Server Training

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StevenDunn

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Hello, everyone! My parish has been saying the Latin Mass every Sunday since the Motu Proprio, but our serving has been less-than-great. I became a server about 1.5 years ago, and I have been training myself to serve as an MC.

This has all been going well, but I’m hitting a snag, namely: what is the most effective way to train the other servers? I’m in my mid-20s, while the next oldest server is maybe 15. We started with several adult servers, but they have all since moved away for work and school.

Our present Mass is basically a Low Mass with 2 servers + choir. No incense, no torches, no MC, no candle-bearers. This appears to be an arrangement set up by our first server, an experienced MC. I’m also pretty sure it was meant to serve as a start, and not as a norm.

What I want to do is go through our present Mass with the servers to correct mistakes and standardize behavior. Then I want to progressively add in candle-bearers, torch-bearers, a thurifer and an MC. I also want to train them for weddings, funerals and baptisms, as well as benediction, processions and whatever else might come up. I was thinking of avoiding Holy Week and episcopal ceremonies, since neither of those is likely to happen in the near future.

Anyone have any suggestions?
 
Sadly I am a geek because I saw your title
and thought of computers!

In any case, I will pray for you.

:blessyou:
 
the_phoenix said:
Sadly I am a geek because I saw your title
and thought of computers!
Click to expand...
:)You can always throw in some Linux training to boot but the OP does have a good point. Serving an EF takes a little more training then the OF. Add to that solemn high Masses, etc. it behooves parishes with a firm commitment to the EF to train many males to serve in the EF.
 
When you say the serving has been less than great, what do you mean? People are lazy, look bad, don’t know what to do, something else?
 
I haven’t served Mass in well over 50 years but I do remember it being closely choreographed with the celebrant on the one hand and a matter of really knowing and understanding the Latin. Both aspects were cued by the priest with either through an action or slightly raised voice leading up to a response. The Latin can be aided by the use of server cards placed on the steps before Mass. It wasn’t clear in your post whether or not the priest(s) were closely involved with the training, if not, they really must be.
 
ProVobis said:
:)You can always throw in some Linux training to boot but the OP does have a good point. Serving an EF takes a little more training then the OF. Add to that solemn high Masses, etc. it behooves parishes with a firm commitment to the EF to train many males to serve in the EF.
Click to expand...
Disturbingly, I’m a professional computer geek and typing this on Linux. So theoretically I COULD throw in some Linux training to boot… haha
 
First step is to speak to the priest. You need to follow his lead on how the Mass should be and when and how training should take place. Since the other servers are all youth, you may also need to go through your dioscean safety training before you can work with them outside of Mass time for training, etc.
StevenDunn said:
Hello, everyone! My parish has been saying the Latin Mass every Sunday since the Motu Proprio, but our serving has been less-than-great. I became a server about 1.5 years ago, and I have been training myself to serve as an MC.

This has all been going well, but I’m hitting a snag, namely: what is the most effective way to train the other servers? I’m in my mid-20s, while the next oldest server is maybe 15. We started with several adult servers, but they have all since moved away for work and school.

Our present Mass is basically a Low Mass with 2 servers + choir. No incense, no torches, no MC, no candle-bearers. This appears to be an arrangement set up by our first server, an experienced MC. I’m also pretty sure it was meant to serve as a start, and not as a norm.

What I want to do is go through our present Mass with the servers to correct mistakes and standardize behavior. Then I want to progressively add in candle-bearers, torch-bearers, a thurifer and an MC. I also want to train them for weddings, funerals and baptisms, as well as benediction, processions and whatever else might come up. I was thinking of avoiding Holy Week and episcopal ceremonies, since neither of those is likely to happen in the near future.

Anyone have any suggestions?
Click to expand...
 
Bluegoat said:
When you say the serving has been less than great, what do you mean? People are lazy, look bad, don’t know what to do, something else?
Click to expand...
It depends on the server, but in general there is sloppiness and confusion. The servers aren’t particularly old, as I said in the OP, and without any guidance they’ve lapsed into bad habits. They genuflect poorly, have their lines barely remembered(if at all), move around confusedly at the beginning and end of Mass and sometimes have an unreverential demeanor. There are also a lot of younger boys that vest but are not yet old enough to serve as an acolyte, and they, in particular, have trouble at the entrance and exit. When Mass ends it’s like the movie theater let out, and the kids are almost stumbling over each other.

When something goes wrong they have trouble responding, and we have very recently introduced a new(and inexperienced) priest who often makes mistakes - sometimes large - and the servers are unable to deal with these problems constructively. Twice now(when not serving) I’ve had to come to the edge of the sanctuary, tap one of these younger boys on the back, and tell him what to tell the acolyte to do. Since our church is small and pretty well wreckovated I can do this without much issue - the young servers are sitting in the front pew. I should never have to worry, when I’m not serving, about the Mass going disastrously wrong.

It is also apparent that some of the servers, out of a lack of direction, have become markedly worse, rather than better, over the past year or so. The priest has expressed concern on this point, as well. He is behind my efforts 100% and is in full consultation with the process.

More practically, interest in the Latin Mass at my parish is growing and we need to put our best foot forward. We’re not part of a religious order, nor are we an Une Voce Mass. Our Latin Mass is a regular parish Mass said by our regular parish priest, as requested by the bishop, and supported by another willing priest in the area. Our English Mass is also becoming more traditional. None of this is imposed from without, but is occurring naturally within the parish. It’s wonderful, to be honest. Our Latin Mass is particularly well-attended on Christmas and Easter, and I’m hoping to pull things together as much as possible before Christmas this year as an exhibition and recruitment tool(there are probably 10 or so boys interested in serving the Latin Mass but aren’t completely certain).
 
Mrs_Sally said:
First step is to speak to the priest. You need to follow his lead on how the Mass should be and when and how training should take place. Since the other servers are all youth, you may also need to go through your dioscean safety training before you can work with them outside of Mass time for training, etc.
Click to expand...
He’s completely supportive and involved in the process. However, he never mentioned anything about diocesan safety training. That’s a very good point!
 
preV2tradcath said:
Great suggestions. You may also want to check this out: sanctamissa.org/en/serving/
Click to expand...
These are both wonderful resources! However, I’m not confused about WHAT they should be doing, rather, I’m confused about HOW to teach them effectively. I’ve never trained anyone before, let alone children and teenagers. The schedules of the servers is weird, too, so I can’t just arrange, say, a whole Saturday to go over it all. I also have to coordinate things with my parish priest for approval, and with both the parish priest and our assistant priest for implementation. It’s all a bit much. There’s also the question of how to introduce changes into the Mass coherently. My current plan is to work chronologically and iteratively, first fixing mistakes, then adding one role, then another, and so on.
 
StevenDunn said:
These are both wonderful resources! However, I’m not confused about WHAT they should be doing, rather, I’m confused about HOW to teach them effectively. I’ve never trained anyone before, let alone children and teenagers. The schedules of the servers is weird, too, so I can’t just arrange, say, a whole Saturday to go over it all. I also have to coordinate things with my parish priest for approval, and with both the parish priest and our assistant priest for implementation. It’s all a bit much. There’s also the question of how to introduce changes into the Mass coherently. My current plan is to work chronologically and iteratively, first fixing mistakes, then adding one role, then another, and so on.
Click to expand...
That sounds like a great plan to me.
 
I highly recommend using “The Roman Catholic Ceremonial” by Jeffrey Collins. This book has been a great help to me in serving the Mass for one and a half years now.

lulu.com/product/hardcover/the-roman-catholic-ceremonial-volume-i-the-ordinary-ceremonies/4718663?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

Summary from the website

“The Roman Catholic Ceremonial presents a thorough and accurate, yet simple, explanation of the ceremonies of the 1962 Roman Rite. Volume I,the present volume, contains the functions of the ordinary parish church. (Vol. II, appearing soon, is on Pontifical ceremonies.) For all but the easiest ceremonies, scripts are provided for each participant to enable quick mastery of his particular duties. This feature will prove invaluable for the busy Master of Ceremonies, who often has little if any time to conduct rehearsals for even the greatest occasions. The text is rounded out with a clear exposition of basic ceremonial principles and the general rubrics of the 1962 Missal, as well as glossaries on ecclesiastical furnishing and vesture, and is complemented by schematic diagrams of the major liturgical functions. Whether a novice altar boy or a Prince of the Church, every minister of the altar will find reliable answers to his rubrical questions in The Roman Catholic Ceremonial.”
 
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I’ve had a bit of experience of training servers for the EF. I think a combination of “on the job” experiece of serving Mass, plus some extra sessions is a good idea.

By extra sessions, I mean getting the boys together outside Mass, possibly in the Church, and taking time to explain things to them properly, in a way you can’t do during a “live” celebration of Mass. Help them to practice the responses. Point things out to them, such as all the little “signals” they get from the priest - the movement of the hand at the end of the Epistle, and so on.

It won’t all come together overnight, but they should benefit from it.
 
When I was being trained as a server, one of the things that we were told that really made sense at the time was that when we were up there were were meant to be, if we were noticed at all, a kind of representation of what prayer and holiness looked like, rather then just being ourselves. So just likr the crusix on the altar represents something more meaningful even though it is really metal or wood, the servers should always appear calm, in prayer, and as much as possible not really noticible, so as not to take people’s mind off the Mass.

So we should wear boring shoes, not fool around, move in a dignified way, and maintain a proper posture of prayer. This isn’t being “fake”.

I don’t know if that would be likely to motivate them or not, or if you’ve already given them that kind of talk.
 
Dear StevenDunn,

This website has a lot of good resources and training videos for priests/servers/laity:

sanctamissa.org/en/

I would like to highlight 2 that are good for servers:

sanctamissa.org/en/serving/
and
sanctamissa.org/en/sacristy/ I think this one is good to get a handle on all the new vocabulary.

Also, they offer workshops and retreats both for priests and laity to participate more deeply in the Holy Mass and to say/serve/assist at Mass more correctly. If you have a little extra money it is well worth it:

sanctamissa.org/workshops/

Hope that helps:thumbsup:
 
Mark1970 said:
I’ve had a bit of experience of training servers for the EF. I think a combination of “on the job” experiece of serving Mass, plus some extra sessions is a good idea.

By extra sessions, I mean getting the boys together outside Mass, possibly in the Church, and taking time to explain things to them properly, in a way you can’t do during a “live” celebration of Mass. Help them to practice the responses. Point things out to them, such as all the little “signals” they get from the priest - the movement of the hand at the end of the Epistle, and so on.

It won’t all come together overnight, but they should benefit from it.
Click to expand...
When we learned serving in grade school, we normally had a mentor assigned to us from the upper grades. The nuns graded us on the Latin before we started with the rubrics, either at each other’s homes or in the church itself. But there were lots and lots of practices. If anything I would train a couple or three extensively and then let them train others. I know it’s easier said than done but I think you may be taking on too much doing it yourself and that might be counter-productive in the long run.
 
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