Servers should be mature enough to understand their responsibilities and to carry them out well and with appropriate reverence.
They should have already received holy communion for the first time and normally receive the Eucharist whenever they participate in the liturgy.
Training
Servers should receive proper formation before they begin to function. The formation includes instruction on the Mass and its parts and their meaning, the various objects used in the liturgy (their names and use), and the various functions of the server during the Mass and other liturgical celebrations. Servers will also receive appropriate guidance on maintaining proper decorum and attire when serving Mass and other functions.
Training sessions take place in the Fall and Spring of every year. Please check the bulletin for dates and times or call the parish office for more information.
Server's Responsibilities
On Sundays and feast days, two or more servers will assist the priest.
Servers lead the procession, hold the missal for the priest when he is not at the altar, carry the incense and censer, assist the priest with preparing the altar, wash the hands of the priest, and assist the clergy during mass as necessary.
Servers respond to the prayers and dialogues of the priest along with the congregation. They also join in singing the hymns and other chants of the liturgy.
Altar servers wear the cassock and surplus or other suitable vesture or other appropriate or dignified clothing. (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no.339) All servers should wear the same liturgical vesture.