Category Archives: Ministeria Quaedam

Let’s finish up this document, ok? There is no official English translation, but I did find an English rendering here on the Adoremus site. For starters, a parish priest doesn’t confer these ministries: 9. The ministries are conferred by the … Continue reading →

7. In accordance with the ancient tradition of the Church, institution to the ministries of reader and acolyte is reserved to men. We all know that is out the window, right? 8. The following are requirements for admission to the … Continue reading →

Regarding the acolyte … 6. The acolyte is appointed in order to aid the deacon and to minister to the priest. It is his duty therefore to attend to the service of the altar and to assist the deacon and … Continue reading →

In common parlance in American Catholicism, we use the term lector. Over the past half-century, we’ve become accustomed to this being a ministry of laypeople. Not just men, but women, teens, and children. For nearly every parish, the ministry as … Continue reading →

4. Two ministries, adapted to present-day needs, are to be preserved in the whole Latin Church, namely, those of reader and acolyte. The functions heretofore assigned to the subdeacon are entrusted to the reader and the acolyte; consequently, the major … Continue reading →

I continue to see commentary, especially on conservative websites, about popes going rogue on reforms, about cabals and conspiracies and such. Not. Wide consultation is really the way. Those discussions might be focused more on ideological confreres, but we should … Continue reading →

With paragraph 6, we get to the actual movement on specific roles. Liturgy folks know that readers and acolytes were retained. Among the particular offices to be preserved and adapted to contemporary needs are those that are in a special … Continue reading →

This paragraph is something of an aside, but it repeats an extremely important value for post-conciliar liturgical reform: full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else. More important than Latin, musical … Continue reading →

A reminder that not all post-conciliar reforms were covered by the conciliar documents. While Vatican Council II was in preparation, many bishops of the Church requested that the minor orders and subdiaconate be revised. Although the Council did not decree … Continue reading →

A little more history: Some of these functions, which were more closely connected with the liturgical celebration, slowly came to be considered as a training in preparation for the reception of sacred orders. As a result, the offices of porter, … Continue reading →

Pope Paul VI leads off his motu proprio with a spot of history: Certain ministries were established by the Church even in the most ancient times for the purpose of suitably giving worship to God and for offering service to … Continue reading →

It was fifty years ago today that Pope Paul VI upturned the tradition that was Roman Catholic minor orders. The document, Ministeria Quaedam. There is no English translation of this document on the Vatican site, but I did find an English rendering … Continue reading →