Sacristans

Sacristans provide a vital service for the Eucharistic celebration. By ensuring that the liturgical items are set up before the celebration and cleaned up afterward, the ministers take seriously the importance of the relationship between faith actions of the worshipping community and the appearance of the place where they gather. The ministry includes the sanctuary attendants who clean the church. The ministry also includes washing and ironing linens used at each liturgical celebration. Training will be provided.

Guidelines for Sacristans

Overview

The ministry of sacristan is a time-honored ministry in the Catholic Church. The sacristan provides an important and essential service to the community by doing all the things that are necessary for our liturgical celebrations. The Ministry of Sacristan in the Catholic Church has changed over the years. Today, the sacristan is required to prepare the worship space for its celebrations ranging from the cleaning of the Church and its furnishings to cleaning of the vessels and linens used in the liturgies. The ministry of sacristan is a behind the scenes” ministry.

At St. Lawrence Parish and Education Center, the Ministry of Sacristan is divided into three different ministries.

Launderers
Launderers are responsible for the washing and ironing of the altar linens, towels and Altar servers albs used at Mass. Soiled laundry should be picked up by the sacristan on Sunday and returned to the Sacristy on the following Saturday before 5:00 PM.

Sanctuary Attendants
Sanctuary attendants clean the church each Friday or Saturday. Sanctuary attendants work in teams of two or three and are responsible for making sure the worship space is clean and tidy for the weekend Masses.

Setup Sacristans
The setup sacristan is responsible to setup before Mass and all other liturgies by setting out the items that will be used during the liturgy in the proper places. Setup sacristans arrive about 30 minutes before Mass and stay afterwards to clean up and put everything away.

Training

Training is provided by trained sacristan until the new sacristan is comfortable in serving alone. 

Schedules

A schedule is prepared for each of the three ministries quarterly and distributed to all sacristans. 

Set up Sacristan usually serve once (and occasionally twice) a month.
Launderers Serve approximately once every 10 weeks.
Sanctuary Attendants serve approximately once every six weeks.

These will vary according to the number of sacristans who are serving. 

Requirements

The requirements are simple – to have the desire to serve your fellow parishioners. This ministry is open to both men and women.