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The SACRISTAN MINISTRY: Blessed to Prepare the Altar for God, Our Priests and Parishioners
Many hands work together to make each Mass at St. Anthony possible. While some liturgical service is more visible — like that of altar serving or proclaiming the Word as a lector — there are lesser-known, but important roles happening behind the scenes, which you may or may not always notice.
One of the more “hidden” ministries in our parish is the Sacristan Ministry. Members of this ministry team work hard to ensure the altar is prepared for Mass, along with ample wine and hosts, and the ongoing maintenance of items used for worship.
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“I have been involved with the Sacristan Ministry now for approximately five years,” says Dorothy Parn. “My role is to make sure that all the necessary tools, such as the water and wine in cruets, hosts, water pitcher for washing of the hands, towels and other necessary linens such as the purificator are placed on the side table on the altar, along with the key to the Tabernacle.”
These tasks are necessary to every Mass, drawing on the importance of the ministry as a whole to the life of our parish. Without all the various preparations performed by our sacristans, it would be very difficult to ready the altar for Mass. The Sacristan Ministry has a very important role to play in the preparation for Mass, both on Sundays and during the week, for daily Mass.
Dorothy joined our Sacristan Ministry looking for ways to spend time serving our parish after the loss of her husband. Her spiritual life has grown over these years of service, along with her devotion to daily Mass and personal morning prayer time. The initial pull towards helping out came from a desire to serve the parish family, but Dorothy says she has also grown in her spiritual life through this ministry.
“The Sacristan Ministry has been a great blessing for me,” Dorothy says. “I come to church early, well before Mass time, and if it is my turn for these duties I can usually prepare everything prior to anyone else arriving. This keeps distractions to a minimum and does not interrupt our quiet time with Jesus.”
