A very brief history of Altar Servers!

A very brief history of Altar Servers!

Altar servers have been a part of Church history since the second century, with those male faithful who were deemed worthy of assisting the priest while he said the Mass. For most of the Church’s history this service has been provided with reverence and dedication by youth and men in the interest of vocations to the priesthood. In much later times, up to the reforms of Vatican II, which changed the language of the Mass from Latin to English, the role of the altar boy became a solemn duty of dedicated youth to serve before the altar of God before reaching adulthood and marriage.  The duties were serious and involved lots of study. If you think that altar serving is a chore today, the 1950’s and 1960’s was even more so. First, all boys who made their first communion were expected to become altar boys.  Parents expected that their boys would go to the altar.  On Sundays, you saw only girls with their parents in the pews.  The boys always served if they attended Mass.

Altar boys were expected to serve from the age of 7 or 8 up to the age of 19.  In this way, each church had consistently 20-30 altar boys on duty.  When older boys went to college or got married, new ones were always there to take their place. You just didn’t show up and expect to serve that Sunday.  First, there came summer school.  There, the boys studied Latin and woe to the altar boy who could not learn his Latin responses, he would have to come before the pastor and recite them from memory over and over again!

In 1994, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops implemented the Holy See’s decision to permit women and girls to serve at the altar.

What does it mean to become an altar server today?

One of the things I am often asked by people is why I made the decision to become an altar server. Firstly serving on the altar is not a chore but a privilege and honour. In nearly 20 years of service to the Church, one might argue that it is a chore because of the commitment required and doing the same things, week in, week out. All too often is it easy for one to comment upon how laborious being an altar server actually is however we need to remind ourselves of what it is they actually do and what they actually represent.  Becoming an altar server is a commitment from that person to God, a commitment that is also made to the Parish Priest and to the congregation as a whole.  Father Chris depends on us and needs to know that we will be there on time as he needs to know that we are prepared. With our help, Father can ensure mass goes smoothly. The congregation also count on us to be present at Mass as we form an important part of prayer leadership. We have been called to serve and it is important that we recognise that call and respond appropriately and willingly. I think one of the dangers is seeing altar servers as just being ‘there’ when it is actually much more than that. Wearing the cassocks and ensuring they are clean is important, but the person who actually wears it should not do so out of pride, but out of humility in recognition of the role they have been asked to partake in.

The future of altar servers at St Bernadette’s

As with anything in life, there are times when one looks back at their service within the Church and steps to one side to let the younger generation take up the challenge which I went through all those years ago. It is refreshing to see so many young children embracing this particular role and playing an active role in the life of the Church. We as a Church need to encourage this more often as the older generation might not be around for that long! The role of the altar server is both challenging and rewarding but it does not seem that long ago that I first wore the cassock as a child. How time has flown by!

Friedrich McCarthy