Instructions for Use of Thurible

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A question came up elsewhere that has me wondering: for the OF, the GIRM never specifies how to swing the thurible or how many times, etc. Others contend that there’s a “rule”, but I say these are just customs carried over. (e.g., When the priest is incensing the altar, does it matter if he swings back-and-forth or in a circular motion, one swing or three, etc.?)

Is there something other than the GIRM to be consulted for this and other details of celebrating the Mass?
 
I know of two potential good sources but cannot immediately lay my hands on either. One is Elliott’s ‘Ceremonies of the Roman Rite’, a sort of modern Fortescue. Another would be the Ceremonial of Bishops which gives guidance not found in other rubrics. I am certain the former will contain this information. Although the latter does contain a lot of useful things not found elsewhere it may not have this information, perhaps assuming those incensing things already know.
 
The main thing is to keep tension on the chain. Otherwise there is a tendency for the lid to pop off and the contents, glowing charcoal and all, to fall out. There follows a lot of stamping and ouch-ouch-ouching which is not conducive to prayful reflection.
 
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Ceremonial of Bishops (ISBN 0814618189 ) has a section with the heading “Incensation” from 84 to 98. It includes, for example, footnote 75:

“The one incensing “holds the top of the censer chain in the left hand, the bottom near the censer in the right hand, so that the censer can be swung back and forth easily.” “The one incensing should take care to carry out this function with grave and graceful mien, not moving head or body while swinging the censer, holding the left hand with the top of the chains near the chest and moving the right arm back and forth with a measured beat” (See Caeremoniale episcoporum, ed. 1886, I, XXIII, 4 and 8).”

[Excerpt from the English translation of Ceremonial of Bishops, (c) 1989 International Commission on English in the Liturgy. All rights reserved.]
 
There are fairly specific instructions in an old Tridentine Mass ceremonial I have at home.

For the altar, it is incensed exactly 29 times, the first 3 swings being towards the crucifix, then the altar. There’s an illustration to show the pattern and direction of each swing.

For the offerings, it is 9 times, the first 6 crosswise at right angles across the offerings, then three times in a circle around them.

When I look through that ceremonial, I am amazed by the minutiae in the EF Mass. A priest who started his vocation in the days when the EF was the only form, told me he found the level of minutiae in the EF Mass very distracting.
 
Thanks, all. I’ve learned something - and having been a liturgy geek for 15+ years, that’s a big thing for me 😁

Do these ceremonials, which I’ve only had cursory awareness of, carry equal weight as the GIRM, or what’s that relationship like?
 
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