Saturday, December 9, 2006
To An Altar Boy
I don't know how many of my readers serve/had served at the Altar... Below is a poem entitled 'To An Altar Boy' by Saint John Berchmans.
To be Christ's page at the altar,
To serve Him freely there.
Where even the Angels falter,
Bowed low in reverent prayer.
To touch the throne most holy,
To hand the gifts for the feast,
To see Him meekly, lowly,
Descend at the word of the priest.
To hear man's poor petition,
To sound the silver bell,
When He in sweet submission,
Comes down with us to dwell.
No grander mission surely
Could Saints or men enjoy;
No heart should love more purely,
Than yours my altar boy.
God bless you, lad, forever,
And keep you in His care,
And Guard you that you never
Belie the robes you wear.
For white bespeaks untainted
A heart both tried and true;
And red tolls love the sainted
The holy martyrs knew.
Throughout life, then, endeavor
God's graces to employ;
And be in heart forever
A holy altar boy.
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So beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Things like this always make this convert sad, however, because our Church tradition leaves little opportunity for girls to serve in such a capacity. I know the arguments for altar boys, and I agree with them, which makes the longing to serve the priest and Our Eucharistic Lord all the harder for me.
Oughtn't there be a way to teach girls how to serve and assist at Mass that does not confuse gender and vocational differences?
Things like this always make this convert sad, however, because our Church tradition leaves little opportunity for girls to serve in such a capacity. I know the arguments for altar boys, and I agree with them, which makes the longing to serve the priest and Our Eucharistic Lord all the harder for me.
Oughtn't there be a way to teach girls how to serve and assist at Mass that does not confuse gender and vocational differences?
# posted by 
: Sunday, December 10, 2006 12:45:00 AM
: Sunday, December 10, 2006 12:45:00 AM
Well, to me the best way to assist in the N.O. Mass is to clearly make the prescribed responses. Since the N.O. Mass is intended to be a participative mass, we should not be creating our own liturgical abuses by saying our own prayers or kneeling when it is not prescribed, etc... Of course, other good ways to assist would be to ready our hearts and minds by saying the prayers before Mass (sadly many parishes no longer have these prayers printed on their missals), to offer our intentions together with the priest, meditate on the Passion during the moments culminating to the consecration, praying the mass; I know Eucharistic Prayers 1 & 2 by heart, so I silently recite it with the priest.
I think women should be allowed to serve in any ministry apart from that of the Altar Servers & Communion Ministers.
In fact, you can serve our Eucharistic Lord by Adoration: offering your intentions and that of your family & friends, make repartion, thanksgiving, praying for vocations. The plus side of all of this is that you'll get tremendous amounts of graces from it. It'll be great if you could alos promote perpetual Adoration. Serving our Lord in the Eucharist does not necessarily need to come from the Altar.
I hope this helps. ;)
I think women should be allowed to serve in any ministry apart from that of the Altar Servers & Communion Ministers.
In fact, you can serve our Eucharistic Lord by Adoration: offering your intentions and that of your family & friends, make repartion, thanksgiving, praying for vocations. The plus side of all of this is that you'll get tremendous amounts of graces from it. It'll be great if you could alos promote perpetual Adoration. Serving our Lord in the Eucharist does not necessarily need to come from the Altar.
I hope this helps. ;)
It is certainly true that praying the Mass well from the pews is a far better way to assist than to be a distracted altar server (not that all servers are distracted). Every year that I'm Catholic, I grow a little more in my ability to do so. And all the practices that you mention are really as essential to Catholic men as they are to Catholic women. All we layfolk need to learn pew-devotion. ;)
I suppose I am thinking more of the younger girls (altar boy age) who do not yet have the maturity to be such prayer-warriors as you describe. Altar boys learn devotion, reverence, and ritual as they learn how to serve. Little girls often only learn that they'll get in trouble if they squirm too much in the pew. As we give the boys this much-needed formation and support in their duties to Our Lord, is there some way in which we can do the same thing for the girls?
I suppose I am thinking more of the younger girls (altar boy age) who do not yet have the maturity to be such prayer-warriors as you describe. Altar boys learn devotion, reverence, and ritual as they learn how to serve. Little girls often only learn that they'll get in trouble if they squirm too much in the pew. As we give the boys this much-needed formation and support in their duties to Our Lord, is there some way in which we can do the same thing for the girls?
# posted by : Monday, December 11, 2006 5:17:00 AM
: Monday, December 11, 2006 5:17:00 AM
Well, I suppose it comes down to good catechesis. We need good, orthodox catechists for this job. The way they'll view the Church and the respect & reverence they'll give it all lies in the hands of the Catechists (and parents). So "squirm too much in the pew" wouldn't be too much of a problem if they are taught right. There is a Priory here that celebrates the Tridentine Mass, all the young girls & boys are extremely well behaved and remain silent throughout the liturgy. A good example of good catechesis (of course the environment of a traditional Catholic church also plays a part by setting the tone for silence and reverence).
It's rather unfortunate that young girls don't have that 'equal' opportunity to serve until they reach a certain maturity.
In the parish I grew up in, we had a Children's Mass every month; it was cute to see the music, lectoring, hospitality and altar serving ministries comprise only of children. And the girls all had their fair share of serving. Perhaps, such a liturgy can be introduced in your parish as well.
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It's rather unfortunate that young girls don't have that 'equal' opportunity to serve until they reach a certain maturity.
In the parish I grew up in, we had a Children's Mass every month; it was cute to see the music, lectoring, hospitality and altar serving ministries comprise only of children. And the girls all had their fair share of serving. Perhaps, such a liturgy can be introduced in your parish as well.
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