Members of the Society engage in preparing the altar and church for liturgical celebrations, regular ceremonies and special occasions. They also maintain the sacred vessels, vestments, cloths, candles, shrines, etc., thereby continuing the link to long established spiritual traditions around a sacred space. Through these activities members develop a greater awareness and knowledge of all that relates to the church, of parish needs and of scripture. They support the needs of visiting priests as and when required.
In Fr. Peter’s words; “Everyday the chalices are put on the credence table, people are invited to bring up the gifts, the appropriate vestments are set out, the intentions are written down, bread and wine are prepared, candles are lit and a thousand other details are taken care of so that we can have our daily or Sunday Mass. Altar linen has to be washed and spaces have to be maintained. And then of course .. the arcane world of the microphones has to be challenged … the dreaded ON|OFF switch has to be faced (Ambo, Altar, Chair mikes … ).
The people who do this day in day out are members of the Altar society, they meet from time to time to coordinate themselves and they are the ones who make our liturgies possible.”
