Thundering Legion. See Legion, Thunder- ing.
Thurarii, a name given by Tertullian to those who sold frankincense to heathen temples, and whose busi- ness could not be free from the imputation of idolatry, because it furnished what was necessary to the wor- ship of idols.
Thurible, a censer used in some of the services of the Roman Catholic Church, made of metal, usually in the form of a vase, with a cover perforated to allow the scented fumes of the burn- ing incense to escape. It is usually carried by three chains which are attache<l to points around the lower portion, while a fourth is sometimes connected with the above, being united to the ring or handle, and is used at intervals to raise the upper portion or cov- ering of the censer and al- low the incense to escape
Thuribles: 1. Silver-gilt; 2. Copier-gilt.
THURIFER
395
THYATIRA
more freely. In tlie 8th century thuribles were com- monly used and directions for tlieir due ado]ition en- joined by the authority of the local synods. At Home there are thuribles of gold in the treasury of the Ctiurcti of St. John Lateral!, reputed to have been given by the emperor Constantine. There is an old silver cen- ser at Louvain, more than twelve at Milan Cathedral, seven at i\Ietz Cathedral, four of silver-gilt at Notre Dame, Paris, of the 14th century, and some remarka- ble specimens at Kheims and at Treves. There are a few examples still in use in England, and several at the South Kensington and the British INIuseum and in private collections. The thurible is used at high mass, at vespers, at the benediction with the blessed sacrament, at funerals, public thanksgivings, etc. It has often been used in the Church of England since the Reformation. See Lee, Gloss, of Liturg. Ttrms, s. V. ; I'arker, Gloss, of A rchitect. s. v.
Thiirifer (incense-hearer), the ministering attend- ant in the Roman Catholic Church whose duty it is to carry the thurible or censer and swing it at the appoint- ed time during service. He is ordinarily a chorister or acolyte, but on great occasions a subdeacon, deacon, or even a priest.
Thurificati, or Thurificatores (incense-offer ei-s), names for those wlio, during the pagan persecutions, consented to offer frankincense on an altar dedicated to an idol, in order to escape torture or death. This act of apostasy severed thetn from the Christian Cliurch ; and it was not till, by long penance, they had given satisfactory proof of sorrow for their crime that they were readmitted. See Lapsed; Libellatici.
Thuringia, Council of (Concilium Quintilinehur- gense or Nurthusense), was held in 1105 b}' the emperor Henry, who had lately suc- ceeded in reuniting Saxony to the Roman obedience. The council was held in the palace. The decrees of the preceding councils were confirmed, and the heresy of the Nicolaitans (meaning the concubinage of the clergy) was condemned. — Landon, Manual of Councils,
S. V.
Thuroferary ( incense- bearer), a priest who bears the censer during the services of the Greek Cluirch. He also assists the officiating priest to put on his sacerdotal vest- ments, and, during the anthem, spreads a veil over the conse- crated vessels.
Thursday (Anglo-Saxon Thors-daer/, i. e. Thor's Day), the IHes Jovis of the Roman calendar, and sacred, in the Northern mythology, to Thor. Donnerstar/, thunder day. In the early Church, Au- gustine complained that some of the Christians per- sisted in keeping Thursday as a holyday in honor of Jupiter.
THURSDAY of the Great Canox, an Eastern phrase for the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
Thurston, Davih, D.D., a Congregational minister, was born in (ieorgetown, Mass., Feb. 6, 1779. He was the uncle of the Rev. R. B. Thurston and half-brother of the Rev. Stephen Thurston, D.D. He graduated at Dartmouth Ci>llege in 1804, and was ordained at Win- throp, Me., in 1807, where he remained pastor until 1851, with no intermission except the year in which he was agent for the American Antislavery Society (1837), and the fuur months in 1850 when he attended the Peace
Congress in Frankfort, Germany. During the remainder of his life, he labored four years each at Vassalborough, Searsport, and Litchfield, ]\Ie. He died at the latter place. May 7, 1805. Dr. Thurston was a man of emi- nent piety, an earnest speaker, and no mean theologian. In 1819 he declined a professorship in Bangor Theolog- ical Seminary, and in 1853 wished to decline the de- gree of D.D. from Dartmouth College. He published twenty-two sermons, some in pamphlet form and some in periodicals: — Growth in Grace: — History of Win- throp (247 pp.): — Letters of a Father to a Son: — and newsjiajier articles without number. See Cong. Quar- terly, 18G7, p. ol3-o-28.
Thyati'ra (Qvanipa \_Ta], Vulg. civitas Thyatire- norum), a city in Asia Minor, the seat of one of the seven Apocalyptic churthes (Rev. i, 11 ; ii, 18). It was situated on the confines of Mysia and Ionia, a little to the south of the river Hyllus, and at the northern ex- tremity of the valley between Mount Tmolus and the southern ridge of Temnus. It was founded by Seleu- cus Nicator, and was regarded as a Macedonian colony ( Strabo, xiii, 928 ), from the strong Macedonian ele- ment in its population, it being one of the many Mace- donian colonies established in Asia Minor, in the sequel of the destruction of the Persian empire by Alexander. The original inhabitants had probably been distributed in hamlets round about when Thyatira was founded. Two of these, the inhabitants of which are termed Areni and Nagdemi, are noticed in an inscription of the Ro- man times. According to I'liny, it was known in ear- lier times by the names Pelopin and Euhippia (Hist. Nat. V, 29). The Roman road from Pergamos to Sar- dis passed through it. The resources of tlie neighbor- ing region may be inferred both from the name Euhip- inu and from the magnitude of the booty which was