A Rule for Altar Servers
Composed by Archbishop John
1) To serve in the sanctuary,
it is necessary to take the blessing of the priest, or at an hierarchical
service, the Hierarch.
2) One must come to church
before the beginning of the service.
3) On entering the sanctuary, one must face the Holy Table and, on weekdays, make three full prostrations to the ground, or, on Sundays and the feasts of the Lord, three profound bows from the waist.
3) On entering the sanctuary, one must face the Holy Table and, on weekdays, make three full prostrations to the ground, or, on Sundays and the feasts of the Lord, three profound bows from the waist.
4) Those persons who are not
serving are not permitted to enter the sanctuary.
5) Only those who have gathered to serve may enter the sanctuary.
5) Only those who have gathered to serve may enter the sanctuary.
6) When vesting in their
stikharions [servers' robes], servers should remove their ties [Ties, or
neckties as the Americans call them, are considered to be an unnecessary
adornment. One often finds in Russian parishes that even laymen in the
congregation do not wear them—ed.]
7) When taking off the
stikharion, it must be neatly folded or hung in its place.
8) In the sanctuary one should
not engage in conversations, nor laugh, nor should one walk about the church,
and particularly is this so during the Divine service itself.
9) All readers and
altar-servers must be in stikharions. One must also obtain a blessing from the
priest, or in an hierarchical service the Hierarch, to take off one's
stikharion.
11) They should not touch the
Holy Table nor the Table of Oblation (proskomidi).
12) They should not walk about
in church during the reading of the Gospel, the Apostle or between the
exclamations "The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ..." and "And
the mercies of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ be with you all."
13) Even before putting on the
stikharion, their hands must be clean.
14) In the sanctuary and
sacristy, nothing should be brought that is not used in the Divine services.
15) Sitting down, while
wearing the stikharion, is not permitted.
16) Before taking candles or
the liturgical fans out, the server should cross himself before the icon in the
High Place and bow to the Hierarch or priest, who stands before the Holy Table.
On returning, they should repeat this.
18) During the "I
believe" and the "Our Father, " all the servers go out onto the
ambon to join in the general singing. [In the Russian practice, the creed and
the Lord's Prayer are sung and not recited].
19) At the time when the clergy are receiving Holy Communion, the servers should stand reverently within the sanctuary; and during the sermon they should leave to stand on the ambon to listen to it.
20) Those who break the Church
Rule for Servers, should stand on the left kliros [choir place] until the end
of the service.
N.B. These disciplines are not
kept in exactly this way in every church, but they do indicate the seriousness
with which such a great saint of our times as St John took the duties of the
altarservers, and should remind us of the importance of this ministry, and the
good order which should be observed.
From The Shepherd,
Vol. XX, No. 11 (July 2000), pp. 8-9.
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/altar_guidelines.aspx
CONVERSATION