Altar Servers

Saint John Berchmans, Patron Saint of Altar Servers

Saint John Berchmans,
Patron Saint of Altar Servers

A Server's Prayer

Loving Father, creator of the universe, you call your people to worship,
To be with you and one another at Mass.
I thank you for having called me to assist others in their prayer to you.
May I be worthy of the trust placed in me and through my example and service bring others closer to you.
I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ who is Lord forever and ever. Amen

Altar Server Qualifications:

  • Must be baptized
  • Must be a Catholic
  • Must have received First Holy Communion
  • Should be a parishioner
  • Must regularly attend Sunday Mass
  • Receive Sacrament of Reconciliation once a month (recommended)
  • Must complete training before being scheduled to serve regularly
  • Must attend a workshop for altar servers once a year
  • Minimum Age (recommended): 8 yrs old
  • Grade (recommended): end of 4th Grade

Contact information:

Dress Code:

  • Altar servers must abide by a required dress code if they wish to serve.
  • Boys must wear black or brown dress shoes or docksiders and trousers with a solid, light-colored dress or polo shirt.
  • Hair must be well groomed and neat in appearance.
  • Girls must wear a black, blue or grey dress slacks with a solid, light-colored blouse or polo shirt.
  • Girls must also wear low-heeled black shoes or docksiders with stockings or socks.
  • Hair must be pulled back off shoulders.
  • NO TEE SHIRTS,
  • NO SNEAKERS of any color,
  • NO FLIP FLOPS and
  • NO JEANS of any color or type are to be worn while serving at the altar.
  • (An exception may be made ONLY for those who are called at the last minute to fill in for an altar server who does not show for his or her scheduled Mass.)
  • A cassock and surplice (the liturgical garment) which is to be worn while serving will be provided by the parish.

General Instruction & Preparation

You have been given a divine privilege above all earthy honors in being permitted within the sanctuary to serve at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, at which the Church gives to God, officially and in the name of all, the worship that is due to Him alone.

In earlier times, only ordained acolytes, that is, clerics in the fourth minor order conferred upon candidates to the priesthood, were permitted to serve at Mass. Today, when the number of clerics in minor orders is smaller, custom has tolerated specially-selected laymen to substitute in these duties.

As an altar server, you should reflect the same attitude as the priest in celebrating Holy Mass. Specifically, you should perform your liturgical duties "digne, attente, devote," that is worthily, attentively, and devoutly, in body, mind, and heart. Your sacred duties require of you the greatest reverence in the sanctuary, the deepest attention to your duties, and the most zealous preparation of all your liturgical actions.

You should always conduct yourselves worthily in your position, a position to which even the angels of heaven cannot aspire. If you serve with care and devotion, you will edify the congregation, who look to you as an example for the proper disposition of assisting at Mass. If, however, you perform your duties with haste, carelessness, and inattention, you will degrade "the most beautiful thing this side of heaven," the worship of Almighty God in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

In and around the church, in the sacristy, and especially around the altar, you should show by your demeanor the holiness of the duties that you are performing. Even your exterior cleanliness should be a mark of your interior purity of heart. You should, of course, avoid any levity, irreverence, and idle talk in the presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Before Mass, when you are waiting for the procession to the altar, you should be preparing your mind and heart for the sacred duties upon which you are about to enter. At the altar your movements should be stately and dignified, not hasty or affected.

The vestments that you wear, the cassock and the surplice, are actually clerical vestments that by exception those specially-selected laymen assisting at the altar are permitted by custom to wear. You should always put them on prayerfully, with your attention on the sacred duties that you are about to enter upon. It is laudable to say a prayer before putting on these vestments:

For the Cassock:

Dominus, pars hereditatis meae et calicis mei, tu es qui restitues hereditatem meam.
O Lord, the portion of my inheritance and my chalice, You are He who will restore my inheritance.

For the Surplice:

Indue me, Domine, novum hominem, qui secundum Deum creatus est in iustitia et sanctitate veritatis. Amen.
Invest me, O Lord, as a new man, who was created by God in justice and the holiness of truth. Amen.

Devout altar servers have been the cause of conversions to the faith. On the other hand, careless servers have been the cause of the failure of souls to come to the faith. It is said that the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was kept from the Faith by the irreverence he witnessed of altar servers near the presence of Our Lord in the Tabernacle.

The French poet, Paul Claudel, on the other hand, was won back to the Church when he observed the reverence of those at the altar in Notre Dame Cathedral. "It was the most profound and grandiose poetry, enhanced by the most august gestures ever confided to human beings. I could not sufficiently satiate myself with the spectacle of the Mass."

May you at all times conduct yourself worthily, attentively, and devoutly, and by your actions and example at the altar bring glory to God and many souls to the one true Church.