Female Altar Servers

[whatevergirl]

…and I have read many posts on here about how being an altar server used to be something ‘reserved’ for boys…and was considered somewhat of a position of discernment of the priesthood. Often times, it led to more boys choosing religious life.

Okay, I never believed this. But, my daughter is an altar server…(a great one, I might add) and she told me the other night that she is thinking of becoming a nun. She said it ‘would be a pretty cool thing to be, mommy.’ Awww!! Now, she also has said she wants to be a mother someday…so who knows? She said it again today, though, when she saw something come in the mail from a local convent.

Ok…so I stand corrected. Maybe her being an altar server, formed a greater ‘yearning’ (for lack of a better word) towards religious life. Forgive me for not ‘believing’ you.

PS: I don’t think that of course will automatically lead someone to religious life…but I do think in my daughter’s case, it has given her a profound desire to examine it as an option, other than a secular career. (had she not been an altar server)

Just sharing with you guys…I knew you would appreciate it…and also, to say that I was ignorant to that, I guess.

 

[Annunciata]

I think girl altar servers are just fine…my granddaughter is one …she posts here a CAF…she is very serious about her Faith…she serves w/ her 11 year old brother …I’m very proud of both of them…

 

[whatevergirl]

I think girl altar servers are just fine…my granddaughter is one …she posts here a CAF…she is very serious about her Faith…she serves w/ her 11 year old brother …I’m very proud of both of them…

Thanks Annunciata…it’s great that it’s in the family! I love that.

 

[Goth_Catholic]

I would have loved to be an alter server, but unforchently my family never went to mass regularly when I was younger.

 

[Magnum_V8]

I was an altar boy growing up, and, yes, the priestly vocation did cross my mind a few times. But then we got a new pastor, who was very persistent about changing the parish and promoting his agenda, and it just didn’t sit well with my family. So, we left, and so did any desire for a religious vocation.

Generally, I lean towards traditional catholicism. But, in these times of decreasing vocations, I see only good things from allowing young males AND females to serve.

 

[whatevergirl]

I was an altar boy growing up, and, yes, the priestly vocation did cross my mind a few times. But then we got a new pastor, who was very persistent about changing the parish and promoting his agenda, and it just didn’t sit well with my family. So, we left, and so did any desire for a religious vocation.

Generally, I lean towards traditional catholicism. But, in these times of decreasing vocations, I see only good things from allowing young males AND females to serve.

May I ask what his ‘agenda’ was? I agree too with your second paragraph, although, since priests are the only ones in our faith to conduct mass…I wish there were more boys/young men showing interest. (like when I was growing up…even in the 80’s, they were willing to serve)

 

[deb1]

I try to stay away from the threads about alter servers. I understand the reasoning why so many are against female servers.

Yet, when my daughter asked if she could be an alter server, I allowed her to be one.

 

[whatevergirl]

I try to stay away from the threads about alter servers. I understand the reasoning why so many are against female servers.

Yet, when my daughter asked if she could be an alter server, I allowed her to be one.

I absolutely do not think it should be reserved for only boys, but the realization that I came to was that my daughter is feeling a genuine pull…no doing on my or my husband’s part…towards religious life, from (I think) being an altar server. If there were more boys…perhaps, it would at least create more desire.

 

[Cari]

I try to stay away from the threads about alter servers. I understand the reasoning why so many are against female servers.

Yet, when my daughter asked if she could be an alter server, I allowed her to be one.

You know, I never thought about it at all, until I started reading some of the threads that weren’t too keen on female altar servers (BTW, thank you everyone for using the correct version of “altar”, I speak as a former English teacher on that one ), and it got me to thinking.

As a mother of a 5 year old who already wants to be a religious sister, I can completely see where being an altar server would help reinforce that desire. We also do volunteer work at the local Missionaries of Charity so she can be around sisters (IN habit, which is very important to me) who will answer her questions (such as they are, at 5).

However, I do wonder if returning to an all-male altar server tradition wouldn’t help the vocation crisis. Does anyone know how many priests come out of the last remaining male-only altar server diocese? I can’t remember where it is…

Anyway, I’m torn. My daughter wants to be an altar server, and I intend on letting her. I’ll also encourage my sons to do the same.

 

[deb1]

You know, I never thought about it at all, until I started reading some of the threads that weren’t too keen on female altar servers (BTW, thank you everyone for using the correct version of “altar”, I speak as a former English teacher on that one ), and it got me to thinking.

Whoops! Altar server.

 

[deb1]

Anyway, I’m torn. My daughter wants to be an altar server, and I intend on letting her. I’ll also encourage my sons to do the same.

I’m torn too, especially because I do understand the posters who express concern about female altar servers.

 

[Magnum_V8]

May I ask what his ‘agenda’ was?

Well, its a little hard to say. Don’t forget I was the child. My mother could probably answer that better than I could. But, what I do remember:

He turned the convent, which was on the grounds next to our school, into a live-in drug rehab house. He wasn’t concerned about our safety, but he managed to spend an enormous amount of money on a fence securing his passage from the rectory to the church.

He denied a funeral mass for a parishoner’s husband because her husband wasn’t a registered parishoner at that parish.

Wish I could remember more.

 

[whatevergirl]

You know, I never thought about it at all, until I started reading some of the threads that weren’t too keen on female altar servers (BTW, thank you everyone for using the correct version of “altar”, I speak as a former English teacher on that one ), and it got me to thinking.

As a mother of a 5 year old who already wants to be a religious sister, I can completely see where being an altar server would help reinforce that desire. We also do volunteer work at the local Missionaries of Charity so she can be around sisters (IN habit, which is very important to me) who will answer her questions (such as they are, at 5).

However, I do wonder if returning to an all-male altar server tradition wouldn’t help the vocation crisis. Does anyone know how many priests come out of the last remaining male-only altar server diocese? I can’t remember where it is…

Anyway, I’m torn. My daughter wants to be an altar server, and I intend on letting her. I’ll also encourage my sons to do the same.

hi cari;
i think for me, seeing my daughter express genuine and strong desire that she is considering a religious vocation…(and of course flip flopping with wanting to be a mom…wanting to be an engineer (she’s good at math)…I cannot say for certain, but one has to wonder if her being an altar server contributed to this desire. That’s more of what I’m saying. Not so much that it leads to a religious vocation, but that it *creates desire *in a young person, that might not have been there. Of course, along with saying the Rosary…listening to Mother Angelica…praying the Chaplet…these are things I have done with her, but I noticed once she started serving, she was asking me to do the Rosary with her. I wish there were some direct stats on the whole thing, to see if it does in fact create more desire towards religious life?

 

[whatevergirl]

Well, its a little hard to say. Don’t forget I was the child. My mother could probably answer that better than I could. But, what I do remember:

He turned the convent, which was on the grounds next to our school, into a live-in drug rehab house. He wasn’t concerned about our safety, but he managed to spend an enormous amount of money on a fence securing his passage from the rectory to the church.

He denied a funeral mass for a parishoner’s husband because her husband wasn’t a registered parishoner at that parish.

Wish I could remember more.

that sounds…utterly bizarre? no offense to that priest. lol

 

[Pacbox]

Having been a female altar server when it was first allowed (1994), it didn’t so much instill a desire to for religious life as allow me to see the Mass up close and learn the structure of the Mass. My mother kind of pushed me, also. I had been exposed to religious sisters since I can remember and even before that because they worked at the school attached to the parish and lived at the parish. Plus, they were really sweet and love to show us the rabbits they had in their indoor patio. We, the girls who became servers at school (I was in another Catholic school at the time, we had moved from the first (Dad was transfered for work)) had to do a lot of studying to become servers. I think we actually had more studying than the boys but then we were (6th-8th graders) a bit more mature at that age.

What I gained from the experience was knowledge of the Mass, learning the purpose behind certain parts and the priests words and actions, seeing through more adult eyes in a way. Most of this I couldn’t appreciate or see till I was older but this experience gave me the foundation for appreciation of my faith in an adult way verses the childish way I had been before. It laid the foundation for me to grow my faith rather than leaving it stagnant. Plus, in a way, it kept me in the Church even though I believed I shouldn’t be there because I believed that since I didn’t have faith then I shouldn’t offend God by being at Mass (I was a teenager at the time).

Having read a few of the posts on female altar servers, I can understand the desire to keep boys interested in the faith. (I was the only girl in my class who was an altar server and the boys didn’t care mainly because I was the class outcast.) I can also appreciate the concerns over people who want to use this experience as a tool to argue for female priests. Honestly, in my experience, it never crossed my mind to even think about being a priestess. Men were meant to priests and that was that. I just, even in my teenage years, wanted to understand my faith even if I didn’t believe I had any.

 

[whatevergirl]

Having been a female altar server when it was first allowed (1994), it didn’t so much instill a desire to for religious life as allow me to see the Mass up close and learn the structure of the Mass. My mother kind of pushed me, also. I had been exposed to religious sisters since I can remember and even before that because they worked at the school attached to the parish and lived at the parish. Plus, they were really sweet and love to show us the rabbits they had in their indoor patio. We, the girls who became servers at school (I was in another Catholic school at the time, we had moved from the first (Dad was transfered for work)) had to do a lot of studying to become servers. I think we actually had more studying than the boys but then we were (6th-8th graders) a bit more mature at that age.

What I gained from the experience was knowledge of the Mass, learning the purpose behind certain parts and the priests words and actions, seeing through more adult eyes in a way. Most of this I couldn’t appreciate or see till I was older but this experience gave me the foundation for appreciation of my faith in an adult way verses the childish way I had been before. It laid the foundation for me to grow my faith rather than leaving it stagnant. Plus, in a way, it kept me in the Church even though I believed I shouldn’t be there because I believed that since I didn’t have faith then I shouldn’t offend God by being at Mass (I was a teenager at the time).

Having read a few of the posts on female altar servers, I can understand the desire to keep boys interested in the faith. (I was the only girl in my class who was an altar server and the boys didn’t care mainly because I was the class outcast.) I can also appreciate the concerns over people who want to use this experience as a tool to argue for female priests. Honestly, in my experience, it never crossed my mind to even think about being a priestess. Men were meant to priests and that was that. I just, even in my teenage years, wanted to understand my faith even if I didn’t believe I had any.

What a well thought out post…thanks for sharing…I agree with your sentiments.

 

[Pacbox]

What a well thought out post…thanks for sharing…I agree with your sentiments.

Thanks.

 

[Annunciata]

Thanks Annunciata…it’s great that it’s in the family! I love that.

Both of my sons were until they were 16… then they moved on to be EMs & Readers… Neither of them had a vocation… Not that I didn’t pray fervently for it either…

 

[whatevergirl]

Both of my sons were until they were 16… then they moved on to be EMs & Readers… Neither of them had a vocation… Not that I didn’t pray fervently for it either…

aw, that’s sweet. you prayed for them to be priests? that’s neat.

 

[Sarabande]

I am torn regarding this as well. I do understand why people would be very much against have female altar servers and their concern about people taking advantage of that to set a precedent and try to get the ordination of women. But I can also see the value of girls being altar servers. My view is that I’m ok with female altar servers, but if the Church did decide to only reserve it for boys, I’d be fine with that as well. Although I know some ladies who’d be furious over it.

I, personally, never had a desire to be an altar server, although I really wanted to be a nun for about 2-3 years starting in second grade. My desire for it would ebb and flow throughout the years afterwards until I got to college and met my husband. I had a little prayer corner and actually wanted to be in full habit. My grandmother had told me stories about her aunt who became a Carmelite nun at the age of 16, which always intrigued me. My father was a doctor at a Catholic hospital and the sisters there loved that I wanted to be a sister. They’d always ask my father or me when I’d come to visit, “So, how’s our little sister?” Even one of those sisters became a surrogate third grandmother to my brother, sister and I. (Perhaps that’s how your daughter can be both a “mother” and a sister?)

I eventually chose a different vocation (marriage), but I did get to play a Carmelite nun literally two weeks before my wedding. The pastor at my Cathedral would tease me about this. My first role as an opera singer was from Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” - an opera about the Carmelite nuns who were executed (essentially martyred) during Robespierre’s Reign of Terror in the 1790s. They refused to stop being a community and continued to attend secret masses, which was cause to put them in jail and condemn them to death. Priests would be shot down during this time if found out. The people were apparently so disturbed and appalled by seeing these innocent nuns’ heads sliced off, that it brought further disfavor against Robespierre and helped bring an end to the Reign of Terror with his head on the block. Incredible story within a true story and although it is a bit of a heady opera, it will affect the listener. Even my aunt, who had never been to an opera, was crying by the end. Anyway, I really went on a tangent.