Altar Society

This dedicated group handles decorating, cleaning of the Sanctuary and washing altar linens. Please call the rectory for more information 540-662-5858.

 

As far back as the very early Church, women cared for the work and supplies of the church such as the chalice, ciboria, bread and wine used in Mass. In the tradition of St. Martha, women took on this most nurturing of tasks.  Later, sacristans took care of the work and supplies as well as serving as doorkeeper and bell ringer.

St. Isidore (570-636) writes of a “custodian of the sacristy entrusted with the care of the church . . . of the sacred veils and vestments, vessels, books and all appurtenances, of the oils, candles and lights.”* In cathedrals, the sacristan was to be a priest, says medieval church code. But as the centuries moved on, groups of pious women began to take on the work in parish churches. Our parish is even blessed to have a junior altar society of girls who attend Sacred Heart Academy and clean and straighten the church on Friday afternoons.

*Source: Catholic Encyclopedia

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