Memories of Being an Altar Server

[sirach2v4]

What are your memories of being an altar server? Did it change you, and how?

 

[sirach2v4]

A reply to my own thread and question:

I was a server of the Latin Mass. There was a lot to learn. We had to learn to recite the Latin. There was no attempt to explain to us what we were saying. That was something I took up on my own.

There was more choreography in the Latin Mass. There were a lot of moves to learn, like moving the missal from one side of the altar to the other (from the ‘epistle’ side to the ‘gospel’ side).

There were daily masses and Sunday masses, weddings, funerals (with trips to the cemetery with the priest), processions on special feasts, novenas with Benediction.

I used to get out of class (in Catholic school) for the funerals and for practice for the holy day celebrations.

I’m still learning about the Mass, but, with the gang I usually served with, we had the services down “pat” and knew how to move with formality and ritual. It strengthened my faith in many ways.

We used to have five Masses on Sundays, even with just two priests. Once I was serving the 12 p.m. Mass. My partner unexpectedly drank all the leftover wine from the previous Masses. He drank the leftovers in the cruets. He must have been tipsy, but I didn’t especially keep an eye on him.

 

[The_Wizard]

My memories of being an alter boy (I used boy on purpose because in my day that is all there were) are similar to yours Sirach. Latin, knowing what to do and when to do it, being “gassed” by the thurible (incense burner) and sneaking swigs of alter wine and snacking of wafers. And back then black shoes, no sneakers or sandals and your pants legs had to show below the cassock.

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

The weekly sung High Mass begun with the Asperges Me and the need to assist the priest with the change from cope to chasuble. The occasional Solemn High Mass with 3 priests, never quite understanding what they were all doing and relying on a seminarian Master of Ceremonies to tell us what to do. Assisting at many things besides Mass: Benediction, Stations, novenas. Serving at weddings and getting “the envelope” - maybe $10! (And this was the 1950’s!) Getting excused from class by Sister to serve funerals (parish church was just across the street). The smells of course: wax, incense, altar wine. My late mother laboring over all the many pleats in my surplice and using brown paper bags and an iron to get the wax out. In those pre-air-conditioned days, getting told by Father in the middle of Mass to leave the altar and get the dog out of church after a door had been left open. The eternal fear of tripping when moving “the book” from the Epistle side to the Gospel side, compete with the genuflection with the book and stand at the foot of the altar steps. Accompanying Father to assist with Mass at a Catholic nursing home, then having a fancy lunch after in a big dining room and getting waited on by NUNS! Heady stuff, that.

A million memories, all good. Today’s altar servers don’t experience a fraction of all that, sadly. Of course, they don’t have to learn Latin either, which, 60 years later, I still remember. Fr. Regis taught us well. And every time I train a server today, it all comes back.

 

[phil_at_dayboro]

I followed an older Brother in becoming an Alter boy,
I was truly an unsuitable candidate for the job,I was the Class Clown and saw the funny side of everything , when I saw people holding out their tounge to take the Host I couldn’t stop laughing because of peoples facial expressions .
so needless to say I didn’t last long,

 

[Brendan]

It depends on which memories, I still serve at our parish’s 6:00am Daily Mass, myself and two other men

But from my childhood, I have two main memories

1. We had an elderly Msgr who lived at our parish. He said a daily 8:00am Mass, which was a bit unusual, as our parish a had a scheduled 8:30 Mass.
   The would be one senior altar boy assigned to that Mass, and BOY did you have to keep up, he was done in 20 min
2. We had a team, a team of 4 to be specific. If someone could not make a Mass, you were responsible to find a sub, even though there were 3 other boys on your team. Father expected 4 boys to serve, if someone was missing and did not have a sub, he called your parents to find out why.

2b, most of the boys in grades 5-8 were altarboys. It was unusual for a boy NOT to be an altar boy. That meant that it was generally easy to find a sub, as there was usually a boy going to the same Mass you were expected to serve at. The exception was the 8:00am Mass, if you got someone to sub for you at that Mass, you owed them BIG TIME .

 

[christofirst]

I clearly recall riding my bike through the neighborhood in the chilly dark to arrive before serving at the 6:30am daily Mass. Old Father Diamond would be sitting in a metal folding chair outside the church, smoking cigarettes and reading his breviary. He always called me Slugger, even though I didn’t play sports, and I never slugged anyone in my life! To this day, I still prefer the sense of peace and stillness I get at the early morning Mass.

We had another priest at the parish, and old priest from Poland who had been part of the Resistance and spent time as a prisoner during World War II. He would always have me give the readings at that early daily Mass. I was a combination altar-server and mini-lector. Maybe he thought it would inspire a vocation, but at age 10 or so, I found it rather nerve-wracking, and I still do not enjoy speaking in front of crowds.

 

[pianistclare]

My husband tells of being at once terrified, but also enjoying it.
Mostly he was shocked at how some of the priests spoke of the laity in the Sacristy, but impressed with some of the kinder, gentler priests who didn’t make him feel like an idiot. He does remember getting chewed out for touching the host when one fell on the floor though. In his parish in Ireland, they used a gong instead of bells. He LOVED hammering that gong!

 

[tee_eff_em]

I was an altar boy (no gurlz aloud), but never served a Latin Mass, only the vernacular. Some memories, in no particular order:

• 
  *]Regularly serving the 0715 Mass, because I walker, not a bus kid.
  *]Being excused from class if one was scheduled to serve the 0830 Mass, a funeral, or accompanying Fr to serve Mass at the “old folks home”.
  *]Receiving tips for serving at weddings.
  *]Cassock & surplice. Also the migration from those vestments to albs.
  *]Lighting candles, incense, and otherwise “playing with fire”.
  (I once got to climb all over the sanctuary lighting candles during the Easter Vigil Gloria!)
  *]Stations of the Cross during Lent.
  *]Serving paraliturgical weekly rosaries & benediction during October and May.
  ]Ringing the altar bells.
  We knew to ring at the epiclesis and the elevations. Except we didn’t know it was the epiclesis – We knew it was “when Fr extends his hands over the gifts”. I remember ringing the bells an extra time when a visiting priest made that gesture twice (I could not tell you which which was the epiclesis and which was “extra”! )
  *]It may have been the vernacular Mass, but we still had strict division of duties between the “book side” and the “bell side” servers.
  *]Holding paten for the communicants.
  ]Hurrying into the sacristy if one was at a Mass where only one of the two scheduled servers had shown up.
  *]…
  
  Good times.
  
  (* As an adult and a liturgical reader, I once read at a Mass where no server showed on time nor late. So I did whatever I could to serve Fr. But apparently I’d not paid enough attention to the serving in my adult parish to know they only ring at the elevations.
  Fr gave a kind of broad grin and nostalgic shake of his head when I rang that first bell! )
  
  tee

 

[Entwhistler]

My memories of being an alter boy (I used boy on purpose because in my day that is all there were) are similar to yours Sirach. Latin, knowing what to do and when to do it, being “gassed” by the thurible (incense burner) and sneaking swigs of alter wine and snacking of wafers. And back then black shoes, no sneakers or sandals and your pants legs had to show below the cassock.

Ah, you can never have too much incense.
At our local Latin Mass, if an altar boy would have ever gotten caught taking a swig of leftover wine or snacking on the wafers, he would most certainly get an earful from the head MC, the pastor, the assistant pastor, the choir director and his parents. Thus, no one would dare to do that.

 

[Padres1969]

Ah, you can never have too much incense.
At our local Latin Mass, if an altar boy would have ever gotten caught taking a swig of leftover wine or snacking on the wafers, he would most certainly get an earful from the head MC, the pastor, the assistant pastor, the choir director and his parents. Thus, no one would dare to do that.

I was never an altar server, but both my younger sister and brother, who are now lapsed Catholics at best, were and they both had tons of stories, including stories of taking swigs of wine in the sacristy after mass (the priest was also partaking). Both also told me of what was likely liturgical abuse by the parish priests on order of the pastor of putting wine from the carafe that had been consecrated on the altar back into the wine bottle it had been poured out of before the mass (they didn’t like to “waste” it because it was VERY pricey wine from one of the parishioners vineyards). This was happening shortly after they re-introduced offering the blood to the congregation (rather than just the those in the sanctuary). Both have stories of gagging from incense accidentally, and my sister once told me about one of her fellow servers actually getting ill on the altar from inhaling it.

My sister was also in the inaugural group of female altar servers in our parish and diocese and she was telling me of sexism/exclusion by the monsignor pastor due to being a girl. Their standard set up was always 3 altar servers, 2 of the more junior servers in attendance held the candles during the procession, gospel, etc… and the third and senior server usually held the crucifix during the procession, rang the bells, etc… The monsignor always excluded the girls, even when they were the senior servers by several years, from taking the lead position until my sister and a few of the other girls had enough and pitched a fit. A group of parents of the female servers eventually got the pastor to relent. The pastor was later removed from the church a few years later for unrelated issues and no one was sorry to see him go.

 

[ProVobis]

I was an altar boy (no gurlz aloud), but never served a Latin Mass, only the vernacular.

I bet the vernacular wasn’t Italian, because there they’re referred to as piccolo chierico or “small clerics.”

 

[peter26]

As a recent convert to the faith, I’d been discussing with my priest ways I could get involved in the parish and we decided (amongst other things) that I could serve altar. Sunday was my first time. The Mass looks a lot different from the sanctuary! Also turns out that a cassock makes me look a lot slimmer!

 

[sirach2v4]

Further flashbacks include an incident at the Good Friday service, in the days of mandatory midnight fast:

There was one altar boy whose blood sugar must have been dropping low. In his daze, he knew he wanted to leave the sanctuary during the service (it was during communion), and he went to the center of the sanctuary to genuflect before leaving, but instead of genuflecting towards the tabernacle, he genuflected towards the sacristy door (90 degrees left).

I’ve heard of people in wedding parties passing out, but I never saw such an incident.

In the sixth grade, I caught h, e, double hockey stick from Sister, during practice for midnight Mass. I was up by the altar, just 8 feet from the tabernacle, but my mind was drifting, telling my partner what a disaster it would be if the tall Christmas trees started toppling over during Mass – which was too much hilarity, and caught Sister’s attention. I really got chewed out later for misbehaving in the sanctuary.

We had these massive sets of four padded chairs (attached) with dedicated kneelers on each side of the sanctuary, to accommodate extra servers or priests, etc. Well, if you were there, it was just for show (I guess) and there wasn’t much to do. The same character I mentioned in the OP drinking altar wine was uninhibited out there in the gallery and was not above passing gas audibly once in a while.

One of the great challenges was lighting new, tall candles. Everybody in church was probably holding their breath to see if the kid was going to be able to do it.

One of the scary things was when the priests used a catafalque for a Requiem mass. It made it seem as if there was a body there. That was probably one of the first things they threw out when the Mass changed into English.

I remember the servers who would ring the hand bells with just a tinkle during the consecration rather than a full vigorous melodious shake – sort of a minimalist (less is better) interpretation of ringing the bells. The older bells were compound bells, with four bells with four small clappers in each, so it took a good shake to get them all working. Later for no apparent reason, the priests replaced those with some tuned bells that never sounded quite a high a quality as the older ones.

During procession on Good Friday, we used wooden clappers in stead of bells, during the procession… My partner and I were very coordinated with each other, and we made such a racket that would jar your teeth if you were within 20 feet of us. Spontaneously, we were hitting them so hard, to see if we could demolish them with the swinging wooden mallets. There was no sleeping around those things.

Our processions seemed to include every kid that could be rounded up. Somebody came up with a lot of bucks to supply everybody with a ultra white surplice bordered on the sleeves and bottom with what I’ll call Maltese crosses – very stylish. I think the poor sisters had to wash and iron 50 or 60 of those for high occasions.

 

[sirach2v4]

I’m afield of my own thread topic, but I liked the old days of serving, unlike the days now when there are female servers – it’s not the fact that girls are serving Mass, it’s the polka dot bandanas they opt to use to gather their hair. gimme a break. How distracting, to begin with, and then the priests apparently don’t police that kind of stuff.

 

[ProVobis]

I remember the servers who would ring the hand bells with just a tinkle during the consecration rather than a full vigorous melodious shake – sort of a minimalist (less is better) interpretation of ringing the bells. The older bells were compound bells, with four bells with four small clappers in each, so it took a good shake to get them all working. Later for no apparent reason, the priests replaced those with some tuned bells that never sounded quite a high a quality as the older ones.

Some parishes used chimes which were a little easier on the ears IMO, although it took a small amount of musical training to “play” them in accordance with the parish customs. There were something like 9 notes for the benediction. I think it was around 1961 when the archbishop discontinued all the chimes in the archdiocese.

 

[Padres1969]

I’m afield of my own thread topic, but I liked the old days of serving, unlike the days now when there are female servers – it’s not the fact that girls are serving Mass, it’s the polka dot bandanas they opt to use to gather their hair. gimme a break. How distracting, to begin with, and then the priests apparently don’t police that kind of stuff.

Polka dot bandanas?

 

[sirach2v4]

Polka dot bandanas?

a bandana, or whatever they call those scarves.

I think it’s entirely appropriate for girls/women to serve in the various ministries at Mass, but I am in favor of conservative clothing, not show-off clothing.

 

[Padres1969]

a bandana, or whatever they call those scarves.

I think it’s entirely appropriate for girls/women to serve in the various ministries at Mass, but I am in favor of conservative clothing, not show-off clothing.

Must be something unique to your parish/diocese (or a more recent change). The altar girls at my old Catholic parish never wore any kind of head covering. Certainly not a polka dot bandanna.