Posted on 01/25/2007 3:25:22 PM PST by Cavalcabo
If you've ever looked toward the front of St. Thomas of Villanova Church during Sunday Mass - left side, near the altar - you may have wondered why a select group of people there were laughing. It is because they know something you do not know. They are liturgical ministers. They are laughing at all the things that go wrong during Mass. To the untrained eye, everything appears to be going smoothly. But to the group that runs around behind the scenes, no Mass is ever without a slip-up.
Rule number one in Liturgical Ministry: always pretend you know what you are doing.
"We try to make things look smooth and confident," says Noel Terranova, associate director of Campus Ministry and adjunct professor in the Villanova Center for Liberal Education. "Then, people think that is what is supposed to happen."
Because all of the eccentric priests have their own quirky ways of celebrating Mass, it is impossible to know exactly what to do in every situation. Solution: improvise.
The three types of ministries are hospitality, Eucharistic and lectors.
Hospitality ministers are glorified altar servers. In addition to processing and recessing with the priest, these two ministers set the altar and assist with the Eucharistic gifts. They also stand ready with bowl, water and towel to cleanse the priest of his sins.
Before Mass, these ministers distribute collection baskets throughout the church and greet members of the congregation.
After Mass, hospitality ministers sort the collection money. They are always excited to find a few hundred dollar bills tucked in the baskets.
Ministers sometimes have additional duties, such as providing priests with game scores during important Villanova basketball matchups.
Eucharistic ministers offer the Host and wine to the congregation during Communion. They are also the resident dishwashers. After every Mass, all of the chalices must be cleaned and made ready for the next liturgy.
Lectors are responsible for proclaiming the first two readings, as well as the welcoming statement, the intentions and any announcements. After Mass, they must methodically check every single pew for discarded worship aids. The first reader is responsible for processing and recessing with the cross.
The ministers sometimes get a little competitive, pitting the 8 p.m. Mass against the 6 p.m. or the 10 p.m. Last year, the 6 p.m. Mass even had a mascot named Pretty Pony, a blue stuffed animal that was often stolen by the 8 p.m. ministers.
The Liturgical Council is a group of nine juniors and seniors who are in charge of all 155 liturgical ministers. They arrive 45 minutes before Mass each week to check-in ministers as they arrive at their home base, the St. Augustine Room. The council also prepares the Eucharistic gifts.
Other council duties include running the special liturgies, such as the Welcome Back Mass, End-of Semester Mass and, this year, the Inauguration Liturgy. The day before a large Mass, council members
load vans with all of the necessary materials for the liturgy site.
All members of the Liturgical Council have keys that unlock many hidden parts of the church, including the basement, sacristy and, rumor has it, the bell tower.
On the subject of the council's weekly meetings, Ingiosi says, "We meet every Friday to read the Gospel and break bread, which entails enjoying the 'LC' special: pizza and Greek salad."
The Liturgical Council's fearless leader, Terranova, says of liturgies at Villanova, "It's sort of a production, but it's a ritual of faith. It tells us who we are." He admits that there have been some big slip ups.
"During an outdoor liturgy, we decided at the last minute to forgo a sprinkling rite," he says.
"However, the priest began reading it anyway, so we grabbed the bowl that we use for the priest to wash his hands and ripped some flowers out of an arrangement to create a makeshift sprinkling contraption."
So if you pay close attention at Mass, next time you see all those liturgical ministers laughing, you might just be able to join in.
Wow, Susan: you are going to have some explaining to do. V's wife.
In the first place, they are called "Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist", and more importantly, it's the Body and Blood of Christ, not host and wine.
Idiot.
Not to them, it isn't.
I wish a declaration would come down from on high evicting every single last one of these people from the sanctuary and the altar. There is absolutely no need for them and they have reduced the appearance of the Mass to a meaningless crowd scene.
One thing not mentioned in the article is that they are usually directed by some ditzy woman, usually called a "liturgist," who is paid $40,000+ per year to attend events like Roger Mahony's festivities and think of bizarre things for this crowd to do while they mill around the altar.
I hope so. Our orthodox (and young) priest here was arranging the liturgies, that is, training the altar boys, etc., and the old-school Vatican II pastor hired the usual ditzy woman "liturgist," who now roams the aisles ordering the ushers around and seems to delight in scheduling girls who look too young to have even made their first Communion to serve at the bishop's masses and hold the books upside down. She also did some bizarre dance with the Easter candle and a bowl of incense. The latter was not at a Mass, however, but at another event in the church, so I suppose there's something to be grateful for.
pathetic. They sure aren't getting a Catholic education if this fool's work is typical.
I wonder if the Villanova dorms get EWTN, that would be a good starting point at least for these dunces.
I apologize for not putting a barf alert in the heading. I just reread this, and when I got to the Pretty Pony part, I had to yak.
St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, pray for us.
St. Augustine, pray for us.
St. Thomas of Villanova, pray for us.
Father had the entire Christmas Pageant up there with him at the Christmas Mass. The audience applauded throughout the ritual. At the recessional, Santa showed up. Throughout the mass, Security Staff ran up and down the aisels. And ordinarily Father is very theologically sound.V's wife
Egads! Well, maybe he's theologically sound, but his liturgical sense is sure off! Or maybe somebody sneaked out and hired a "liturgist" when the parishioners weren't looking...
Nah, we're one of the New York churches slated for closure and packing in the once a year religious education families with hoopla and plenty of fantastical stuff is sure to keep em happy. My Mom noted that this was so similar to a Presbyterian Church pageant she had attended. See, the choice is clear: keep em happy or we'll shut you down. But, Father is pretty wise, cuz next week the homily was just as sound and theological as you could want it. At first I was going to write an angry note, but then I realized is this is the way he has to wrangle in order to keep the church open for a year of perfectly good masses, I guess this is his little bargain. Is he wrong? I don't know. V's wife.
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