What is it Like to Serve at Mass?

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TrueLight said:
Do you get nervous?
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Yea. I’ve been an adult altar server and arimathean (funeral) server for about six months (age 47)

I do a fair ammount of public speaking but can say that it is different at the altar. There is a spiritual presence which is undeniable. The first time I approched the altar to purify the priest’s hands, I glanced down and saw the bread and wine prepared on the altar, ready to be consecrated, flanked by the candles. As I poured the water over the priest’s hands, the entire scene struck me and scared the **** out of me. I actually started shaking, thinking to myself, “Who am I that I should be so close to this miracle about to happen?”

The thing which I think about the most is getting the timing right with the Sacramentary - all priests are different and some like you there early while other’s don’t want you standing in front of them while they are still praying. I also worry about not dropping the dishes. 🙂

The best part is that I serve at a weekly Novena to St Jude with benediction.of the Blessed Sacrament and I get to swing the thurible, inscensing our Lord with billowing clouds of sweet smelling Balthazar’s incense. it’s so cool to think, “Hey, the Pope does this too!”

-Tim-
 
How does one become a server? Express a desire to serve God and your Parish - I started in fifth grade.
How long have you been serving? 23 years
Do you serve in the OF or EF? OF
What do you most like about serving? Leading by example.
Do you have a set time to practice? How often? Practice as needed.
Do you get nervous? Only during major feasts, but the nerves have calmed down lately.
What is the primary thought in your mind while serving? Leading by example and never being a distraction
Has serving helped you in your spiritual life? Tremendously.
Has serving helped foster in you, or a server you know, the desire to become a priest? I am inches away from being admitted into the Franciscan Friars as a Postulant. Without serving, a lot of this would not be possible!
 
I’d like to answer this question again
Has serving helped foster in you, or a server you know, the desire to become a priest?
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After serving through all our Holy Week services, I’ve seen the tremendous pressure on our priest. Given I have a family and have lived a secular life, I’ve come to realized through serving that I don’t want to become a priest. At least not at this time and the foreseeable future. Maybe when I’m older and when I’m canonically Eastern. I’m not saying I will do it, I’m just saying it might happen. But definitely, serving has opened my eyes to the duties of the priest and all I can say is that its not for me at this time of my life.

Also, those who say that serving should foster the call to priesthood misses the many functions of a priest. A priest does not say Liturgy only. They have many responsibilities with the parish, with the community, and there’s 5 other Sacraments they need to administer to the faithful besides the Eucharist.
 
I served my first Mass (EF) solo today. Absolutely nerve racking. I only made one slip up though and that was leaving the communion plate on the altar as I was transferring the missal and veil. But that was easily sorted with a third trip up.

I also think I may have forgotten to reply “Deo gratias!” after the Last Gospel :D.
 
Te_Deum said:
I served my first Mass (EF) solo today. Absolutely nerve racking. I only made one slip up though and that was leaving the communion plate on the altar as I was transferring the missal and veil. But that was easily sorted with a third trip up.

I also think I may have forgotten to reply “Deo gratias!” after the Last Gospel :D.
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I’m sure no one noticed unless you kept your mouth wide open, trembled and looked extremely guilty. 😉

Congrats on your first time serving!
 
One of the things that I hate about serving; however, is when the priest thinks he can lip-talk to me when he wants something. I wonder if I’m the only person, who cannot understand lip-talk.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
One of the things that I hate about serving; however, is when the priest thinks he can lip-talk to me when he wants something. I wonder if I’m the only person, who cannot understand lip-talk.
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Our priest usually whispers to me. But this Sunday our Bishop just looked at me. Good think I understood that he wanted the censer at that point 😃 what if I did something else?! 😊
 
I’m sorry to bump up this thread, but I just read another thread where the following types of servers were mentioned: deacon, subdeacon, MC, accolytes, and thurifer."

Just yesterday at an EF mass, I was wondering about the servers. There must have been 6-8 and I have no idea what their different functions are.

I thought it would be better to ask in this thread then start a whole new thread.

Is there a way to identify a deacon or subdeacon?

What is a thurifer, accolyte, MC? How can I identify them?

What are the purposes of the different servers?

Thanks.
 
TrueLight said:
Is there a way to identify a deacon or subdeacon?
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On the steps, the deacon is usually higher, and between the two of them, if their vestments aren’t identical, the deacon’s is probably more ornate.
 
TheMc said:
On the steps, the deacon is usually higher, and between the two of them, if their vestments aren’t identical, the deacon’s is probably more ornate.
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Okay. Who is the one who stands by the Priest as he sits while the Gloria is being sung?
 
TrueLight said:
What is a thurifer, accolyte, MC? How can I identify them?
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They are generally the servers. The thurifer is the incense server, the MC is the Master of Ceremonies and performs a lot of functions, such as signaling when to start, where to read in the Missal, etc. The acolytes hold the large candles.
 
ProVobis said:
They are generally the servers. The thurifer is the incense server, the MC is the Master of Ceremonies and performs a lot of functions, such as signaling when to start, where to read in the Missal, etc. The acolytes hold the large candles.
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The MC must be REALLY subtle because I never see any slight nods, raised eyebrows or any other types of signals.
In a Solemn High EF, that would be the deacon and sub-deacon, both of whom can be priests. Confusing?
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I’m more thinking of the low mass. There is usually a server that stands near the priest when he sits and signals bows to him when the Gloria is almost over so that he can stand. At least that’s what I’ve seen at the parish I attend.
 
TrueLight said:
The MC must be REALLY subtle because I never see any slight nods, raised eyebrows or any other types of signals.

I’m more thinking of the low mass. There is usually a server that stands near the priest when he sits and signals bows to him when the Gloria is almost over so that he can stand. At least that’s what I’ve seen at the parish I attend.
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That sounds like the MC but at the low Mass, there is generally no singing of any particular part of Mass. AFAIK, except for the sermon, no one at the altar (priest or server) sits at any time during the Low Mass.
 
ProVobis said:
That sounds like the MC but at the low Mass, there is generally no singing of any particular part of Mass. AFAIK, except for the sermon, no one at the altar (priest or server) sits at any time during the Low Mass.
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The Missa Cantata is a Low Mass.
 
TrueLight said:
For those who serve or have served in the past:

How does one become a server?
How long have you been serving?
Do you serve in the OF or EF?
What do you most like about serving?
Do you have a set time to practice? How often?
Do you get nervous?
What is the primary thought in your mind while serving?
Has serving helped you in your spiritual life?
Has serving helped foster in you, or a server you know, the desire to become a priest?

Thanks for being patient with my curiosity. 🙂
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  1. One becomes a server by applying to the parish priest of the church one is interested in. 🙂
  2. I have been serving since April 23, 2011, approximately 12 hours after I was baptised (the Archbishop said “might as well put him to work” :eek:)…
  3. I serve in the O.F., as there are no licit E.F. celebrations in my archdiocese.
  4. The thing I most enjoy about serving is the company we get to keep. St. Michael is above the altar with sword and shield, holding the last bastion; St. Peter is standing before the ambo, St. Francis is prostrate before the tabernacle, St. Dominic Savio is sitting with the children in the pews, our guardian angels are dwelling with us, and the martyrs are surrounding the altar whereupon our Lord is raised to the heavenly Father. The hordes of Hell are outside besieging the doors, but their assault is halted by the glorious armies of uncounted heavenly spirits. When I close my eyes and face the tabernacle, and see the light piercing through my closed eyelids, I really feel like we’re all together, all the “saints” - militant, triumphant, and suffering - facing God.
  5. My ‘set time’ to practice is during the holy Mass, or immediately beforehand. Any major celebrations are practiced 3-4 hours beforehand by the cathedral staff.
  6. My butterflies start up 1 hour before the bell rings. I am in a great sense of undetectable panic until the Offertory begins, because I know I will drop a corporal, paten, pall, ciborium, chalice, or the sacramentary - I just know it! 😛 Once the movement itself begins, however, I glide across the floor as if it was the waters of the Sea of Galilee, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  7. As I am new, the primary thought during the Eucharist is “get this done; go to the next thing; now, the next…” - but while waiting in the quire during the Liturgy of the Word/Catechumens, I am at peace. With eyes closed, I am thinking of my guardian angel sitting beside me. The Lord is enthroned in His tabernacle, listening to His children read of deeds long-accomplished, read by the mystical hearth that is the altar. I try very hard to imagine St. Dominic, St. Thomas, St. Martin de Porres, St. Vincent Ferrer, and all those of the Dominican order who I so love, sitting with us in the pews, filling up the whole Church. On one hand, it makes me stiffen up and be responsible, not slacken; on the other, it fills me with warmth thinking about my big brothers and sisters who have died but are celebrating the eternal Mass with us from ineffable heights.
  8. Though I’ve only been at it for one month (sporadically), it has helped me immensely. Apart from forcing me to really examine my conscience before hand (for serving the most holy event in history is not a light thing), it also forces me to think about our Lord every single day, in the Blessed Sacrament. To serve constantly and with verve puts me in the mindset of being in the continuation of the old Jerusalem Temple, but being given the extra privilege of standing in the Holy of Holies myself! It uplifts everything…
  9. I don’t know the other servers very intimately, but I believe serving helped my best friend make his decision. I only met him exactly one year ago, but he told me that he was drafted to serve the day after his first Communion: age 8! Though he is now a Franciscan friar (years before I met him), I believe these 28 years of serving inserted that sense of holiness that attracted him to the priesthood for which he is now studying. I myself am deeply moved by the Mass when up in the quire and sanctuary, and it makes me want to be able to say, with Christ, “Hoc est enim corpus meum”… we’ll see!
 
How does one become a server?

I just talked to my priest and he gave me a lesson in it. I took notes, and the next few times I went to mass I payed very close attention to what the priest and the altar server were doing. I only got the courage to start when the people that normally serve did not show up.

How long have you been serving?

3 weeks

Do you serve in the OF or EF?

OF

What do you most like about serving?

I feel like it’s one more thing I can do to serve God.

Do you have a set time to practice? How often?

If I ever have questions, I just ask my priest. I go to mass quite a bit so I’ve got a pretty solid idea of what is happening and where I should be.

Do you get nervous?

Yes. I don’t want to do anything incorrectly and I want each mass I serve at to be perfect.

What is the primary thought in your mind while serving?

Right now, my regular priest is out of town so we are having guest priests say mass. Each time I try to make sure that I am doing exactly what that priest is used to.

Has serving helped you in your spiritual life?

I feel like it has made me more understanding of the pace and focus of the mass.

Has serving helped foster in you, or a server you know, the desire to become a priest?

Yes.
 
For about 10 years I served at the OF mass and 3 times I served with the Bishop. I thought it was amazing as I matured but it was very difficult for me because I was in high school when the abuse scandal broke out so it made being a server that much harder. Other than that I loved it, but I always wanted to the mass to be more reverent and with chant music, at the time I didn’t know that’s what it was called. I was pretty ignorant of the faith. When I found out about the EF I thought boy if we had that when I was young I would have jumped all over that. Perhaps one day I would get to volunteer to serve the EF. I don’t regret it at all, I just wished I would have know more about the mass when I was a server.
 
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