Bare feet on Good Friday?

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My son is an altar server at our parish and is scheduled this year for his first Good Friday service. During the training he went to he was told that all the altar servers and the ministers will go in bare feet during that service. I must admit that I have been to few Good Friday services, because my work schedules always seemed to be against me, but I don’t remember ever seeing people in the sanctuary in bare feet. Have the services I have been to before been done oddly, or is this the priest trying to be creative? It wouldn’t be the first time, sadly.

Thanks for any info.
 
cothrige said:
My son is an altar server at our parish and is scheduled this year for his first Good Friday service. During the training he went to he was told that all the altar servers and the ministers will go in bare feet during that service. I must admit that I have been to few Good Friday services, because my work schedules always seemed to be against me, but I don’t remember ever seeing people in the sanctuary in bare feet. Have the services I have been to before been done oddly, or is this the priest trying to be creative? It wouldn’t be the first time, sadly.

Thanks for any info.
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I’ve only gone a few times, and I was really young the last time, but I certainly don’t remember bare feet. However, there probably is no big problem with having bare feet in the first place. I do not know for sure, though. I would wait until someone more knowledgeable arrives.
 
It is the norm at our church as well. They first vote if they want to wear socks or go bare.
 
I recall that the servers removed their shoes before adoring the cross in pre-VII. Haven’t seen [or served] it in a long time. [That was the day your mother checked you on the way out to make sure you weren’t wearing socks with holes in them. :D]
 
Every time I see one of these traditions I’ve never seen before, I just smile to myself. I love Catholicism. I love all these little “tradition-ettes”
 
When venerating the cross the ministers remove their shoes before kissing the feet.
 
Last Good Friday service I went to, the priest did remove his chausable and his shoes before he venerated the cross then when done, he put them back on. I do not recall when we went to venerate the cross, how many went up without shoes on or not as I did not pay attention to that fact.
 
This was a norm at my parish for quite a long time. In the Good Friday worship aid for the parish’s Good Friday service, it would note, “At the Veneration of the Cross, please form a line as if you were going to receive Holy Communion. You may also remove your shoes as Moses did to symbolize that you are on holy ground.”
 
CatholicZ09 said:
This was a norm at my parish for quite a long time. In the Good Friday worship aid for the parish’s Good Friday service, it would note, “At the Veneration of the Cross, please form a line as if you were going to receive Holy Communion. You may also remove your shoes as Moses did to symbolize that you are on holy ground.”
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Hmmmmmm… I have to say that this sounds strange. If we are ‘on holy ground’ at any time, it is at Mass, surely? but we don’t take our shoes off for Mass.

At the Veneration of the Cross, the ‘ground’ is no more holy than at any time we are in the church not at Mass. It also gives the impression we are worshipping the actual cross/crucifix we are venerating, which is not the case. It is a symbol, not an idol.
 
Many Holy people were barefoot.This is nothing new, The nuns at Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament on the West Side of Cleveland live barefoot and attend Mass barefoot. Being barefoot is the utmost sign of humility!
 
Well… here in Indonesia, you can find places where the whole server and celebrant barefooted for every Mass 😃
 
paperwight66 said:
At the Veneration of the Cross, the ‘ground’ is no more holy than at any time we are in the church not at Mass. It also gives the impression we are worshipping the actual cross/crucifix we are venerating, which is not the case. It is a symbol, not an idol.
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Is it not meant to represent the humility of Christ as he underwent his Passion?
 
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