Being an Altar Server has allowed me to experience several perspectives of Altar Serving apart from my own. My experience is drastically different from that of my colleagues. With this in mind, we can all agree that Serving gives a varied experience to all of us who serve. The common denominator among us all is that we do it because God has called us to do it. As I have previously mentioned, Altar Serving is really important to me as it gives me a connection to God. It is through this connection that I can be a better Catholic.

As I have mentioned before in the First Essay, I am an Altar Server for 3 years and one of my favorite masses I was able to serve was the 2022 Easter Vigil Mass. As a Recap, it was one of those special Masses. While some things remained the same, such as the general order of Mass, there were special ceremonies such as the beginning of Mass lit by candlelight as well as new Catholics receiving Sacraments of initiation. The importance of this Mass is that it is during Easter Sunday that we are saved from sin by Jesus Christ. This Mass is the Super Bowl equivalent to us Servers and it is one we take super seriously, not that we didn’t take the other ones seriously. I look back on this Mass fondly because of the build-up, seeing a packed Church, and finally experiencing the Easter Vigil Mass after 40 days of build-up after Ash Wednesday. There were at least 300 people in attendance that night as well as 9 Altar Servers. Each person’s story will be different from the other’s. For some, they have been doing this for a long time and this is another brick in the wall. For others, this is something new that they can do and is therefore a little more special. I fall into the latter category as this is my second Easter Vigil. A lot of what I do is from the perspective of a Server. To see what it is like from a Congregation’s point of view, I went to a Mass I wasn’t scheduled to serve to not just attend Mass but to also examine the Servers from a different standpoint. This allows me to see what the common person sees as Altar Servers.

I enter Church and take a seat. It is 8 AM on the 13th of November. The Cantar greets the crowd and tells them where the entrance hymn will come from. As the Cantar begins to sing, the Altar Servers gingerly begin walking down the center aisle. In order from left to right are the candle bearer, the crucifer, and a second candle bearer. The first candle bearer is a confirmation candidate that is a temporary server; a brand new protocol requires Confirmation Grads to be servers until they receive Confirmation. Behind them is another Confirmation Candidate. At the back of the procession, is Fr. Jim. The confirmation candidates are wearing a white alb with a red rope tied around their waist. They are also wearing cross necklaces. The other candle bearer is wearing a white alb, a green rope around their waist, and a cross necklace with red lace. The Cross bearer is wearing a completely different outfit with a black alb and a white vestment that goes over it. The Priest is wearing a green vestment over a Priestly Alb. As they approach the front of the Church, they synchronously do a head bow towards the tabernacle, and then they turn to their right, they proceed to walk up the stairs and place their items onto the stands at the highest point of the Altar. They then return to their seats and await the next instruction. The Priest signals the Server up by saying “Let us Pray.” to which the Server picks up a Book of Prayers for the Priest. After the Priest concludes the prayer, the Server sits back down on the right side of the Altar with the other Servers. When the cantar begins to sing: “Alleluia.” They all stand up with their hands together as if they were praying. They remain standing along with the congregation until the Gospel is finished. As the Mass goes on, they are almost motionless. Until the Crucifer exits the Altar through a door on the left-hand side of the highest point of the Altar. They return several minutes later and sit back down.

When the Priest’s sermon has ended, one of the confirmation servers brings up a green binder for the Priest to read. Upon seeing this, I noticed she was wearing sneakers which were mostly black but were white at the bottom. This was contrary to the other servers who were wearing black shoes. When the Priest finished with the Prayer, she returned to her seat, placed the binder down, and sat back down. As that happened, the two candle bearers began to set up the Altar beginning with setting the Book of Prayers on the Altar And placing the Chalice on the Altar. The Book of Prayers was placed on the Right side facing the Priest and the Chalice was placed on the Left. They then returned to the table from which they came. While this was happening, the Crucifer took the Cross from the altar and brought it to the back of the Church to pick up the two members of the Congregation to bring up the necessities for Mass. One person had a flask of wine while the other had a covered chalice that was presumably filled with Hosts for Mass. They begin processing down the center aisle to the front of the Church where the Priest is standing with candle bearers at either side. The Crucifer goes back to the stands while the two candle bearers take the two items. The server with the wine goes back to the table from before while the Chalice is taken to the Altar. This server then meets the other server at the table so the server who dropped off the wine can pick up the flask of water. They then return to the Altar and give the Priest the water and wine. They then give a slight head bow and return to the table to pick up a golden flask and a gold pan as well as a small rag. The priest washes his hands with the water and dries them with the rag. At this time, all servers return to their seats. As the Mass goes on, there comes a certain point where the whole congregation kneels. The Server then rings the bell whenever the Priest puts his hands over the chalices, lifts a chalice, and lifts a host. After this is complete, everyone stands and recites the Our Father. During the part of Mass when everyone shares the sign of peace, each server bows at each other to express peace towards one another. They then step up to the same level as the priest and kneel along with the congregation. The Priest says another blessing and distributes the Eucharist to the Servers. The Crucifer doubles as a Eucharistic Minister in this case so he gets a container of Eucharist and distributes them to the people. When the distributing of the Eucharist is complete, one of the candle bearers takes the flask of water to the Priest who then pours it into the Chalice. The two candle bearers take the chalices to the table with the water and wine. After a brief meditation song, the Priest again says: “Let us Pray.” to which a Confirmation server arrives with the Book of Prayers. After this was completed and the announcements were done, the servers picked up the items they came in with and processed them to the center aisle. They all bowed with the Priest and did a 180-degree rotation and walked to the back of the Church. This is where Mass ends and the Altar Server’s job is done.

To an outsider, what I just explained may be very difficult to comprehend. Luckily, there are articles online to help counter this problem. An Article by LA Catholics states: “The server is a member of the assembly who assists the priest and deacon during the Eucharist and other liturgical ceremonies so that the liturgy can be conducted with grace and reverence” (LA Catholics Paragraph 3). So what is being said is that Altar Servers help out when needed by a Priest or Deacon. They are essentially the pit crew to the racecar driver. A few lines forward, the article states: “Servers carry the cross and the processional candles. They hold the book for the priest celebrant when he is not at the altar. They carry the incense and censer and present the bread and wine along with the water to the priest during the preparation of the gifts or assist him when he receives the gifts from the people. Servers assist in the washing of hands by the priest and assist the priest and deacon as necessary. In the absence of a sacristan, the servers may prepare the altar and sacred vessels before Mass. The number of servers varies according to the nature of the celebration” (LA Catholics Paragraph 6). This whole line describes what I saw at Mass. Servers are the ones responsible for setting up the Altar, carrying Crosses and Candles as well as other responsibilities like acting as a lectern for the Priest. Altar Servers are important as Mass wouldn’t be the same without them.

As I mentioned earlier on in this Essay, there are multiple perspectives on Altar Serving. To demonstrate this, I have conducted a personal interview with Jon who is the current Director of the Ministry of Altar Servers. He is my superior and is also one of the older servers since he has served since 2012. Outside of the Church, I’ve known them for years and I’ve known their younger brother for over a decade. I feel that they have seen it all and therefore would be the best person to interview about Altar Serving. On November 20th, 2022, I interviewed Jon asking him various questions. 

What I noticed is that some of his answers reflected the original purpose of Altar Serving. For instance, he did mention he wanted to be a priest at some point in his life (Marasigan Question 2). Altar Serving’s original purpose was to create priests (Altar Server Guidelines Paragraph 2). What we can see here is that Altar Serving legitimately made him consider the priesthood. We can also see that he went the route of Altar Serving to further consider Priesthood. What I also noticed was that he joined Altar Serving since his family are devout Catholics (Marasigan Question 1). While this isn’t necessarily a topic I saw discussed in any of the articles, it is mentioned that Altar Servers must be Catholic to be a Server (LA Catholics Paragraph 3). It certainly helps if your family are Catholics especially if they are devout. As I have mentioned, Jon is the Director of the Ministry of Altar Serving at my Parish. However, he wasn’t put in that position on his own accord (Marasigan Question 3). One can infer that Altar Serving creates leaders such as Jon. One can also infer that Altar Serving shows something more: commitment (Marasigan Question 8). He definitely would not have gotten that position if it weren’t for commitment. This does also show that Altar Serving fosters commitment in those who serve. Which in turn can lead to better things, in Jon’s case the Director of the Ministry. Jon stated that he enjoys working with others (Marasigan Question 6). This also shows how teamwork is also a skill fostered as an Altar Server. This does make sense as there are multiple tasks that Altar Servers go through that require a lot more hands. As someone who has served both by myself and with others, the job of serving is easier when with others and it does also establish a connection with those you serve with. 

 Altar Serving comes with Many Perspectives. From an outsider who may seem confused with the different rituals to the Server’s experience on the Altar. The bottom line is that Altar Serving is inherently important as it allows the Youth to be engaged in Mass. The Catholic Church wouldn’t be the same without the Altar Servers.

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