Reader attire

[Catholic_Wife]

Like some of the other posters have said, I do think that those in ministries such as ushers, choir members, and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion should be dressed in a way to set an example. I’ve noticed at my parish since the men in the bilingual choir started wearing black suits complete with a white shirt and black necktie, and the ladies in the same choir started wearing black skirts with long sleeved white blouses, the congregation has been a little more careful about what they wear to Mass. The example works.

Interesting…

There are some men in my neck of the woods that do show up in collared checkered shirts that are clean and pressed, decent jeans (no holes, not faded), a belt, well groomed hair, and boots - after all, I do live in Texas, and most of these guys are “clean cut”.

We have one usher that wears this very outfit EVERY single Sunday. I can’t imagine him in anything else, and doubt he would change the way he dresses after 50+ years. This is also the way my husband dresses when he’s not in scrubs. Everything is starched and ironed, which I think looks better than a non-ironed pair of khakis and polo shirt.

 

[andrewstx]

I used to be Episcopal and their readers always wore an alb, but in the old days they wore a cassock and longer surplice.

They have to buy their own.

 

[Phemie]

Hmm, I see a lot of terminology confusion here. In the Roman Rite you can either be an instituted lector or a lay reader. Instituted lectors are lay men with a commission from the bishop. Lay readers are any Catholic in good standing, including women.

I guess this confusion is even more widespread than the “Eucharistic Minister/EMHC” gaffe. I corrected the latter in my parish… now I may have to correct the former.

Actually, it depends on which document you read. Only in English and only on these boards have I ever seen the distinction made. Certainly Latin makes no distinction between the two, neither does French and neither does Italian.

 

[MissRose73]

My mother and a few other of my relatives are involved in various ministries. I’ve never seen them wear denim when they read, usher, cantor and/or assist as an EMHC. They wear either business professional or business casual type clothing. One of my aunts at her church actually has a printed dress code for those who do any church ministry during Mass, and that denim isn’t allowed and clothing must be decent, modest and appropriate.

When I do fill in as an EMHC on a rare basis, I do wear clothing that tends to be a dressy business casual but I do not own any true business professional style clothes. The clothes I wear are clean, neat, modest and appropriate for Mass no matter if I have to assist or not to begin with anyways.

I have seen on the Daily Mass on youtube.com for this Canadian church that those assisting in cantoring, reading, etc are wearing long choir style robes over their clothing. Perhaps that would be a good idea for the summer time when I notice many women reading or assisting with Communion wearing skimpy tops and/shorts.

 

[TxBSonnier]

The parish I attended when I came into the Catholic Church a few years ago is a college campus ministry parish so the standard of what nice church clothes are is quite a bit different from the normal family parish I attend now; most college guys haven’t yet purchased a suit. That said, they had good guide-lines and I never saw any problems. I think a good rule of thumb would be to always dress modestly, and be one of the nicer dressed ones there. (This is all assuming for a Sunday mass, at the college parish daily mass everyone tended to wear what they had worn to class that day, and servers signed up for spots shortly before mass was to start, so there was no chance for people to plan ahead.) For most parishes this means either dress shirt and slacks or a suit for men, and modest business dress clothes for women.

 

[Brendan]

In our parish, the attire is generally cassock and surplice, as it is generally the senior altar boys who do the readings.

Our pastor does it that way so that the boys can gain experience at speaking from the ambo. This helps them discern if the priesthood is something they are being called to, as the priest will read the Gospel and give the homily from there.

Here is my son Reading at a recent Mass.

 

[Phemie]

If we were talking politics, this would be a “local government” concern (parish level) instead of a “state government” (diocesan level) or a “federal government” (Vatican) concern. If the priest has a problem with something that someone is wearing, it is up to him - as the pastor - to correct them in private and address the issue publicly. Our former priest made a point of making “appropriate dress” a yearly sermon, usually around May when the weather starts getting really warm.Haven’t heard modesty/dress comments in a homily since the 60s.

Not all parishes can afford a variety of albs for adults. If this concerns you so much, maybe you should talk to your priest about this and ask if you can wear an alb when you read? If he agrees that readers should wear albs, maybe you could offer to raise money for the albs that would be needed?

That’ll never happen. The alb is viewed by too many people as being a clerical vestment. You’d have to find a priest who is willing to do the necessary teaching so that it’s not interpreted as the ministers wanting to be priests.

I’ve worn an alb to lead the Liturgy of the Hours in a university setting while I was doing courses on liturgy. Most people involved in Liturgy will tell you that in a parish setting that would not fly. At the Cathedral they had Morning Prayer every day for several years and they still would not consider vesting a lay person leading it because it would be misinterpreted. In our little parish it would be even more misunderstood. While I’d be ecstatic if all ministers would vest, I still be seriously happy if the adults who serve at the altar vested.

 

[Elizium23]

Phemie, my home parish vests altar boys in cassock and surplice, while altar girls are vested in alb and cincture. I have never heard anyone scandalized by this arrangement, and in fact it makes clear the fact that cassock/surplice are clerical vestments for males only.

In a previous parish, there were some young children being baptized in the Church with their families, and the children were wearing alb and cincture. Perhaps this is the best place to effect a change, when the newly baptized are clothed in the appropriate garment.

 

[Phemie]

Phemie, my home parish vests altar boys in cassock and surplice, while altar girls are vested in alb and cincture. I have never heard anyone scandalized by this arrangement, and in fact it makes clear the fact that cassock/surplice are clerical vestments for males only.

In a previous parish, there were some young children being baptized in the Church with their families, and the children were wearing alb and cincture. Perhaps this is the best place to effect a change, when the newly baptized are clothed in the appropriate garment.

Our child altar servers are vested in albs, both boys and girls. Our adult servers (usually at the Saturday evening Mass) wear their own clothes and it’s not always pretty.

We have used albs on newly baptized older children whose parents didn’t want to purchase white garments. In fact, it was my idea. The first time the occasion presented itself I took the smallest altar server alb we had, washed it, raised the hem, folded back the sleeves and that’s what we put on Joey, the newly baptized 5 year old. Repeated with a 4 year old a year later. But we have only had 1 catechumen in my 15 years here and she opted for a white dress. The two mentioned above are the oldest “infants” we’ve had since I’ve been here.

 

[R_C]

Here is my son Reading at a recent Mass.

Congrats!!

 

[Brendan]

Congrats!!

Thanks, it wasn’t his first time, but he doesn’t do it all that often. It generally goes to the boys who are Juniors or Seniors.

It was just one of the rare times where he was the oldest boy (he’s a Freshman).

 

[R_C]

Thanks to all for your replies!