SOME HINTS FOR THE
CAREFUL SERVER
1. Don't rush your answers. The Priest will be glad to
wait for you when he sees that you are taking care. Pronounce every
syllable of the Latin carefully and clearly.
2. Don't begin your answer till the Priest has
finished.
3. Don't destroy Signs of the Cross. Make two definite
straight lines with your right hand; one from your forehead to your
heart, the other from left shoulder to your right; not stiffly, but
carefully and naturally. It is an action to be proud of.
4. Don't destroy your genuflections. Bring your right
knee down to the ground close to your left foot, keeping head and
shoulders erect.
5. Don't rush about the Sanctuary, and don't dawdle,
either. Just go carefully and quietly.
6. Don't be afraid to join your hands properly: palms
together, right thumb over left; or if you prefer, clasp one hand in
the other, without separating the fingers. And when your hands are
joined, keep your forearms horizontal, neither pointing upwards, nor
hanging downwards. If one hand is doing something and the other
nothing, put the unemployed hand on your heart. (Your heart is not
right over to the left).
7. Don't go to the middle just to make a genuflection.
Genuflect at the middle only when you are obliged to pass
across the middle.
8. Remember, even if the Blessed Sacrament is not on or
behind the Altar where you are serving, the server always genuflects.
Only the Priest is allowed to bow.
9. Don't clasp your hand right round the cruet when you
offer it to the Priest, or, if there is a handle, don't keep the handle
pointing towards yourself. Hold the cruet near the base with the tops
of your fingers and thumbs.
10. Don't rub the cruet (or your fingers) against the
Priest's fingers at the Lavabo (or at any other time). Leave him room
to move his fingers.
11. Don't give the Priest anything with your left hand.
12. Don't ring the bell as though it were an alarm. It
is a signal. A double ring is sufficient; a single ring might be an
accident, and often is; a double ring makes everything clear.
13. Don't fail to watch for the Domine non sum
dignus. Remember that the Priest has to say it in a low tone, and if
there is a noise, you might not hear him.
14. Don't stretch along the Altar to pour wine into the
Chalice. Go quietly up to the side of the Priest. And be ready to do
so:-(a) if there are no communicants: as soon as the the Priest has
received the Precious Blood from the Chalice; (b) if there are
Communions, as soon as you return to the Altar.
15. Don't turn the pages of the Missal to find the
place for the Priest at a Low Mass. To have that done for him is the
privilege of a Bishop.
16. Don't rest your hands on the Altar. Only the
Celebrant may do that, and he only sometimes.
17. Don't lean against the Altar.
PRAYERS AFTER HOLY COMMUNION
(Taken from the Catechism of St. Pius X)
Act of Faith and Adoration.
My Lord, Jesus Christ, I believe that Thou art truly here within me,
with Thy Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Humbled in my nothingness, I
adore Thee profoundly as my God and my Lord.
Act of Hope.
Since Thou art come into my soul, O Lord, never let me drive Thee away
by sin; but remain there always by Thy grace. I hope for this from Thy
goodness and mercy.
Act of Charity.
I love Thee, O Lord, my God, with all the love that I can find; and I
desire to love Thee ever more earnestly. Make me love Thee above all
things, now, always and for ever.
Act of Offering.
Since Thou, O Lord, has given Thyself completely to me, I give myself
completely to Thee. I offer Thee my heart and my soul. I consecrate my
life to Thee. I intend to be Thine for all eternity.
Act of Petition.
Grant me, O Lord, all the spiritual and temporal favours which Thou
knowest will be useful to my soul. Help my parents and relations; help
those who help me; help my friends and my superiors. Release the Holy
Souls in Purgatory.
SOME HINTS FOR THE LATIN
1. Pronounce each vowel carefully.
- A as in bah; Amen is ah-men.
E like ay in bay. Meam is may-ahm
(ae and oe sound like plain e; laetificat is lay-tificat.
coelum is chay-lum.)
I sounds like ee in bee. Laetificat is lay-tee-fee-caht.
O sounds like o in got. Confiteor is con-fee-tay-or.
U sounds like oo in room. Juventutem is yoo-ven-too-tem.
2. Words like Ideo, where there are three vowels:
pronounce each vowel carefully:-
3. The consonants are much as we use them, except:
- C, when followed by e or i is pronounced ch as in
Child. Caelum is chay-loom
G is as in got, except when followed by e or i when it is pronounced j
as in just. Afflígit is afflée-jeet.
H is not pronounced at all, properly. But no one will worry if you do.
Habémus is abáymoos.
J is pronounced as an English Y. Justum is yoostoom.
R. This letter is usually rolled, but don't worry if you can't.
GN when they are together, are pronounced like the ne in new. Dignus is
dee-nyoos
N.B. This
edition of How to Serve the Latin
Mass (5th Edition by Widdowson's 1948),
because it was published prior to 1962, may not entirely agree with the
rubrics of the 1962 Missale
Romanum.
