ADVICE TO ALTAR SERVERS
By the Fathers

                                 TRADITIO Traditional Roman Catholic Network   
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                                                      Last Update:  09/01/07


        You have been given a divine privilege above all earthy honors in 
being permitted within the sanctuary to serve at the Holy Sacrifice of the 
Mass, at which the Church gives to God, officially and in the name of 
all, the worship that is due to Him alone.

        In earlier times, only ordained acolytes, that is, clerics in the 
fourth minor order conferred upon candidates to the priesthood, were 
permitted to serve at Mass.  Today, when the number of clerics in minor 
orders is smaller, custom has tolerated specially-selected laymen to 
substitute in these duties.

        As an altar server, you should reflect the same attitude as the 
priest in celebrating Holy Mass.  Specifically, you should perform your 
liturgical duties "digne, attente, devote," that is worthily, attentively, 
and devoutly, in body, mind, and heart.  Your sacred duties require of 
you the greatest reverence in the sanctuary, the deepest attention to 
your duties, and the most zealous preparation of all your liturgical 
actions.

        You should always conduct yourselves worthily in your position, a 
position to which even the angels of heaven cannot aspire.  If you serve 
with care and devotion, you will edify the congregation, who look to you 
as an example for the proper disposition of assisting at Mass.  If, 
however, you perform your duties with haste, carelessness, and 
inattention, you will degrade "the most beautiful thing this side of 
heaven," the worship of Almighty God in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

        In and around the church, in the sacristy, and especially around the 
altar, you should show by your demeanor the holiness of the duties that 
you are performing.  Even your exterior cleanliness should be a mark of 
your interior purity of heart.  You should, of course, avoid any levity, 
irreverence, and idle talk in the presence of Our Lord in the Blessed 
Sacrament.  Before Mass, when you are waiting for the procession to the 
altar, you should be preparing your mind and heart for the sacred duties 
upon which you are about to enter.  At the altar your movements should 
be stately and dignified, not hasty or affected.

        The vestments that you wear, the cassock and the surplice, are 
actually clerical vestments that by exception those specially-selected laymen 
assisting at the altar are permitted by custom to wear.  You should 
always put them on prayerfully, with your attention on the sacred duties 
that you are about to enter upon.  It is laudable to say a prayer before 
putting on these vestments:

        For the Cassock:

        Dominus, pars haereditatis meae, et calicis mei:  tu es, qui restitues 
        hereditatem meam mihi.

        O Lord, the portion of my inheritance, and my chalice:  You are He 
        who will restore my inheritance to me.


        For the Surplice:

        Indue me, Domine, novum hominem, qui secundum Deum creatus est in 
        iustitia et sanctitate veritatis.  Amen.

        Invest me, O Lord, as a new man, who was created by God in justice 
        and the holiness of truth.  Amen.


        Devout altar servers have been the cause of conversions to the faith.  
On the other hand, careless servers have been the cause of the failure 
of souls to come to the faith.  It is said that the American poet 
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was kept from the Faith by the irreverence he 
witnessed of altar servers near the presence of Our Lord in the 
Tabernacle.

        The French poet, Paul Claudel, on the other hand, was won 
back to the Church when he observed the reverence of those at the altar 
in Notre Dame Cathedral.  "It was the most profound and grandiose poetry, 
enhanced by the most august gestures ever confided to human beings.  I could 
not sufficiently satiate myself with the spectacle of the Mass."

        May you at all times conduct yourself worthily, attentively, and 
devoutly, and by your actions and example at the altar bring glory to 
God and many souls to the one true Church.