From the posts in your poll, it gives me the impression that women are ‘forbidden’ to enter the sanctuary, are we not holy enough or something? I think some people just need to calm down and realise that there are women out there who want to be servers, and who would do a fantastic job at it and arent interested in becoming priests (or trying to become priests). After all, i know men who serve the traditional mass who will never be priests, yet they are still allowed to do it. so, what is the difference?? After all, the traditional mass isnt exactly as it was previously, i mean, how many people fast for 12 hours before receiving communion?? I guess it must be ok to change some things but not others, and if this is the case, then stop being so hung up about women servers!
First, in the United States, female altar servers were to be allowed with the permission of the Bishop (and actually trained/used by the pastors) with the idea that it would be for instances where there were not enough young men interested in being altar servers to fill a Sunday schedule. Some Bishops have chosen to be more liberal with granting permission than others, but nonetheless, that is how female altar servers came to be in the United States. I mention this because I do not know how they came to be in England, but assume it was along this same logic. Please correct me if I am wrong with that assumption.
As to your specific question, I think it’s important to remember the purpose of the altar server, especially in the TLM. While there to assist the priest in the performance of Mass, it is also a learning opportunity for young men to become more familiar with the Mass. Say, at any given parish, you have 30 boys who have decided to become altar servers. Naturally, not all 30 of these boys will want to continue being altar servers, but those who do want to become more involved may eventually become sub-deacons. Again, this leads to a natural elimination which results in a handful of deacons, and from that group, there may be a couple of priests. The whole idea is that it is almost a ‘training’ process that prepares young men for the priesthood, and since women cannot be priests, the point of putting them in ‘priestly training’ loses its appeal.
Think of it in this sense. It is perfectly acceptable to use NFP in your marriage, even for prevention (at least for a certain period of time) because that ‘chance’ is always there for conception. However, when you use contraception, you are eliminating the opportunity for the act to achieve its end. In the same way, your male friends may not want to be priests, but who knows when one may receive that calling. On the other hand, since women can never be priests, this argument cannot hold for them as well.
And although the requirements to fast are no longer in place, I personally know many people that still maintain a fast, whether it be 12 hours or no food from midnight on until mass has been attended. The same goes for no meat on Fridays - just because it isn’t required doesn’t mean everyone stops doing it.
If the Bishop allows female altar servers, as is clearly the case, then it is up to the pastor, and my experiences with the TLM is that orthodoxy is upheld as best it can be, so rather than getting frustrated with the situation, perhaps you can only serve at the OF while still attending the EF. And if you are truly that concerned, you can always talk to the pastor.
