Posted on 10/21/2010 3:06:48 PM PDT by NYer
No, the boys aren’t lazy. They DON’T want to be up there with girls.
When I ask (fourth graders and up) children if they would like to be an altar server I do what the articles says. I invite only the boys.
Girls can be encouraged in other roles, perhaps as assisting a catechist for Sunday School/Religious Ed classes.
Yes.
Point of clarification, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are not Eucharistic Ministers. The only Eucharistic Minister(s) at Mass is the Priest(s).
1. The Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion
[154.] As has already been recalled, “the only minister who can confect the Sacrament of the Eucharist in persona Christi is a validly ordained Priest”.[254] Hence the name “minister of the Eucharist” belongs properly to the Priest alone. Moreover, also by reason of their sacred Ordination, the ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are the Bishop, the Priest and the Deacon,[255] to whom it belongs therefore to administer Holy Communion to the lay members of Christ’s faithful during the celebration of Mass. In this way their ministerial office in the Church is fully and accurately brought to light, and the sign value of the Sacrament is made complete.
[155.] In addition to the ordinary ministers there is the formally instituted acolyte, who by virtue of his institution is an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion even outside the celebration of Mass. If, moreover, reasons of real necessity prompt it, another lay member of Christ’s faithful may also be delegated by the diocesan Bishop, in accordance with the norm of law,[256] for one occasion or for a specified time, and an appropriate formula of blessing may be used for the occasion. This act of appointment, however, does not necessarily take a liturgical form, nor, if it does take a liturgical form, should it resemble sacred Ordination in any way. Finally, in special cases of an unforeseen nature, permission can be given for a single occasion by the Priest who presides at the celebration of the Eucharist.[257]
[156.] This function is to be understood strictly according to the name by which it is known, that is to say, that of extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, and not “special minister of Holy Communion” nor “extraordinary minister of the Eucharist” nor “special minister of the Eucharist”, by which names the meaning of this function is unnecessarily and improperly broadened.
[157.] If there is usually present a sufficient number of sacred ministers for the distribution of Holy Communion, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion may not be appointed. Indeed, in such circumstances, those who may have already been appointed to this ministry should not exercise it. The practice of those Priests is reprobated who, even though present at the celebration, abstain from distributing Communion and hand this function over to laypersons.[258]
[158.] Indeed, the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion may administer Communion only when the Priest and Deacon are lacking, when the Priest is prevented by weakness or advanced age or some other genuine reason, or when the number of faithful coming to Communion is so great that the very celebration of Mass would be unduly prolonged.[259] This, however, is to be understood in such a way that a brief prolongation, considering the circumstances and culture of the place, is not at all a sufficient reason.
[159.] It is never allowed for the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion to delegate anyone else to administer the Eucharist, as for example a parent or spouse or child of the sick person who is the communicant.
[160.] Let the diocesan Bishop give renewed consideration to the practice in recent years regarding this matter, and if circumstances call for it, let him correct it or define it more precisely. Where such extraordinary ministers are appointed in a widespread manner out of true necessity, the diocesan Bishop should issue special norms by which he determines the manner in which this function is to be carried out in accordance with the law, bearing in mind the tradition of the Church.
I would definitely give it another try. If you look around, you should be able to find a good, orthodox, conservative parish. First order of business is to find out if there's an FSSP parish in your diocese. Nobody is more conservative than they are (unless it's the SPPX crowd, but you don't necessarily want to go that far).
And, once you settle in, be sure to volunteer so that those managing women don't have an excuse to take over everything in sight!
You are right. Unless the boys have been feminized or forced, they, at that age, do not want to be a part of a group that eventually become predominantly female. The same thing is true of what used to be patrol boys as school crossing guards, etc.
Altar boys were the chief source of vocations to the priesthood. They saw not only the liturgy but many other aspects of the life of the priest as they "helped out" around the parish. Until the gays took over and changed everything, many heterosexual priests left, and women began to run things, there were strong vocations. Now look at the mess. Those in seminary work report some increase in numbers (job market bad) but the quality is not the same.
Maybe, I think the real reason has more to do with the perception of it being a "girl" thing now.
When as the girls join, they soon take over and the boys stop wanting to be alter boys. I’ve seen it happen in my parish with my own grandsons.
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A Calvinist finds in the article food for thought. Thanks for posting it.
I agree with you 100% on this. In the Eastern Church, we have long preserved the ancient canons regarding women serving in the Church. Women in the Eastern Church are not even allowed near the altar or behind the Iconastasis, unless they are changing the linens. As for “ministers” who give out the Sacrament, there is no such thing. Only the Priest or Deacon or in some cases, the Bishop may administer the Holy Eucharist.
The boys do not want to serve with the girls. If you would take the girls out — the boys would come forth in droves.
Another thing is institute an acolyte class. When the boys reach a certain age they are an acolyte. Girls can’t go there.
That’s strange. Because a sacramentary is the book on the altar, not a bible.
A woman was doing a reading from the Bible from a lectern during Mass. You can look at a tree, I’ll see the forest. I wasn’t an Altar boy or a Church architect.
Women have no place leading or reading from sacred books.
Deborah, Esther, Mary. Not to mention Ruth, Jael, and Rahab.
But, the author seems to have forgotten the most compelling reason: the disbelief of men. Peter and John did worse than not even believe the women when they brought the Good News of the Resurrection. They thought it was foolish nonsense.
I’m not Catholic and my church tradition doesn’t allow women to Preach or become preachers, elders, or deacons, regardless of the female presbyters mentioned in Paul’s letters and the earliest writings of the Church. However,it’s due to the hard hearts of men, not the will of the Lord.
At my local Childhood Cathoic church only people want serve in the mass are Altar female servers
I think reason why the boys lazy
I think that the reason why is that no normal young boy would actively join a group that is female dominated unless there was a very overriding reason. I have four sons, none of whom are lazy. All are very active in various activities that go far beyond just the minimum (Boy Scouts, TAG, school patrol, choir, football, basketball etc.). The only dominant female in the bunch is in the TAG programme, and they do TAG in spite of, not because of, the female leaders.
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