Ceremonies Explained for Servers – Again

Now that a copy of Bishop Elliott’s latest book is finally in my hands and shipping from both the publisher and Amazon, it’s time to reprint my initial review, below.

I did some minimal editing for clarity, and I’ve added a note about the illustrations at the end.

As an additional note, I will be revising our Altar Servers Training Manual, which his Excellency kindly mentioned in the forward to his book. My hope is to have it more closely parallel Ceremonies for Servers and so be more generally useful for parishes other than my own.

---

Bishop Peter J. Elliott is the author of two invaluable books for the celebration of the modern Roman Rite. Combined, they are basically the Fortescue of the Ordinary Form.

His Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite and Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year, which in my parish we sometimes call the Red Book and the Green Book, are now joined by a third, which we will probably call the Blue Book.

Ceremonies Explained for Servers is described as “the most detailed guide available for servers and those who train and supervise them at the altar”.

And it is.

Full disclosure: I had a minor role in the publication of this volume. This was mostly cajoling, a lot of typing, and a small amount of editing.

In fact, the publication date is two years to the day after I sent my initial letter of inquiry to his excellency. The letter itself was dated to our parish patronal solemnity, that the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.

I can happily affirm the seemingly overblown language of the marketing text. This book covers darn near everything that an altar server, and perhaps more importantly, those who train altar servers, will need to know. I wholeheartedly recommend it for all parishes and for all MCs, pastoral assistants for the sacred liturgy, and altar server trainers.

If your parish does not yet have and use the Red and Green Books, with the publication of the Blue Book it’s time to buy all three.

---

I’d like to add a note about the illustrations. I did not see them prior to having the physical book in my hand, and I have to admit I was a little worried about them.

Illustrations can make or break this type of book. As Father O’Connell said in his Book of Ceremonies back in 1956, “experience proves that the correct way to… genuflect, or to handle the thurible can be learned better from a drawing than from any amount of verbal instruction.”

Now that I’ve seen them, I just love them. They’re simple and straightforward, but elegant. They are drawn by Clara Fisher, who is the daughter of blogger Simcha Fisher and only 19 years old – just a shade older than some of my servers. Well done.