Pope Leo is so clear and precise in his elocutions. There is no need to popesplain him whatsoever!
However, we can highlight and drink deeply of the clear truth Pope Leo presents the Church.
Even speaking to altar servers from France, the Holy Father speaks to the world about Christ and our salvation in Him alone!
My most humble brilliant remarks embedded in the text in (red):
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you!
Dear Altar Servers, who have come from all over France, good morning!
I welcome you to Rome, and I am very happy to meet you, along with all those who have accompanied you: lay people, priests, and bishops, whom I warmly greet.
You know that this year is special: it is a “Holy Year”—which only occurs every 25 years—during which the Lord Jesus offers us an exceptional opportunity. By coming to Rome and passing through the Holy Door, He helps us to “convert,” that is, to turn to Him, to grow in faith and in His love, to become better disciples so that our lives may be beautiful and good under His gaze, with a view to eternal life. It is therefore a great gift from Heaven that you are here this year! (Pope Leo’s marvelous soteriology! It’s all about the gift of heaven!!!!)
I invite you to seize it by living intensely the activities that are offered to you, but above all by taking the time to talk to Jesus in the secret of your heart and to love Him more and more. His only desire is to be part of your life, to enlighten it from within, to become your best and most faithful friend. Life becomes beautiful and happy with Jesus. But He is waiting for your response. He knocks at the door and waits to enter: “I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20). To be “close” to Jesus, the Son of God, to enter into His friendship! What an unexpected destiny! What happiness! What consolation! What hope for the future! (Wonderful emphasis on God’s personal friendship with us, our need to respond and enjoy our destiny in Christ and our hope for a transformed life.)
Hope is precisely the theme of this Holy Year. Perhaps you realize how much we need hope. You certainly hear that the world is in a bad way, facing increasingly serious and worrying challenges. You may be affected, either personally or in your circle of friends and family, by suffering, illness or disability, failure, the loss of a loved one; and, in the face of these trials, your heart is filled with sadness and anxiety. Who will come to our aid? Who will have mercy on us? Who will come to save us? Not only from our sorrows, our limitations, and our faults, but also from death itself? (SOTERIOLOGY! Jesus is our hope in this world and for the life He promises us in heaven!)
The answer is perfectly clear and has resounded throughout history for 2,000 years: Jesus alone comes to save us, and no one else: because only He has the power—He is almighty God Himself—and because He loves us. Saint Peter said it emphatically: "There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved " (Acts 4:12). Never forget these words, dear friends; engrave them in your hearts, and put Jesus at the center of your lives. I hope that you will leave Rome closer to Him, more determined than ever to love and follow Him, and thus better equipped with hope to face the life that lies ahead of you. This hope will always be there in difficult moments of doubt, discouragement, and turmoil, like a solid anchor cast toward heaven (cf. Heb 6:19), which will enable you to continue on your journey. (There is no danger in misinterpreting anything that Pope Leo says here. Only Jesus saves us, no other religion or secular ideology can do that, only Jesus! Never forget that!)
There is certain proof that Jesus loves us and saves us: He gave His life for us by offering it on the cross. Indeed, there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for those one loves (cf. Jn 15:13). And this is the most wonderful thing about our Catholic faith, something that no one could have imagined or hoped for: God, the creator of heaven and earth, wanted to suffer and die for us, His creatures. God loved us to the point of death! To accomplish this, He came down from heaven, humbled Himself by becoming man, and offered Himself as a sacrifice on the cross, the most important event in the history of the world. What do we have to fear from such a God who loved us so much? What more could we hope for? What are we waiting for to love Him in return as He deserves? Gloriously resurrected, Jesus is alive with the Father, now caring for us and communicating His imperishable life to us.
And the Church, from generation to generation, carefully preserves the memory of the Lord's death and resurrection, of which she is a witness, as her most precious treasure. She preserves and transmits it by celebrating the Eucharist, which you have the joy and honor of serving. The Eucharist is the Treasure of the Church, the Treasure of Treasures. From the first day of its existence, and then for centuries, the Church has celebrated Mass, Sunday after Sunday, to remember what her Lord has done for her. In the hands of the priest and with his words, “This is my Body, this is my Blood,” Jesus still gives his life on the Altar, He still pours out his Blood for us today. (The hands of the priest and with his words….the Mass from the first day of its existence (Holy Thursday) until now and over the course of centuries! Pope Leo emphasizes the cultic priesthood configured to Christ the High Priest and Bridegroom of the Church, His Bride!)
Dear Altar Servers, the celebration of Mass saves us today! It saves the world today! It is the most important event in the life of a Christian and in the life of the Church, because it is the rendezvous where God gives himself to us out of love, again and again. Christians do not go to Mass out of duty, but because they absolutely need it; they need the life of God, who gives himself without return! (SOTERIOLOGY! SOTERIOLOGY! SOTERIOLOGY! The Mass saves us! Saves the world!!!! It is the MOST IMPORTANT EVEN IN OUR LIVES!!!!)
Dear friends, I thank you for your commitment: you are doing your parish a great and generous service, and I encourage you to persevere faithfully. When you approach the altar, always keep in mind the greatness and holiness of what is being celebrated. Mass is a time of celebration and joy. How, indeed, can we not have joy in our hearts in the presence of Jesus? But Mass is also a serious, solemn moment, marked by gravity. May your attitude, your silence, the dignity of your service, the beauty of the liturgy, the order and majesty of the gestures, draw the faithful into the sacred grandeur of the Mystery.(Pope Leo points the altar servers and us to the Royal Court of the Heavenly Kingdom, the Majesty that is the Mass, properly celebrated of course! THE SACRED GRANDEUR THAT IS THE MYSTERY! WOW!)
I also hope that you will be attentive to the call that Jesus may address to you to follow him more closely in the priesthood. I address myself to your young, enthusiastic, and generous consciences, and I am going to tell you something that you need to hear, even if it may cause you some concern: the shortage of priests in France and throughout the world is a great misfortune! A misfortune for the Church. May you, little by little, Sunday after Sunday, discover the beauty, the happiness, and the necessity of such a vocation. What a wonderful life that of the priest who, at the heart of each of his days, encounters Jesus in such an exceptional way and gives him to the world! (Present in at this presentation are girl servers also. But that does not deter the pope from promoting vocations to the priesthood to the altar boys gathered there. The Holy Father rightly decries that decline in vocations and upholds the wonderful life of the priest, HE who, at the heart of HIS days, encounters Jesus!)
Dear Altar Servers, thank you once again for your visit. Your numbers and the faith that dwells within you are a great comfort, a sign of hope. Persevere courageously, and bear witness to those around you of the pride and joy that serving at Mass brings you.
I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you, your companions, your priests, and your families.
Thank you!
Leo XIV
Clementine Hall
August 25, 2025
31 comments:
Note the female servers, good!
But they probably felt excluded when the Holy Father spoke to the boys about becoming priests. Scarred them for life!
No they know we’ll have female deacons within a decade and female priests in their lifetime!
Pope Leo reminds us once again what a huge upgrade he is compared to his predecessor
Silly comment but yes there are already liberal schismatic/heretical sects who ordained woman and claim to be catholic. They are holier than natural law, the pope and the Deposit of faith. Also their women priests are men who transitioned to female and vice versa. Too funny if not so sad and blasphemous.
I’m sure will disappoint your unrealistic expectations in time!
Not sure I like the cape things on those female servers in last photo
At the chrism mass at Westminster Cathedral which all the altar servers from the diocese also attended, put out pieces of paper at the end of each pew and asked anyone interested in being a priest to write their name. Only ten girls encouraged by the mischievous parish priest did so which was the last time Cardinal Hume tried that particular vocations push!
I believe that Pope Leo XIV's wonderful message today ranks with Pope Francis' (requiescat in pace) 2021 A.D. message to the altar servers of Portugal.
Pope Francis declared:
"Here is the first thing Jesus says to each one of you: Be holy,"
"Animated by respect and interior recollection, your service as an altar server will become a Profession of faith for the community.
"Offer Jesus your hands, your thoughts and your time, and He will not fail to reward you, giving you true joy and making you feel where the most complete happiness."
"..keep radiating around you the light and hope that come from God! As you know, this hope does not disappoint; it never does! With God, nothing is lost, but without Him all is lost"
"Don't be afraid, then, to throw yourself into the arms of the Father in Heaven, and trust in Him, who will see to it that you become the original saint that He wants."
=======
The following today from Pope Leo XIV echoed Pope Francis' 2021 note in regard to the alter server's proper perspective during Mass:
Pope Leo XIV:
"But Mass is, at the same time, a serious, solemn moment, imbued with gravity.
"May your attitude, your silence, the dignity of your service, the liturgical beauty, the order and majesty of your gestures, bring the faithful into the sacred grandeur of the Mystery."
Pope Leo XIV's beautiful conclusion:
"Dear Altar Servers, thank you again for your visit. Your numbers and the faith that dwells within you are a great comfort, a sign of hope.
"Persevere courageously, and bear witness to those around you of the pride and joy that serving the Mass gives you."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Big Benny are you related to Fr K and MT Suit?
I was positive that certain Pope Leo XIV's critics would seize upon our Pope's failure to have limited to males his having called upon altar servers to consider the priesthood. Not surprisingly, I have encountered that upon X.
Vatican News reported that His Holiness "invited young people to consider a vocation to the priesthood or religious life..."
I did not find that second part, Pope Leo XIV having invited altar servers supposedly to consider vocations to the religious life, in the official Vatican transcript of his address in question.
Is that an example of Vatican News having covered for Pope Leo XIV's failure to limit his call to the priesthood to male altar servers only? Anyway, certain anti-Pope Leo XIV folks have claimed that our "Vatican II modernist Pope" has opened the door to priestesses.
Will Rome clarify Pope Leo XIV's address to altar servers?
Other than the above contrived "controversy," I believe that Pope Leo XIV's wonderful address to altar servers is up there with Pope F
is up there with Pope Francis' wonderful 2021 A.D. address to altar servers.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
There are folks who have insisted that female altar servers have represented a tremendous, destructive break with Holy Tradition.
However, Pope Leo XIV confirmed the legitimacy of female altar servers.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
There’s no rational reason why girls can’t be altar servers.
Every parish I have served since 1980 has had boys and girls serving. However service at the altar for boys is a vocation recruitment to the priesthood tool. In the TLM it works very well as such and no girls there.
Women are perfectly capable of doing the job of altar serving. However, that is not the point. The question that should be asked is why the Church has altar servers? Certainly not because the priest needs them. The reason the Church has altar servers is to instill in the hearts of boys and young men a desire for the priesthood. Because of this it makes sense for the Church to limit serving at the altar to boys and men. As for the argument that altar serving somehow inspires girls to look towards the convent, this is simply not the case. Because of this it makes sense for women to step back. My goodness, it's not like we don't have enough to do as is!
Sorry, Father, you wrote in a more succint manner what I was trying to write. However, I still stand by my comment that we women have enough to do as is. :-)
Yvonne,
Historically, altarboys took the place of the congregation by making the peoples' responses at Mass. Of course that changed in the 1920s with the introduction of the Dialogue Mass which gained greater currency in the 1950s. Altarboys do assist the priest at the Lavabo and distributing Holy Communion. I guess if I were a Calvinist I would take your position.
Yvonne - "Historically, the ministry of altar serving has been a source of vocations to the priesthood and religious life. By serving at the altar, young people are given a firsthand experience of the liturgy and the life of the Church, which can inspire them to consider a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. This ministry provides a foundation for a deeper discernment of God's call and a greater openness to His will."
Yes, they are needed.
If there are no servers, who will carry the crucifix and/or candles in processions? Who will be the bearer of the thurible and incense boat?
Even in the so-called TLM, they are needed: "Yes, altar servers at a Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) make the responses to the priest on behalf of the congregation, as their role is to represent the congregation's participation in the liturgy."
The reason the Church has altar servers is to instill in the hearts of boys and young men a desire for the priesthood
Nonsense, the role of altar server is primarily to undertake the roles needed for the solemn celebration of the liturgy such as thurifer, cross bearer and acolytes etc not as a vocations recruitment tool.
Very few masses have an altar server for a simple mass these days, even at the cathedral. I think it’s due to safeguarding (I) a second adult is required if a child is present so no 1:1 allowed, and (2) adult volunteers also need to undergo a CRB check so can’t just spontaneously volunteer as an altar server for weekday mass. Shame!
I have always had an altar server, Adult or child at every daily Mass I have celebrated since 1980. It isn’t that difficult to recruit adults, to serve daily Mass and allow children to serve also. Our diocese requires everyone who has any kind of parish ministry to be certified concerning sexual abuse, reporting it, etc.
It isn’t either/or but both/and in terms of altar boys being encouraged to pray about a priestly vocation. Having girls in the mix complicates it but Pope Leo speaking to the French altar servers, with some altar girls present, specifically directed his comments to the boys in terms of encouraging them to consider a priestly vocation—it isn’t rocket science to figure out how to continue to encourage altar boys to consider the priesthood. BTW, in all the parishes where I as pastor we had boy and girl servers. I “decreed” the girls would wear red cassock and surplice and the boys would wear black cassock and surplice. Technically the girls were being encouraged to seek to become cardinals one day since one need not be a deacon, priest or bishop to become a cardinal, at least theoretically at this point until the pope clarifies that only the ordained can aspire to this job.
Yes but it takes organising, administration and expense. All adult volunteers in the UK need a Criminal Records Bureau check which has to be submitted via a parish coordinator, can take months and costs around £50 so your average retired gent in the congregation is unlikely to step in as a server for weekday masses and solitary youths not allowed. It’s why the altar is usually now cluttered with chalice / cruets / missal etc before mass beguins.
A small credence table beside the altar and largely unseeable by the congregation is called for. I, too, have seen the implements cluttered on the side of the altar and doing so it reprehensible.
Agreed. I’m not usually one to complain about the sloppiness of the new rite and always felt it was exaggerated by “traditionalists”. However, because of illness I’ve been watching online masses recently and am astounded at some of the things I’ve seen, as well as cluttered sanctuaries.
Just take a look at this Scottish church and watch a rather “interesting “ mass if you can:
https://www.churchservices.tv/viewpark
It’s almost enough to turn you into a TLM-er!
My other bug bear is the missal stand used at the priest’s chair now seems to be a permenant fixture covered in a cover turning it into a second am I.
….if you scroll down there are recordings you can skim through. Note the crystal wine glass and fruit bowl used as vessels, plus collection of oil lamps / lanterns and god knows what decorating the sanctuary. I’ve half a mind to write to the CDW myself, lol
Correction: ambo
OMG: I’ve just seen the adoration video with benediction given by priest wearing a football t’shirt and cardigan.
Someone send it to Fr Z!
I wasn't clear in what I wrote but I was referring specifically to the Novus Ordo not the TLM. Sorry, but I don't understand your reference to Calvinism.
Father, I've been to plenty of daily and Sunday Masses (NO) where there were no altar servers.
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