Also, a woman will not be able to purify the sacred vessels – a fundamental duty of any sacristan. (Particularly problematic at Masses that use a dozen chalices.)
Purifying the vessels is a fundamental duty of any priest (and possibly a deacon), and it is a function that has been extended to acolytes, though it is not fundamental to their order. AFTER they have been purified, current discipline allows anyone to
wash them, though it would seem especially appropriate to restrict contact with the sacred vessels to those in some sort of (not necessarily holy-) orders. As this can be hard to do, the next best thing, as with altar boys, would be to restrict contact to those who
could hold orders.
For those wondering why the thread question even exists, here is the description of the office from the Catholic Encyclopedia:
…The
Decretals of
Gregory IX (lib. I, tit. xxvi, "De officio sacristæ speak of the sacristan as if he had an honourable office attached to a certain
benefice, and say that his
duty was to care for the
sacred vessels,
vestments,
lights, etc. …The “Cæremoniale episcoporum” prescribed that in
cathedral and
collegiate churches the sacristan should be a
priest, and describes his
duties in regard to the
sacristy, the Blessed Eucharist, the
baptismal font, the
holy oils, the
sacred relics, the decoration of the church for the different seasons and
feasts, the preparation of what is
necessary for the various
ceremonies, the pregustation in pontifical Mass, the ringing of the church
bells, the preservation of order in the church, and the distribution of Masses; and …The
Council of Trent desired that, according to the old canons,
clerics should hold such offices; but in most churches, on account of the difficulty or impossibility of obtaining
clerics,
laymen perform many of the
duties of the sacristan and under-sacristan.
newadvent.org/cathen/13322a.htm
