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Botafumerio to swing every Friday during the 7:30 pm (1930 hrs) mass

sillydoll

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2002 CF: 2004 from Paris: 2006 VF: 2007 CF: 2009 Aragones, Ingles, Finisterre: 2011 X 2 on CF: 2013 'Caracoles': 2014 CF and Ingles 'Caracoles":2015 Logrono-Burgos (Hospitalero San Anton): 2016 La Douay to Aosta/San Gimignano to Rome:
elcorreogallego.es reports that the botafumeiro will swing during every Friday Mass at 19.30 courtesy the Chamber of Commerce, the hoteliers and Raxoi . It will continue to used in their usual celebrations and in cases where there is a previous application.
 
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Hello, does anyone know the current botafumeiro schedule? Do they still do this during Friday evening service?
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Yes the Botafumeiro will fly every Friday at the 7.30 pm mass.

The Pilgrims Office is receiving dozens of bookings for the Botafumeiro this year increasing the chances of everyone seeing it.
Thank you so much for your reply! We're in Sarria. We hope to arrive in Santiago on Friday. Buen Camino!
 
We didn't know about the Friday evening pilgrims' mass until we got to SdeC yesterday - we thought that as yesterday was Ascension Day we'd see the botafumeiro swing at the lunchtime pilgrims' mass - we didn't (but we were so glad to be there it didn't matter!) - were lucky enough to be staying an extra night, found out about the 7.30pm mass by chance, got there at 7pm by which time it was standing room only (and it got more packed as time went on) and were rewarded for taking mass twice in one day (having been to the lovely, small, English mass in the morning) with a truly spectacular sight. Absolutely well worth planning to be there for if you possibly can. And I'd recommend staying in the side aisles (where you enter/exit while the restoration goes on) as you will see the botafumeiro flying over your head!
 
I understand that the Botafumeiro is hoisted after the mass. I hope this is so, as I wish to be there for the service, but I am allergic to incense and personally hope to avoid it. I am aware of being a minority of one in this desire.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I understand that the Botafumeiro is hoisted after the mass. I hope this is so, as I wish to be there for the service, but I am allergic to incense and personally hope to avoid it. I am aware of being a minority of one in this desire.

Yes, it comes right at the end of mass, and you'll have plenty of warning as you'll see the men in their robes start to gather (and the security people moving people back a bit from where they are in the way.

For what it's worth, though, I'm pretty sensitive to heavy scents - and I was hardly aware of the incence at all - it certainly doesn't billow out in clouds the way you might expect. Tbh I was far more bothered by the heavy scent of jasmine from people's gardens on the last couple of ks into the city!
 
It depends where you sit. From the nave, especially several rows back, it's not very noticeable. But from the apse...much more of a fragrant experience. And more intense, too, with this huge thing whizzing impossibly fast right over one's head...you can hear it go by, in spite of the organ blasting and the chanting. :eek:
 
I am allergic to incense
Charcoal is loaded into the botafumeiro. Whatever they burn (and I have no idea whether it is really incense, which may be a descriptor of a wide variety of burning things) is dropped on the charcoal just before it starts to swing. The smoke is fairly dense, but the cathedral is large, so it spreads, then dissipates, fairly quickly. It is hard to detect the aroma after a half-hour.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Also, this is not a chemical or perfumed incense. It is pure resins.

And, this initial post was from 2004 - I imagine the schedule has changed now. Maybe Johnnywalker or someone in the pilgrim office knows if there is a set schedule?
 
We didn't know about the Friday evening pilgrims' mass until we got to SdeC yesterday - we thought that as yesterday was Ascension Day we'd see the botafumeiro swing at the lunchtime pilgrims' mass - we didn't (but we were so glad to be there it didn't matter!) - were lucky enough to be staying an extra night, found out about the 7.30pm mass by chance, got there at 7pm by which time it was standing room only (and it got more packed as time went on) and were rewarded for taking mass twice in one day (having been to the lovely, small, English mass in the morning) with a truly spectacular sight. Absolutely well worth planning to be there for if you possibly can. And I'd recommend staying in the side aisles (where you enter/exit while the restoration goes on) as you will see the botafumeiro flying over your head!

I also arrived Thursday, believing that as the Ascension is a Solemnity (Trust me, I am a Catholic priest) that the botafumeiro was likely to be used. (I do not come SPECIALLY to see the botafumeiro, but agree that it is a spectacle to behold now and then!) I was vesting for Mass on the Thursday, as the whole town was in 'Ascension Fiesta' mode, when I realised we were wearing red and not white. Therefore NOT the mass of the Ascension. Because as is so commonly the case now, the Ascension is moved (by the National Conference of Bishops) to the following Sunday (ie today as I write (back in Ireland)). And so on Thursday, no botafumeiro.
Friday midday Mass I am guessing we had the botafumeiro in deference to the visting Swiss Bishop who was concelebrating. And again Friday evening we had the (regular) botafumeiro. My nephew/walking companion was chuffed that I got to put the incense in the botafumeiro in the evening........and maybe I was just a bit!!
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
I
I also arrived Thursday, believing that as the Ascension is a Solemnity (Trust me, I am a Catholic priest) that the botafumeiro was likely to be used. (I do not come SPECIALLY to see the botafumeiro, but agree that it is a spectacle to behold now and then!) I was vesting for Mass on the Thursday, as the whole town was in 'Ascension Fiesta' mode, when I realised we were wearing red and not white. Therefore NOT the mass of the Ascension. Because as is so commonly the case now, the Ascension is moved (by the National Conference of Bishops) to the following Sunday (ie today as I write (back in Ireland)). And so on Thursday, no botafumeiro.
Friday midday Mass I am guessing we had the botafumeiro in deference to the visting Swiss Bishop who was concelebrating. And again Friday evening we had the (regular) botafumeiro. My nephew/walking companion was chuffed that I got to put the incense in the botafumeiro in the evening........and maybe I was just a bit!![/QUOTE
 
I also arrived Thursday, believing that as the Ascension is a Solemnity (Trust me, I am a Catholic priest) that the botafumeiro was likely to be used. (I do not come SPECIALLY to see the botafumeiro, but agree that it is a spectacle to behold now and then!) I was vesting for Mass on the Thursday, as the whole town was in 'Ascension Fiesta' mode, when I realised we were wearing red and not white. Therefore NOT the mass of the Ascension. Because as is so commonly the case now, the Ascension is moved (by the National Conference of Bishops) to the following Sunday (ie today as I write (back in Ireland)). And so on Thursday, no botafumeiro.
Friday midday Mass I am guessing we had the botafumeiro in deference to the visting Swiss Bishop who was concelebrating. And again Friday evening we had the (regular) botafumeiro. My nephew/walking companion was chuffed that I got to put the incense in the botafumeiro in the evening........and maybe I was just a bit!!
I see you lived in Kenya for a time as a priest. Did you ever work with the Medical missionaries of Mary? I was with them for 5 years but did not get as far as Kenya. One of my former group still works there . It might be just a very small world. I won't bother you again with posts but I just wondered. Best wishes
 

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