Liturgical Ministries

Altar servers assist the priest during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Being an altar server is a great opportunity for Catholic boys and girls as well as adults in our parishes to serve God and His Church.

From the early church to the present time, whenever the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered, there was someone to assist the priest, to prepare the altar, light the candles, make the responses, hold the book, present the water and wine, wash the priest's fingers and put everything away after Mass.

Interested youth can begin serving in fourth grade and may continue into their high school years and beyond.

New altar servers will be trained and when their training is complete, each new server will be paired with an experienced server initially to help them become comfortable with their duties. For information about becoming an altar server, please contact Fr. Rob.

• Whenever there is a need for assistance for the celebrating priest in distributing the most precious Body and Blood of Our Lord at Mass, he is permitted, in the absence of other priests and deacons, to make use of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.

  These men and women assist the priest at the Mass in the distribution of Holy Communion and also in bringing Holy Communion to the elderly and home-bound members of the parish.

On Sunday, Lectors proclaim two readings (1st and 2nd reading).  On other special feasts and ceremonies, they serve in the delivery of various readings of the scriptures. They also lead in the community's presentation of petitions and serve the broader needs of parish through public announcements as needed. For more information about becoming a Lector, please contact Fr. Rob

Sacristans are responsible for preparing the church for Mass: the hosts to be consecrated are ready, the cruets of wine and water filled.  They keep track of the inventory so more supplies are ordered when necessary.  For funerals, sacristans assist the presiding priest by having the sanctuary ready with the Paschal candle, the pall to cover the casket, holy water and incense.  They also act as altar servers and/or Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion as needed.  Some funeral sacristans are assigned to assist the bereaved family by greeting people as they arrive, guiding those who will bring up the gifts and inexperienced readers.  If you wish to train and then serve a Sacristan, please contact Fr. Rob.

Ushers faithfully perform their duties for our parishioners and guests during the weekend Masses and on Holy Days of Obligation. In addition to the more familiar tasks of passing out the collection baskets during Mass and distributing church bulletins after Mass, ushers carry out a number of important tasks to serve the people of our grouping.  These include:

• Greeting the parishioners and visitors as they enter the church for Mass
• Finding seating for congregants when the church is crowded 
• Helping the disabled and if requested, arranging to have Holy Communion brought to their pews.
• Ensuring that congregants are available for the Offertory Presentation of the Gifts.
• Answering any questions that our parishioners or guests may have or directing them to the appropriate person if the usher does not know the answer

Ushers also serve at funeral Masses to honor the deceased members of our parish.  They are on hand to assist the family and funeral attendees, especially those who may not be familiar with our churches. Please contact Fr. Rob for more information about becoming and Usher.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal Church and School and the Archdiocese of Baltimore have a commitment to maintaining the trust of the faithful by providing our children and youth with safe environments characterized by healthy relationships. We value the time and effort of family volunteers and the benefit we receive when we have volunteers in our school. Please take time to read the parent letter from the Archdiocese of Baltimore regarding a change in volunteer screening.

At this time, all volunteers are required to complete the VIRTUS training and screening. Please go to https://www.virtusonline.org to get started.  Please click the Reference Check Form to print out the required reference form.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Office of Child and Youth Protection continues to explore better ways to serve the parishes and schools.

Get Started - Virtus OnLine

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.