At today’s blessed 7am Mass of the Annunciation, five boys showed up to serve from our school. “You can tell he’s a good altar boy,” one of the sacristans told me, “because he serves the Mass not just for the chocolate.” There is a special drawer in the sacristy filled with fun-sized chocolate bars, and each server gets to choose one Baby Ruth, Snickers, Crunch, Mr. Goodbar, or Butterfinger after Mass. These treats are certainly an incentive to serve at the altar, but I evacuated the chocolate drawer on Ash Wednesday, and the boys are still coming to serve. Today, however, I replenished the drawer and announced, after the final blessing, that a Feast Day like today merits chocolate. They rushed the drawer and selected their poisons.
But I cannot join them, for I must fast, even on this feast day. I have eye surgery in an hour and must fast from midnight before the procedure. No one likes to fast, I suppose, but all Catholics used to fast from midnight before the morning Mass. That’s one reason Masses were as early as possible, and one reason we hope to get early surgery appointments. But if I can fast from midnight before my surgery, surely I can fast from midnight before receiving the Body of Christ.
I’m hoping my surgery will improve my vision today, and I would be grateful for a prayer or two from you. But in the long run, my eyes are not half as important as my soul. The blessed Eucharist heals my soul, while the surgeon today, hopefully, will heal my left eye. If I can fast for my physical healing, surely I can fast for my spiritual healing. Do American Catholics still fast? You bet we do — before our surgeries. More American Catholics are discovering the value of the fast before Mass, such as those five rug rats from the school this morning. Their Snickers and Baby Ruths tasted all the better for having been the first food of the morning, after they had received the Bread of Life at Holy Mass.
From Father Illo’s Blog; Father is the pastor of Star of the Sea parish in San Francisco.
I recommend replacing the candy bars with fruits and nuts, of which California abounds.
And all those real fruits and nuts contain antioxidants which help keep away cancer. Nevertheless, most of us need a sugary treat at times. God bless and protect all these young men, and may Fr. Illo’s surgery go well. For those who think Fr. Illo is being “sophomoric” most of the time, I like him because he, like Pope St. John Paul II, has never forgotten he was young once — childlike not childish. God bless him for it.
I find his thoughts to be a bit sophomoric most of the time.
Me, too, unfortunately.
Agreed. The fascination with Fr. Illo’s juvenile blogs escapes me.
I fast: one hour before receiving Communion is what Canon Law mandates. That means I need to stop eating fifteen minutes before Mass starts.
Sounds about right. Can we really call that a ‘fast’ though? it’s barely a formality. It’s so watered-down that Catholics hardly need to even think about it, and they still won’t violate the fasting requirement. Shouldn’t one purpose of the Eucharistic fast be to shift our thoughts from the merely temporal? I’d therefore argue for restoration of the 3-hour fast before Communion (since evening Masses are now available). This isn’t trying to restore ‘legalism’. Let’s call it part of the Eucharistic Renewal project – how about we force ourselves to think about Who we will be receiving, and make more than the bare minimum of effort to prepare?
Abolish this horrible junk food, rotting the boys’ teeth, destroying their bodies and wrecking their minds, addicting them to sugar, and corrupting their souls! Very, very ignorant! Altar Boys should be very PROUD to serve Holy Mass! That is an HONOR! There should be no food of any kind allowed in church. And no babyish “rewards” for doing anything helpful. This horrible practice must be abolished. And fasting is an honor, too, because we honor the Lord Jesus, Truly Present in the Blessed Sacrament, Who comes to us in Holy Communion– the greatest Gift in the world! He remains fully Present in us, after reception of Communion, for (traditional estimate) about 15 minutes– we must be sure to kneel in thanksgiving, with great reverence and respect. I preferred the long-ago practice of fasting from midnight, or later, the three-hour fast. Our practuce was to have breakfast always after Mass. That was the very excellent, well-established custom for everyone. It also helped, being mindful and aware of the Mass we would soon attend, and if we were going to go kneel at the Altar Rail to receive Holy Communion, to be sure to be properly prepared to receive Him– the greatest Gift in all the world! In those days, you had to be carefully prepared to receive Holy Communion, not everyone would receive Communion at every Mass, including you. Regular Confession was also important. To attend Holy Mass, reverently and prayerfully, was the main thing.
Hope you will print this, as it is very important information. American medical officials have been very concerned, in recent years, about the poor health of American children, due to regular consumption of “junk food,” including candy bars, and unhealthy fast foods (lots of very unhealthy, fried, highly-processed foods, empty and high calories, low in nutrition, lacking vitamins, minerals, and necessary fiber, loaded with unhealthy, addictive sugar, salt, unhealthy fats, and preservatives). Sugar and chocolate are very addictive, with empty, high calories, and chocolate contains caffeine– very bad for a growing child’s health. Serious health problems of children who regularly consume candy bars, sodas, and other harmful “junk foods” and fast foods include: obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, dental cavities and gum disease, impaired immune system, hyperactivity, mood swings, irritability, restlessness, aggressiveness, anxiety, depression, insomnia, lack of ability to concentrate and focus in school, impaired learning capacities, with impaired health in adulthood and shortened longevity. A growing child especially needs good nutrition. A child’s body is small, and is badly harmed by poor nutrition from “junk foods” and fast foods. Parents and other adults in a child’s life should avoid giving a child “junk foods” and fast foods, and help them to develop healthy and sensible eating habits, daily. A long time ago, Catholic school children often received small religious items for participating in or excelling in academic or other activities.
I have a question for my Latin/Roman Church brothers and sisters. Are altar servers ever adults in the Western Church?
In the Christian East, Catholic and Orthodox, we typically have men as well as boys serving. Men or older boys typically do the major roles of acolytes, while young boys observe and learn from them, the deacons and the priests. I’ve only seen men serving as altar servers in one Roman Catholic church where I sometimes attend Mass. I’m just curious about how different Catholic traditions have developed.
Yes, Catholic men do serve the holy Tridentine Latin Mass as altar boys all the time. They often would go and volunteer, at a weekday Mass, for the priest, if no altar boys were present, long ago. You can see this at St. Margaret Mary’s Church also, in Oakland, at Latin Tridentine weekday Masses. And of course, KC Chiefs’ Harrison Butker famously serves the holy Latin Tridentine Mass as an altar boy, and highly cherishes this. God bless Harrison Butker.
Before Vatican II, nearly every Catholic man was trained to be an Altar Boy when he was a little boy. That is why many Catholic laymen who were daily Mass-goers could go volunteer to serve Mass for the priest, if there were no Altar Boys. The beautiful, holy Latin Tridentine Mass was once very meaningful, and a source of great pride, for Catholic men, who were laymen. Nearly every Catholic boy at some point, considered a vocation to the priesthood– it was very impressive. Diocesan seminaries and religious orders were always full. And parish rectories were always full of priests. In my home parish, very long ago, now, there were always five or six priests. And we also had young deacons, too (now called “transitional deacons”) every year, from the seminary, helping the priests, serving the parish in their final seminary year, and then were ordained as priests. Today, there is not even one resident priest, and they are considering selling the unused rectory property. A priest travels between several churches in a wide area, to say Mass and hear Confessions, etc. at each one. The teaching order of nuns all left in the early 1970s, and the long ago, once-thriving, totally-full parish school closed, then. The convent and school properties were all sold. The beautiful, old Gothic-style church (it looks like St. Dominic’s Church, in SF) is a designated historical landmark, and they are trying to keep it open and build it up once again, with parishioners. There is a Permanent Deacon assigned there, helping in this endeavor. Many people left the area in the mid-1970s also, and relocated to obtain better jobs. You can no longer get a copy of your Sacramental records from the parish office, if you need them– all the Sacramental records are now kept at the Diocesan Chancery office. There is no longer a church secretary there, just the Permanent Deacon, and a parish council—- that help make decisions and take care of parish needs. Many parishioners homeschool– and they all long for a good Catholic parish school with the nuns, and a good Catholic high school, too. When I was young, the town had two thriving Catholic churches (one of them was closed and sold off, in the 1970s) and one small, mission church (which is still open). There was never any known corruption, or any known Catholic clerical sex predators, in that town. Well– what can we say, of the lethal, deadly “Springtime of Vatican II?” What a big laugh!
Thank you for your replies. Do you know when it became mostly boys (rather than men) in the West?
In the West, wasn’t it at one time mostly adult men?
I am sad to say this, but many years ago, in San Francisco, the police warned people to avoid going out early in the mornings in a car or on the bus, because of criminals. In the nid-1990s, a lady who was a devout parishioner st St. Patrick’s Church, who had a husband and six children, used to take the bus to the church and arrive by about 7am, to help lead the Rosary before the 7:30am Mass. Then she would go to her job. But one morning, she didn’t show up. And was not at work, later. She was cruelly robbed and killed at the bus stop near her home. She only had less than a dollar in her purse, that day. The killer was a horrible young punk, about age 20. A few years later, a crazed madman entered St. Dominic’s Church right before the early 6:15am Mass, went in the Sacristy, and brutally attacked the Sacristan with a weapon. He was arrested and found to be mentally ill and very dangerous. So anyway, we all were warned to avoid early Masses and late night or early-morning visits to churches for Euchsristic Adoration. So if you want to attend a Latin Tridentine daily Mass that is at a later hour than the lovely, daily 7am Tridentine Latin Mass at Star of the Sea Church, you have several options– St. Margaret Mary’s Church in Oakland, or Mater Dolorosa Church in South San Francisco, for starters. And the Cathedral also has Latin Tridentine Masses scheduled at certain times, too. Wish this city could be safer.
The Second Vatican Council ended in 1965. Just think, of how long ago that now was! If you know of anyone born in 1965– they would now be age 60– almost an “old grandma,” or an “old grandpa,” soon getting ready for retirement! The much-loved Ven. Abp. Fulton J. Sheen, born in 1895, was age 70, in 1965. And now, another entire generation has come— and almost gone– since the Council ended, in 1965. And the Catholic Church is still a big mess– even worse!— no interest to have another Council, and fix the many problems, in all these years… Plus, the more recent discovery (since about the year 2002) of the horrible clerical sex abusers– makes it all a thousand times worse! It was reported that Theodore McCarrick died on April 3rd…. he never faced a trial, and never served a prison sentence for his horrible crimes, and was never caught and disciplined by the Church, either– until a public outcry happened, due to reports of his victims, and McCarrick was laicized and told to do penance, etc. in a monastery… and at an advanced age, McCarrick was by then too ill with dementia to face a trial…. makes me sick! Will he get a big Catholic funeral? They are still selling McCarrick’s books on Anazon! Do well-known Catholic bookstores also still sell McCarrick’s books? YUK! And what will the Vatican do, with Marko “Rapenik” Rupnik? Shame on the Vatican!