September 12, 2004
Many of you may have noticed
at Mass last weekend that we had only altar boys serving, or if
you didn’t notice that, then you probably at least noticed
that they were all wearing cassocks and surplices. In this week’s
bulletin insert I would like to explain these new changes here at
St. Thomas.
A little on History
The tradition of altar boys comes from a time in the Church when
there were no seminaries. If a young man wanted to be a priest,
he would be like an apprentice to the pastor in his local parish.
The pastor would teach him how to administer the sacraments, and
the young man would serve him at the altar. When he was ready, the
candidate for the priesthood would be presented to the bishop for
ordination. Then, when seminaries were invented, and young men destined
for the priesthood no longer assisted the local parish priest in
this way, their place was taken by men or boys.
In March 1994, a Circular Letter
was sent from the Congregation for Divine Worship, allowing each
bishop to decide to allow girls to begin serving at the altar. This
permission was granted with one important note as part of its text:
“The Holy See respects the decision adopted by certain Bishops
for specific local reasons on the basis of the provisions of Canon
230 2. At the same time, however, the Holy See wishes to
recall that it will always be very appropriate to follow the noble
tradition of having boys serve at the altar. As is well known, this
has led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations. Thus
the obligation to support such groups of altar boys will always
continue.”
When this letter was first published
many priests thought that they were obligated, if their own bishop
decided in favor of girl altar servers, to invite them to serve
alongside the boys. However in June of 2001 it was clarified that
this was not in fact the case: “In accord with the above cited
instructions of the Holy See, such an authorization may not in any
way exclude men or, in particular, boys from service at the altar
nor require that priests of the diocese would make use of
female altar servers, since "it will always be very
appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at
the altar" (circular letter, 2). Indeed, the obligation
to support groups of altar boys will always remain, not least of
all due to the well known assistance that such programs have provided
since time immemorial in encouraging future priestly vocations.”
“Switching Back”
With permission thus given, many people are probably wondering why
we are “switching back” to having only boys serve at
the altar.
There is really only one reason:
The promotion of vocations to the priesthood. The greatest practical
difficulty we are facing in the Church in America is the shortage
of ordained priests. It is probably the thing that the Church and
bishops have spent the most time talking about in each diocese and
at the national level for the last twenty years. To be frank, much
time has been wasted, and energy misdirected into conversations
about other possible solutions, such as married clergy, part-time
priests, and ordaining women. While the more sophisticated might
discuss these things, it is now time to just get down to work and
start doing the things that are actually going to help young men
consider the idea of a life spent following Jesus Christ as one
of His priests.
As history shows us, and as
the Vatican Statement point out, having altar boys is meant to plant
the seed or the idea of vocations in the mind of young men. The
whole of the priest’s life is directed toward the celebration
of the Sacred Mysteries, and to invite the boys and young men to
participate intimately in those celebrations, cannot help but get
them thinking about the possibility of thus directing their lives
as well.
Having only altar boys will
give me the opportunity to call the boys into a set-apart group,
where they can feel like they are doing something very special to
serve the Church and Jesus Christ by serving at the Altar. Reflecting
on my own life’s vocational discernment, as well as looking
at the practical numbers of boys and young men involved in the parish
makes me think that, oftentimes, the boys need a special encouragement
to get them involved in a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ.
Having a group of altar boys
helps to do just that. As Pope John Paul said, when addressing altar
servers in Rome, “Your commitment to the altar is not only
a duty, but a great honor, a genuine holy service. I have spoken
of friendship with Jesus. How happy I would be if something more
sprang from this friendship! How beautiful it would be if some of
you were to discover a vocation to the priesthood! Jesus Christ
has urgent need of youths who will be at his disposition with generosity
and no reservations.”
Cassocks and Surplices
The reason that we have put them in cassock and surplice follows
from the mission of working on vocations. Whereas the alb is the
garment of all the baptized, the cassock and surplice are special
clothes only worn by the priest. Thus, dressing them in this special
way adds to the dimension of vocational discernment for those who
serve.
The Future
Some people have asked if this means that eventually we would try
to have only men as Lectors or Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion,
but hopefully you can see, that they are two totally different issues
and I cannot think of any reason why we would want or need to do
that.
-Fr.
Lappe
Coming Soon
No, don’t worry there are not any more big liturgical changes.
However, in the bulletin over the next three weeks I am going to
publish excerpts from a talk given by Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J. on
Vatican II and the liturgy. As I have mentioned before, the Church
still has a lot of work to do to celebrate Mass in the way the Council
Fathers intended it. Part of the difficulty is the misunderstanding
that so many people have about the Second Vatican Council, and specifically
what it said about the liturgy. In the article Fr. Fessio actually
enumerates what the council laid out for a guiding vision of reform
of the Roman Rite, and the proposed changes. Most people will probably
be a little surprised by what the council actually said, and even
more so, by what it did not say. The article is long, but well worth
the read.
With regard to the Mass we have now two extremes and a moderate
position. One extreme position is the kind of informal Mass, all
in English, facing the people, with contemporary music, which does
not at all correspond with what the Council had in mind. But it
is legitimate, it is permitted; it is not wrong. And we have on
the other extreme those who have returned, with permission, to the
Mass of 1962 and, as others have noted, it is thriving and growing.
But it is not what the Council itself specifically had in mind,
although it is the Mass of the ages. Then you have the moderates.
-Rev.
Joseph Fessio, S.J.
