Video about how to serve Mass

In this day of desktop publishing… gosh, even that is a dated term now… and the ability to produce polished videos from your laptop from things you shoot from your mobile phone, we have an obligation to use the tools of social communication and networking in the most effective ways.

A seminarian sent me a note about the following.

Here is a nice little video on YouTube about how to serve Mass.

Have a look!

[youtube:v=iL0Vz_WTuA4]

Discuss.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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23 Comments

  1. momoften says:

    Not a bad job. I thought it tacky they still had one server in the training video with white tennis shoes even after they mentioned it….maybe to show how tacky it was? Guess ultimately serving depends on a few things–what the priest wants from the servers, and what kind of seasoned servers help to lead and show the new servers what to expect. For instance no churches (except monastery and my parish outside the city) use patens. arggghhh

  2. Father Bartoloma says:

    Nice job. These videos are so helpful on Youtube and as well as other websites and resources available now. I remember not that long ago when the only thing I had to go on was that 1980s VHS from the Latin Mass society of England and Wales, an out of date copy of Fortescue and O’Connell, and my own best guess.

  3. Nathan says:

    All in all, a good video. If it were me, I would emphasize a bit more the Tabernacle and how/when/where servers should reverence it. Good to see altar boys trained in the use of communion patens and sanctus bells. Also very good to see the servers in cassock and surplice. Isn’t this the church of the Carmelite friars, St Therese, Los Angeles, in the video?

    I am currently teaching boys to serve the TLM. I can’t help but notice just how serving the TLM is “graduate level” work at the altar, especially since one of my sons (11 years old) also serves the OF. He might give you different feedback than I would, since he likes serving the OF because “it’s easier.”

    In Christ,

  4. Father G says:

    Wow! Talk about Divine Providence!

    I am having a mandatory meeting tonight with the parish altar servers about improving their service at the altar.
    Some of them make the same mistakes that are shown in this video. I’ll be showing this video to them tonight.
    Thank you for posting this!

  5. ecclesiae says:

    Last year there was news of a DVD set published by PCED containing instruction regarding saying and serving the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. Does anyone have any information as to how a copy can be obtained?

  6. daniwcca says:

    Hey… it’s Joe! Hi Joe!

  7. daniwcca says:

    St. Therese of Lisieux Parish, in Alhambra, CA

  8. theloveofwisdome says:

    WOW…. A group of friends and I are working on a film project at this parish too… We are creating a dvd for the layity, on how to assist at the traditional mass. – In fact we just filmed on Sunday… it is a work in progress…

  9. daniwcca, Yes, it’s Joe, that’d be me in the video….

    Nathan, that is indeed the Church of St Therese ran by the Carmelite Friars, as it is my parish. If i had it my way, I would have also done more reverence to the Tabernacle. When I serve the OF at my parish, I pay due reverence to the Tabernacle when serving.

    momoften, yes, the tennis shoes were to show how tacky wearing them were. :) I was the “bad” altar boy in the video.

    ecclesiae, they’re available via youtube, if you can’t find them, I can e-mail them to you

  10. Tina in Ashburn says:

    Great! I enjoyed that, found it entertaining even. Well paced. Too bad we didn’t have such tools when my son went thru altar boy training. He never really ‘got’ it. This illustrates a lot of concepts very well.

  11. lucy says:

    This is fantastic. I am acquainted with this priest as he is my friend’s son. He’s on fire for his faith and incredibly good with kids. May he continue to be successful !!

  12. Tony says:

    Joe of St. Thérèse, good video but you need to invest in some black shoes.

  13. Salvatore_Giuseppe says:

    serving really all boils down to being Reverent, and not being distracting. Orderliness, togetherness all is relatively unnoticeable compared to a mob standing around the credence table fighting over the lavabo set

  14. Mrs. O says:

    Hey its JOE!
    I liked the video.
    They did a good job.
    Joe even played the part of “bad” altar server well too…

  15. Fr. Andrew says:

    I am having a contest in my Sacraments class. The group that produces the best video on how to properly receive communion and respond at Mass or how to go to confession will win a prize. They will be posted on YouTube. This is a great teaching tool!

  16. Tony, the tennis shoes were on purpose ;), the black shoes are right here in front of me :)

  17. Tom Ryan says:

    Sneakers complement the surplice. To have them in the video to show how goofy they look would be like having a female altar boy with crazy hair after saying it should be pulled back.

    Nice paten work. I remember the day ours went to the dumpster.

  18. Rachel says:

    You’ve hit the big time, Joe! My favorite part is when you blow right by Fr. Robert with your head down.

    I go to St. Therese a lot and can testify that Joe is very reverent when he’s not being filmed for an instructional video. :)

  19. The rumors are true! That is Joe! I thought he was pulling my leg.

  20. thecrazedorganist says:

    Nice acting, Joe. You guys made my morning :D – Gavin from St. Victor’s.

  21. Tony says:

    Joe, great job…I was just razzing you. We know that in the diocese of Los Angeles there is only a handful of parishes that are faithful and I would say St. Therese of Lisieux is in the top 5. If only they would get rid of the girl alter servers, lets keep praying. The best Novus Ordo is still the 8:30am mass at Holy Innocents in Long Beach, you won’t be disappointed.

  22. Father G says:

    I showed the video this evening as part of my plan to improve the quality of the altar servers at my parish. It was very well received.
    I am also enforcing the dress code (no jeans, sneakers, etc.). Some of the servers were surprised to hear about that, but it was met by appproval by the parents in attendance.
    Please pray for them.

  23. Cathy of Alex, i wouldn’t pull your leg :), I’m not that mean ;)

    Rachel, thank you for the testimony, that part of the video was hard

    Tony, no worries, I plan to make it down to Holy Innocents soon…though I’ll be out of town this week, I’ve got a plan to get rid of the girl altar servers. Getting the parish to go along with my idea is another story, lol.

    Father G, glad you liked the video, I shall be praying for them.

    I will say that the serving is getting better at my parish with the video.

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