As another article says:
Traditionally, the role of altar server has always been reserved to males and rightfully so. By having males serve at the altar, a young man is better able to discern the priesthood since he is involved with the Liturgy. Personally, I support the return of an all-male group of altar servers for the entire Catholic Church. Some parishes are even returning to the practice of all-male altar servers. Historically, the role of altar server has always been reserved to males. In the Encyclical Allatae Sunt on July, 26, 1755, Pope Benedict XIV stated in paragraph 29:
Pope Gelasius in his ninth letter (chap. 26) to the bishops of Lucania condemned the evil practice which had been introduced of women serving the priest at theShare
celebration of Mass. Since this abuse had spread to the Greeks, Innocent IV strictly forbade it in his letter to the bishop of Tusculum:"Women should not dare to serve at the altar; they should be altogether refused this ministry."We too have forbidden this practice in the same words in Our oft-repeated constitution Etsi Pastoralis, sect. 6, no. 21."
6 comments:
Oh brother what a can of worms has been opened today. I ama in charge of the servers at my parish. heretofore it has been a hodge podge of rude ceremony throw into the mass. At times extremely distracting and at others well done. My biggest problem is when the parent desides to make that boy or girl serve and they don't want to. Slowly but surely I will be trimming the girls down. Unfortunatley the girl servers do a better and more reverent job!
I have taken to sitting behind the younger servers and whisper when it is time to do such and such. sed to be you had to at least know the prayers. I have taken to giving them a month at a time to serve. O the pain...
I think the boys might do better if serving at the altar was seen as a "guys only" thing. But our boys innately rebel at the femininization of the ceremonies of the Church.
Right Elena,
If the girls are doing what we're doing it kind of takes the pride out of it. Ruins the comradarie, and competition. If a man showed up at wedding/baby shower drinking a beer and watching a Hockey game how would the women feel? Some things are meant for 1 gender, common sense.
It's an abomination. I am not politically correct and am not afraid to speak the truth.
All this female serving at the Altar is just the thin wedge of those feminazis in the Church who want to overturn the all male priesthood, pure and simple.
These poor girls are just pawns in the wider evil intent to overturn the priesthood.
It's interesting- someone commented the other day that in some places, the Orthodox church are also allowing women servers. Traditionally however, women are not even allowed at the alter when it's a consecrated space!
I can understand all male alter boys, but where I do struggle is when they show such irreverence to what they are doing- our alter boys were burning things in the church a few months ago- little pyromaniacs!! -it's a bit hard for the priests to watch them all the time when they are supposed to be serving (nor should they have to)!
de brantigny has a point- girls certainly mature faster, and are less inclined to muck around (and set things on fire).
I am quite happy for it to be an all male thing- as long as they show reverence to what they are doing :)
See this wonderful article by Fr. Brian Harrison, OS, on precisely this topic:
http://www.rtforum.org/lt/lt88.html
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