How to Altar Serve

Posture

• Keep prayer hands when not holding something
• Hold hands at chest leve (holding hands at waist level looks lazy)
• Do not fold hands---it doesn't appear to be particularly prayerful

Before Mass

• Should be vested 20 minutes early. For first-time servers, should arrive in the sacristy 25 minutes early.
• At 20 minutes before Mass, we pray St. Ambrose's prayer before Mass together.
• Informally, we don't make a big fuss if people are vested up to 5 minutes late (i.e. 15 minutes before Mass).
• Begin reviewing the Mass Overview booklet by the team leader questioning the others by going around in a circle. Keep track of where you leave off so you can start there next time.
• Someone should ensure the candles are lit. Only those who are in high school and are sufficiently tall are allowed to light the candles on the back wall.

After Mass

• Mentor critiques how people did
• Servers return to sacristy and pray St. Bonaventure's prayer after Mass

Commitments outside Mass

• For all servers:
• Daily prayer: examen for 5-10 minutes and the morning offering. Phamphlet available here.
• Tell your team leader with as much notice as possible if you can't make it
  
• For team leaders:
• Keep track of people saying they can't make it
• If you have fewer than 3 servers, seek a substitute from another team. If you are unsuccessful, inform your mentor.
• Email your mentor and the designated staff person if someone was late or didn't show up without giving notice. Make sure you mention that you will have to do so in front of the person.
• If someone doesn't show up without giving notice, call the person later and find out what happened.
• If someone is unable to serve for 2 months in a row, send an email to the designated staff person and your mentor.
• If someone needs to swap teams or refuses to serve, send an email to the designated staff person and your mentor.

How to bow

• During the liturgy:
• If holding something, bow the head to the altar
• If not holding something, full bow to the altar
• Outside of the liturgy:
• If you're not holding something, genuflect to the tabernacle
• If you're holding something, bow the head to the tabernacle

How to hold candles

• Don't tip them (especially when trying to light them from the other oil candle) since this leads to oil leakage
• Hold them upright

Entrance Procession

• Space of 3 pews between ranks on entrance procession
• Bow at the last cross in the tiles on the floor
• If you're holding something, go up the stairs into the sanctuary
• If not holding something, make a hard right and enter your pew

Collect

• The book should be ready with plenty of time for the collect
• Except during Advent and Lent, this is right after the Gloria
• During Advent and Lent, it's after the Penitential Act
• The server should be standing right in front of the priest when he says "Let us pray."
• The MC should set the page for the collect of the day (ask the deacon or priest ahead of time for which ribbons to use)

Gospel Procession

• Two servers go to retrieve candles from the ambo and stand in line with each other a little behind the cleric who will proclaim gospel
• When the cleric turns towards the ambo with the Book of the Gospels after having bowed to the altar, the servers turn and walk towards the ambo
• The servers should stay to the right and the left of the cleric proclaiming the Gospel during the procession
• The servers hold the candles upright, in line with each other, and about a step behind the cleric, for the duration of the Gospel's proclaimation
• The servers put the candles back in their stands at the conclusion of the Gospel, and then they return to the pew

Children's collection

MC hands the basket for the children's collection to the priest immediately after the conclusion of the Universal Prayer (i.e. the Prayers of the Faithful)

Order Setting the Altar

Hand the following to the priest or deacon who is preparing the altar in this order:

1. Chalice
2. The Roman Missal with its stand
3. Bread that's on the credence table
4. Water

Receiving the gifts from the people

• The crucifer brings the crufix back down the center aisle immediately after the conclusion of the children's collection, bowing his or her head to the altar at the point where the pews begin.
• When the priest begins walking down the stairs, the crucifer leads the gift bearers towards the altar, bowing the head to the altar upon reaching the priest and then walking up the stairs of the sanctuary to put away the crucifix.
• Two servers should go down to stand at the right and the left of the clerics so as to assist in receiving the gifts.
• It is desirable for the servers to remove the stop from the wine cruet and to remove the cover from the ciborium containing the bread before handing them to the priest or deacon. If a server is not able to accomplish this without spilling the contents of the container, simply hand it to the priest or deacon and let him do it.

After gifts have been brought up by the people

• Give the bread and wine to the clerics
• Receive the wine from the cleric
• Wash the priest's hands

Incense

Incense can be used up to 4 times at Mass. We generally only use it on solemnities that fall on a Sunday. The four times it is used are:

• The thurible is generally opened to the priest before the entrance procession so he can impose incense.
• Entrance procession: thurifer (i.e. incense-bearer) and boat bearer (i.e. the one carrying the vessel holding the incense that is not burning) process in front of the crucifer. When the priest kisses the altar, the server hands the thurible to the priest. The priest incenses the altar (and paschal candle if it's in the sanctuary). When he reaches the midway point of the atlar, he incenses the crucifix behind the altar. The servers in the sanctuary should look towards the cruficix at that time, bowing their heads when the priest bows. At the conclusion of the incensing of the crucifix, the servers should turn to face the altar again. At the end of incensing the altar, the priest gives the incense back to the thurifer, who puts it in the hall behind the sanctuary so it doesn't unnecessarily smoke up the church.
• Gospel procession: the thurifer (and boat bearer if there is one) should be ready right after second reading and process out to the priest for him to impose incense. Only kneel if the bishop is presiding. Then stand behind the ambo and give the thurible to the cleric proclaiming the Gospel after he has announced the Gospel ("A reading from the holy Gospel according to N."). Swing the thurible while the Gospel is being read.
• Preparation of the gifts: Bring the incense to the priest immediately before he washes his hands. He will incense the altar as before.
• If there is no deacon, incense the priest and people.
• For each of them, bow profoundly (i.e. full bow), and then use 3 sets of 2 swings (swing to the center, the left, and then the right).
• Hold the thurible 1 inch away from the censer itself.
• If there are other priests concelebrating, incense them as their own group before incensing the people.
• To incense the people, walk in front of the atlar, gesture to the people to stand up, bow profoundly, incense with 3 sets of 2 swings, and then bow again.
• Then walk behind the altar to either put the incense away if it is not being used at the consecration or else to add incense for the consecration.
• Consecration: (This is only done for high solemnities e.g. Pentecost, Ascension, Christmas, the Octave of Easter, and perhaps Corpus Christi to give a sense of progressive solemnity.)
• Add incense to the thurible at the last possible moment before the Sanctus ("Holy, holy, holy").
• Put the incense grains directly on the burning coals (this is the one time that a server adds incense to the thurible.)
• Kneel before the altar with the rest of the servers.
• At the elevation of the host and of the chalice, swing with 3 sets of 3 swings.
• Remember to hold the thurible 1 inch from the censer itself so that the swinging is not terribly laborious.
• The swinging can be done with a flick of the wrist when the hand is 1 inch from the censer.
• The person ringing the bells should try to time the ringing so that each set of 3 swings gets 1 ring.

Essential thurifer skills

• Holding thurible
• Swinging: pinch one inch from the burner itself
• Putting the thurible down: keep the cap off, and during the liturgy, put it behind the door in the back sacristy so the smoke doesn't go into the sanctuary so as to minimize complaints
• After the liturgy, put it on the stand with the cap hanging off the ledge
• Loading incense with the priest
• Swinging thurible at the priest and people
• Swinging incense at the consecration (this only need be done on the highest solemnities by the principle of progressive solemnity)
• NO INCENSE at recessional procession (unless there's a Eucharistic Procession)

Going up and down the stairs

Bow to the altar except when in a procession (i.e. after genuflecting at the reposition of the Blessed Sacrament).

How to MC

• Delegate
• Anticipate actions ahead of time
• Be particularly ready with preparing the book: err on the side of being early and having people wait at the bottom of the stairs

Ringing the bells

• Do it with the thurifer if incense is used at the consecration
• Use a side-to-side motion, not up and down motion
• 1 ring at the epiclesis (when the priest extends his hands over the gifts)
• 3 rings at the elevation of the host
• 3 rings at the elevation of the chalice

Lining up before Mass

Servers should still reverence the tabernacle, but not necessarily in a coordinated way.

Stay in rank

• Gospel procession
• Entrance procession
• Recessional procession

Onboarding newcomers

• Practice the process of bowing in the sanctuary first
• Then practice the exit, then the entrance processions
• Could also practice the Gospel procession
• The rest can be shown immediately before the action

Other notes

• Size 20 cassocks are hemmed up an inch, so they're actually shorter than size 19, but they're wider.
• Black cassocks are for those with at least 2 years of experience. Others wear purple cassocks.