Overview
At St. Dominic Catholic Church, we invite all men and young men of the parish, high school age and older, to prayerfully consider the ministry of altar serving.
As an altar server, you are involved in the holiest and most sacred events of Catholic worship. As you assist the priest, so you make worship more reverent, efficient, and beautiful. Your service is very important!
At the altar, your service is directed firstly to God, secondly to help the clergy, and thirdly as assistance to the people who are gathered by God for worship. Your actions are visible and public, but you are never a performer. A good server is not only skilled in craft or duty at the altar, but also a humble and sincere person. The good server is a member of a team working together in harmony with others, serving for the glory of God. The good server is careful and reverent.
Altar serving developed out of the temple servers of the Old Testament and as the church evolved, developed from the order of the acolyte. When there were not enough deacons to assist the bishop or priest in the Mass, their role was deputed to acolytes. Altar serving is part of a noble tradition that has developed in the Church and is a serious responsibility. Altar servers "must be trained to perform their functions in a correct and orderly manner" (Sacrosanctum Concilium). The three ideals of a server are discipline, decorum, and piety.
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