Sunday 28 July 2013

New churches of July

True to my duty as an itinerant altar server, over these past two weeks I was able to add three new churches to my list, each with its own story!

Saturday, 13 July
The first church of the three is not a "church" at all, but rather the chapel of the local house of the Sisters of Mercy.  Being a friend with one of the sisters, I was invited to come join them for morning Mass and breakfast.  Really, the story is as simple as that.  The celebrant was Fr. Horn, rector of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. The Mass went smoothly, with a mix of Latin and English responses accompanied by organ.  The only mishap was when Father, seeing the sisters assembled and ready,  decided to start Mass early and signalled the organist to start playing -- not realising that I had not yet finished vesting!  But if that is the worst of the problems then the Mass went well, rightThe breakfast which followed was delicious (bacon, waffles, and fruit), and the company of the sisters and Father was wonderful!
(Yes, I did summarise it in only one paragraph.  Hard to believe, I know!)

Sunday, 21 July
The second church is Little Flower Catholic Church, which has a weekly Extraordinary Form Mass at 9:15.  As a family we decided to go, and as an itinerant altar server I decided to insert myself into the sacristy and attempt to serve.  I was received with gracious confusion, as they tried to figure out if they needed me, and over the span of a few moments my assignment varied from "we are fine, thanks anyway" to "can you be thurifer?" until finally setting on "you can be boat bearer".
The Mass itself was a Missa Cantata, but the rubrics were implemented quite differently than they are at other churches with which I am familiar, so I spent most of the Mass "winging" it, a technique I described in a previous post.  My station was "in the sacristy" with the thurifer, from whence we would emerge (through different doors each time) when needed at the altar, and then after the Canon, "in the pews" with the laity (whilst still in vestments), with reception of Holy Communion at the altar rail.
 
In a way, I feel as if I were more of a hindrance to their routine than a help . . . but they were thankful anyway.

Saturday, 28 July
The third church comes prefaced with a story.  My normal routine is to serve an 8:00 private Mass at St. Mary of Victories Chapel, but due to an incorrectly set clock at church, I showed up to find Father just finishing Mass, instead of preparing to begin.  After a brief dialogue I jumped in my car and hurried across town to St. Francis de Sales Oratory,in hopes of making it on time for their 8:00 Mass, but to no avail.  Determining I was still "on time enough" to receive Holy Communion, I stayed for Mass, but decided I would go elsewhere to hear an additional full Mass.  Consulting my mental matrix of Mass schedules, I realised that my only reasonable option was to go to 9:30 Mass at St. Alphonsus Liguori "Rock" Catholic Church (so titled since it is exteriorly built entirely of stone, including the spire), home of the Redemptorists.

I have been to this Mass in the past, and normally there are only a handful of laity in attendance, and it is in a small chapel of the rectory.  However upon arriving around 9:00, I came across a crowd of people waiting outside the door, and upon enquiry, I found that I had stumbled across a special pilgrimage group visiting the church for the Year of Faith indulgence, and that the Mass would be in the main church.  Having nothing to lose, I grabbed my vestments and waited in the sacristy until Father arrived, who then consented to letting me serve (whilst also asking quizzically how I came to be associated with the group, since I was probably 50 years younger than any of its members).

    The Mass itself was . . . interesting.  There was ample conversation, and the Mass just kind of fit in-between it.  Parts of the Mass were said from the altar, parts from the sedilia, and parts from down in the pews . . . leaving me having to chase Father through the church, whilst still finding proper places to situate myself.  Then came the Canon.  Everything was going smoothly, until right at the Hanc Igitur, when suddenly the familiar sound of the AT&T Ringtone sounded out in the sanctuary, since Father had forgotten to silence his cell phone!  He kept going as if nothing were happening, but I mused afterwards that it was the most interesting Sanctus bell I had ever heard!  (To his credit though, the Mass largely stuck close to the rubrics.)

    After Mass when most everyone had left, I remained to finish my server duties.  Returning to the sacristy with the cruets, I was unable to find the piscina and so figured I would find a plant to serve the purpose.  Opening the sacristy door labelled with a large, "Do not lock" sign, I spy a plant right off to the side and step out to pour out the cruet, and then upon returning discover the sign was a lie.  "No big deal," I figure, "I can just go back through the main door of church."  Also locked.  So now here I am, in a bad neighbourhood, standing outside in my lace vestments, car keys locked inside the church, holding an empty water cruet.  Alas.  Having no other options, I followed the pilgrim group, in vestments, to their breakfast reception, and eventually tracked down a staff member with a key.

    One final, neat fact about the church is that they have a major relic of St. Abundantius, a fourth century Roman martyr, enshrined in one of their side altars.  Apparently it came from the 19th century when it was given to them as a stipend for a mission, by a parish too poor to afford the normal stipend.  Such interesting stories old parishes have!

So with those three, my count now stands at 48 total, having served at 46 locations and lectored-but-not-served in 2.

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Datum S. Ludovici, die XVI mensis Augusti, in festo S. Joachim Confessoris, anno MMXIII.

Monday 1 July 2013

Buy me some peanuts . . .

One of the essential jobs of an itinerant altar server is to branch out into other churches.  Whilst I have served at many in the area, near and far, one which I have not served at is actually right in my own area!  But opportunities have a way of presenting themselves.

The church was Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and the occasion was a funeral for a family friend (God rest her soul).  Having no altar servers from the parish available, I was invited to serve.

Serving at a new church is always an interesting experience.  For an Extraordinary Form Mass, you have to examine the sanctuary to see where all of the essential items are, identify any issues you might have with kneeling or moving, clarify particular rubrical variations with the priest (bell ringing patterns, optional prayers, etc.) and then coordinate these with any other servers.  However, it becomes greatly complicated when it is an Ordinary Form Mass, because so much of the rite itself is non-standardised and dependent on the particular church.  So unless given specific instructions, a large part of first-time serving is staying on your toes and, keeping the rubrics in mind at all times, being able to wing it based on your surroundings.

Normally everyone else will know what they are doing, easing the job of "winging" it.  However, things were different this time.  Firstly, because it was a funeral Mass, the rubrics are different and people are less familiar with them.  This would still be okay, except in this case, both the priest and the deacon were visiting from other parishes!  Combined with lectors and "Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion" from the funeral party . . . not a single person there was "familiar" with how the parish normally did things.  (In fact, I may have been the most familiar, since I have heard Mass there a few times in the past.)

That being said, the Mass actually went pretty smoothly.  Some glitches here and there, but since the three of us (priest, deacon and myself) generally knew what we were doing, we made it work out.  All the way until the end of Mass, at which point . . . things got wacky.

Fast forward to the Commendation prayers at the end of Mass.  After two long eulogies, we processed to the casket, where I stood at the end of it holding the "Crucifix" (though actually a "Resurrectifix", i.e. a cross with the risen Christ on it)Prayers are going along normally, with incense and all, but then the priest paused and said, "Next, we're going to do something a little unorthodox . . . ," immediately putting my mind on red-alert, but keeping my composure, I watched with nervous concern as one of the pall-bearers stood to make an announcement . . . and then started to unbutton his shirt.  "This . . . can't end well."

"In honour of so-and-so, who was one of the biggest Cardinals fans [a baseball team in St. Louis], all of us pall-bearers are wearing Cardinals t-shirts under our suits!"  prompting laughter from the congregation.  Not so bad, I guess, but then he continued, "and in her honour, I would like to ask everyone now to stand and sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame, cheer, and then hug each other!"

So, picture the contrast: an altar server, dressed in lace vestments, standing solemnly in line for procession . . . surrounded by a group of shouting baseball fans.  All I could do, of course, was to stay still, ignore it and wait for it to pass . . . a feat which was complicated during the "hugging" segment when someone started grabbing at my vestments.  (Their intentions were good, anyway . . . )

Afterwards I took time to practise on their pipe organ, which turned into a recital for the parish staff and organist.  I was playing Michel Corrette's Grand ChÅ“ur avec Tonnerre (sans a plank) when he came in, and it took a lot of courage to conclude it in his presence, since the last measure calls for you to lean your entire hand on the keyboard so as to hit every note, very loudly and discordantly.

A very interesting funeral for sure, but having given me now a forty-fifth church in which I have served, it was an exciting opportunity regardless.

In your charity, please say a prayer for the repose of her soul.
 
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Mass heard: 07:30, National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows; 10:00, Holy Trinity
Serving streak: 4 days
Datum S. Ludovici, die XII mensis Iulii, in festo S. Joannis Gualberti Abbatis, anno MMXIII.