Today in both the old and new breviaries, we have the Sermon by St Fulgentius of Ruspe about St Stephen.Yesterday our king, clothed in his robe of flesh, left his place in the virgin’s womb and graciously visited the world. Today his soldier leaves the tabernacle of his body and goes triumphantly to heaven.At our Mass on Boxing Day, we invite all the altar servers to come since it is their patronal feast day: they belong to the Archconfraternity of St Stephen. There is an enrolment ceremony for new servers who have served regularly for some time at which they receive their medal, to be worn whenever they serve Mass.
Here is a photo of the medal. The Chi-Rho emblem, representing Christ, is surrounded by the legend "CUI SERVIRE REGNARE EST" (to serve whom is to reign).While giving a brief summary of St Fulgentius' sermon, I suggested to the altar servers that they might like to choose St Fulgentius for their Confirmation patron. Admitting that this was unlikely at the moment, I said that if any of the older servers got to sing in a rap band or star in a soap opera, they could do us a favour by taking the stage name Fulgentius. That would ensure that St Fulgentius gained the same popularity that St Anastasia recently gained among confirmandi.
8 comments:
Fr. Tim, I used to belong to the Guild some time ago (link). I carried the medal away, but am no longer able to serve at Mass due to my employment. Another member told me that I should not have taken the medal with me. Is that correct?
"Anastasia" is of course a perfectly wonderful Confirmation name, mentioned in the Roman Canon, but why has it recently gained popularity? I'm writing from the USA, so I'm guessing this must be a UK pop-cultural reference.
Kevin, it depends on the parish. Some tend the give the medals out as personal gifts. Others (like mine, and I think the majority) keep them in the servers' sacristy and they are not the particular property of the individual servers. (It is different if someone is awarded the silver medal.)
If the medal was given to you personally, I think it is fine to keep it with you. There may be a time in the future when you are able to help out with serving in a parish.
PMcGrath - I did not actually know but got the vague idea that she was a pop singer. Checking on Google, I find that the pop version is Anastacia. She is actually from Chicago but according to Wikipedia she is big in England and France but not the US.
I wasn't allowed to keep my medal but I still have the "Altar Server's Handbook" which was given to me on my seventh birthday in 1964 which tells me how to serve the Classical Rite of Mass and what prayers to say before and after. Bracing stuff!
I know that some parishes do tend to keep the Guild medals as a totally Parish asset, but my understanding is that one is personally invested with the medal when enrolled into the Guild and thus they should be personal property.
Of course the Parish might maintain a small number for use by enrolled servers who have forgotten theirs.
Some Parishes might be too poor to afford to give them away (the Parish does have to buy them in the first place) but in general they ought to be personal property to be used wherever one might be serving.
Can my servers in Virginia become associated with the Guild?
Are female servers able to become regular members of the Guild along with boys?
Just wondering if there is a US version of the Guild.
Thanks
The Guild was started in the Westminster Diocese so they would be the people to write to. It is all very official in its setup so it would probably have to be some formal affiliation at episcopal level. It might be easier to start something similar!
Girls are allowed to join the Guild in England.
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