Smokes! The Story of the Botafumeiro

St. James the Greater- Patron Saint of Spain

Feast Day: July 25^th

I never knew this story.

This is the legend:

“But the cult of James there began in the 8^th century, after the Moorish invasion had rapidly pushed Christian forces in to the northwestern corner of Spain, and there is no documentary evidence of it before the 9^th century. The cult then grew with the growth of pilgrimages and his image became more warlike as the Crusades developed. This version depended on his remains being transferred to Galicia some time after his death. An earlier version based the cult on the story that he had preached in Spain which his even less likely. As the pilgrimage grew with routes starting in various places in France, abbeys and churches were built along the routes, acquiring their own background stories (such as the association of El Cid with San Pedro de Cardena near Burgos) to impress pilgrims.”

Side note: Early this summer, I was in Burgos, Spain with Father Patrick & my best friends.

“St James himself acquired the attributes of a pilgrim: a floppy hat, staff, water bottle, and a scallop shell. The “Road to Santiago” has recently been restored with funds from the European Community and attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year. The botafumeiro, the six-foot-high incense censer hung from the crossing vault of Santiago Cathedral, introduced to counteract the stench of the pilgrim crowds, is still swung across the transepts almost brushing the floor of the crossing, on the saint’s feast –day each year.” (from Butler’s Saint for the Day by Paul Burns)

Which is today! Here is what it looks like

The Smoke Boat
and
Pope Benedict XVI with the smoke boat

I have watched this video before and cracked up. But never did I know the background. Did you?