen. But its kind of Precarious

[@sandfoxx]

Priests are brave people.

[@greendiesel6869]

Now HAND OUT THE COLECTION BOX lol

[@efjay3183]

Came here after blasphemous

[@acecarolino101]

YES. What a great game

[@aaronortega1083]

whos here because of joe rogan ?

[@thedorsinator]

I **love** how something so old and beautiful as this is shat on by innovations like the Cranmer table, the lay woman singing (terribly) in the vernacular, concelebration and the Pauline Mass. This does not “transmit the faith of St James” as this cleric says at the end. He would’ve found it foreign at best if not reprehensible. What have we become?

[@raphaelledesma9393]

Although wouldn’t St James also not have recognized the Latin Mass before? During the apostolic time, the Eucharist was very bare bones and the skeleton of the liturgy developed in the next 100 years.

[@inchristalone7860]

I think that worship-wise, it is extremely distracting. In Church our focus should be on Jesus Christ. If it’s at the start of the Service - I guess it is used as a way of lifting up the congregation’s worship to the most High God. All glory, praise and worship to God.

[@anthonyw.5305]

In most Masses, it is done as the priest enters the church and during the middle of the Mass. I agree it does not make sense having this done at the end of Mass, (given the large numbers of smelly pilgrims) but this is tradition and you are not going to change the centuries of them doing it this way, I'm just saying- ;-)

[@yourtrollolol]

How is it distracting? It's putting the focus on the blessing of the sanctuary that is taking place with the incense. It's literally drawing attention to what is going on in that moment.

[@jurjenvanderhoek316]

@@yourtrollolol Exactly!

[@mabel.b]

do they really not have someone who can actually sing??

[@deniseblu297]

What the heck. How wide big is it. Lol

[@PJ-il3nh]

Mysticfire Denise 600 lbs is all I know

[@anthonyw.5305]

See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botafumeiro

[@Schroo]

They be high af in church off of frankincense!

[@JGAstaiza]

Ésta mujer canta mal. No hay profesionales entre los católicos?

[@gustavolebrech8883]

tu hermana.