Posted on 01/09/2016 3:12:21 PM PST by NYer
I’ve written glowingly in the past about the altar servers at my parish--and even posted some advice from an expert about how to launch a thriving program--but I’m pleased to see some attention being given to our neighbors upstate, who are having similar success.
From The Evangelist in Albany:
Immaculate Conception parish in Glenville is bursting at the seams with altar servers.
While some parishes struggle to get girls and boys to volunteer as altar servers, Immaculate Conception currently has more than 50 young people trained to assist Rev. Jerome Gingras, pastor, at Masses.
Ministry coordinator Tom Bigos told The Evangelist that the community Father Gingras has created among the servers is a big reason the ministry is so popular.
"A lot of our young people really enjoy being with Father Jerry," Mr. Bigos said.
Father Gingras explained that he checks on the servers before a liturgy even begins: "" always make it a point to talk to them and ask them if they’re all set."
He doesn't reprimand them for making mistakes, either. "I always try to be calm with them," he said. “There are a lot of little mistakes; they're kids."
The altar servers, who are between the ages of eight and 17, understand that they aren't always perfect. Carrie Watkins, a sixth-grader from Iroquois Middle School, noted that, when a fellow server makes a mistake, others have to notice it immediately and fix it, without missing a beat.
"We have a lot of jobs," she said.
I was thinking along those lines myself. The girls are fine but I don't think that being altar servers gives THEM the idea to be nuns.
Boys, becoming priests, have the authority to say the words that allow God to change the bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our good Lord.
THAT is the uniqueness of boys' possible future. Not girls. Sorry.
Are you speculating?
In our parish, on those occasions when no boys are present, the priest serves alone. That includes all aspects of the liturgy, including the censer and incense boat which are repeatedly used throughout every mass.
You are right about that, Mrs. Don-O. At our parish, the boys are aged 10 and up. Recently, we lost a handful of the big boys to college (including my own oldest son), but it doesn’t stop them from quizzing and drilling the younger ones whenever they’re home from school. Before Mass, the college men lurk around making sure everything is done just so, and correcting things when they aren’t.
Several of them still vest and serve when they’re home, and ALL of them would serve if necessary. At least two are seriously thinking about the priesthood. The congregation loves seeing the college men come back and the altar boys DO look up to them. It is considered a great honor (and extremely masculine) to serve at Mass.
I love watching them all. LOL...I’ve often described their movements as being somewhere between a complicated military formation and a ballet.
BTW, the girls in our parish comprise the very, very talented schola.
Regards,
It also implies intimacy. You’d think in this day and age both priest and community would insist on a more austere and respectful approach. Why does every adult want to be a pal to children? Children don’t even like it!
At my mother’s funeral Mass, yet again I witnessed sloppy girls (dressed as monks!) running around the altar seemingly without knowing what they were doing. In my youth and at the Tridentine Masses I’ve attended in NYC, the altar boys are so well-trained they are practically invisible. They were not and are not a part of some “show”.
Well said.
Part of my boys’ training was to make themselves as unobtrusive as possible: Never rush (NEVER run!!), be dignified no matter what calamity occurs (like an accidentally spilled-over thurible that sets the carpet on fire), and remain reverent under every circumstance.
I do admit to watching them more closely than I should — at least when they first started. I just wanted to see what we had to work on at home. I no longer feel the need to watch them; they know what they’re doing.
Regards,
I am amazed at how sloppy the girls are. Perhaps, as someone else suggested, kids today are just not disciplined enough. That’s very sad. But at least you did your job! Happy New Year to you.
Why default to girl servers? If there aren't enough boys, recruit men. Might help foster delayed vocations.
Also greeters. I head a greeters ministry.
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