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Handbook for Altar Servers

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Handbook for Altar Servers St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church Grand Junction, Colorado Contents Introduction 2 What is an altar server’s role? . 3 Who can be an altar server? . 3 The services of the Orthodox Church . 4 General Rules for Altar Servers . 5 1 The Church and the Holy Altar 6 The Church Building . 6 The Prothesis . 7 The Holy Table . 7 2 Vespers, Paraklesis, and Orthros 9 Vespers . 9 Paraklesis . 11 Orthros . 13 3 The Divine Liturgy 15 The Antiphons . 16 The Small Entrance . 16 The Epistle and Gospel Readings . 17 The Great Entrance . 18 The Consecration of the Gifts . 19 Holy Communion . 19 Memorial Services . 21 Glossary 22 1 Introduction “He who performed the Mystery at the Last Supper, He it is who now accomplishes the Mystery of the Divine Liturgy. This Holy Table is the same Table as that of the Last Supper, and is nothing less.” - St. John Chrysostom, On Matthew, 50.3 Thank you for your interest in serving in the altar! To serve in the altar is first and foremost to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, whose altar it is. Just as the Church does not belong to any individual or group of individuals, so too the altar does not belong to the priest. The priest has the privilege to serve at the altar through the blessing of his bishop given at his ordination. Altar servers are likewise given the privilege to serve in the altar through the blessing of the priest. By assisting the priest through altar service, you help to ensure that the services at our Church take place in a prayerful and reverent manner. The priest cannot do everything by himself. In order to keep the Church function- ing, the priest joins together in ministry with the whole community, including Parish Council members, chanters, bakers, teachers, and altar servers. That’s where you come in. Serving Christ by assisting His priest at the Holy Altar is an offering of your time and talents. Everyone in the Church is called to serve God in their own unique way. “He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” (Ephesians 4:12-13). Each person has unique abilities and resources. Each person is called to make use of their own unique abilites and resources in order to serve. Altar servers are expected to always to behave themselves in ways that are reverent and befitting of the dignity of the Holy Altar. This means that horseplay, running, and casual joking and chatting have no place in the Holy Altar. If an altar server is unable to exercise self-control, then his privilege to serve in the altar will be revoked. 2 Introduction 3 What is an altar server’s role? Altar servers assist the priest in the conduct of the divine services. A priest without an altar server is always moving around the altar to fetch the censer, or to start the water heater, or to close the doors into the altar. This is distracting and disrupts the flow of the service. Altar servers help to ensure that the services happen smoothly with a prayerful and calm atmosphere. There are a number of practical things that altar servers do to assist the priest. Altar servers bring the censer to the priest when he needs it. They cut the antidoron that the faithful receive after Communion. They make sure the priest has zeon (hot water) to add to the chalice before Communion. But the role of an altar server is not only practical. Altar servers also resp- resent to the faithful the presence of the holy angels who minister throughout the Divine Liturgy. Altar servers do this by carrying candles and other items at the Gospel readings and at the entrances made during the Divine Liturgy and other services. When the chanters sing “We who mystically represent the Cherubim. ” before the Great Entrance, the altar servers respond by representing visually the presence of the holy angels through the candles and exapteryga (liturgical fans) that they carry during the Entrance. Who can be an altar server? In some parishes, a boy can begin to serve in the altar as soon as he reaches a specific age. This approach has the unfortunate side-effect of preventing younger boys who might be mature enough to serve in the altar from doing so, while also allowing into the altar some boys who might not quite be ready yet. At our parish, any male who is a baptised or chrismated Orthodox Chris- tian can serve in the altar with the blessing of the priest as long as he is able to stand, focus, and take direction for the whole service. Altar servers do not need to be only children or teenagers; men can serve in the altar as well. This is why we are avoiding the phrase ‘altar boys’ in this handbook. It is helpful to have a variety of ages in the altar, so that men or older boys can help the younger boys. Because of the close connection between the altar servers and the priest- hood, it is the tradition of the Orthodox Church to only allow men or boys to serve in the altar. Exceptions to this tradition are typically only seen in women’s monasteries. Introduction 4 The services of the Orthodox Church The daily cycle of services in the Orthodox Church begins at sunset. “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day,” (Genesis 1:5). The first service of the day is Vespers, which is served at or around sun- down. Next comes the service of Compline, which is served after dinner. The Greek word for Compline, apodeipnon, literally means ‘after dinner.’ The Midnight Office comes next, which as its name implies is served in the middle of the night. The Orthros service comes in the early morning as the sun is rising. This is followed by the Hours— First Hour, Third Hour, Sixth Hour, and Ninth Hour— which are served throughout the day. Of these services, Vespers and Orthros are the only ones that are served regularly at our parish. The Paraklesis service is based on Compline, with the addition of a Canon to the Theotokos. Nonetheless, at different times of the year, all of the daily services are celebrated. In addition to this daily cycle of services, the Church has special services for the celebration of the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments). These include: • Holy Communion (the Divine Liturgy) • Baptism • Chrismation • Marriage • Ordination of a deacon, priest, or bishop • Confession • Unction This handbook contains instructions for the services of Vespers, Orthros, Paraklesis, and Divine Liturgy. Introduction 5 General Rules for Altar Servers • Always behave respectfully. • Never run in the altar. • Do not argue with each other about who will perform which duties. • Food and drink are not allowed in the altar. Water can be kept in the altar server room if needed. • Pay attention in case the priest needs to give you special instructions. • Be on time for the beginning of the service. If you arrive for Liturgy after the Small Entrance, wait until next week for altar service. • When you arrive for altar service, come up to the priest for a blessing before putting your robes on. • Never touch the Holy Table or anything on it. Only ordained clergy may do so. • Never walk in front of the Holy Table or through the Royal Gates. • To get from one side of the altar to the other, walk reverently behind the Holy Table. Make your Cross as you do so. • Always kiss the priest’s hand when giving him the censer or taking it back from him. • When the priest is giving a sermon, sit in the nave to listen. • After the service is finished, hang your robes back up as you found them. Chapter 1 The Church and the Holy Altar The Church Building The Church building is composed of three main parts that are used during the Divine Liturgy: the narthex, the nave, and the altar. Although our building also includes our Church hall, office, kitchen, and classrooms, these are not spaces that are used during the services. The Church building is a holy place that is set apart for service to God. From the moment we enter the Church, we are entering a place that is unlike any other place on Earth. During the Mystery of the Divine Liturgy, the Church is united with the heavens, and the song of the angels becomes our own song: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3). In the narthex, we “shake off the dust” of our earthly life (Matthew 10:14) and direct our minds toward Christ and his Kingdom. We light candles as an offering to Jesus and as a symbol of the prayers that we offer for ourselves and for our loved ones. We venerate the holy icons in order to greet Jesus and his saints who meet us in the Church. In the nave, we worship God and receive the Holy Mysteries that he offers to us. Those who are able remain standing in the nave throughout most of the service, since we are in the presence of the King of heaven and earth. The word ‘nave’ comes from a Greek word meaning ship. While we worship God, we are on a journey to the heavens together. We arrive at our destination together when we come face-to-face with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
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