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GUILD OF ALTAR SERVERS, UNDER THE
PATRONAGE OF SAINT STEPHEN,
DEACON AND MARTYR

OBJECT

THE object of the Guild is the sanctification of the Altar-Server by teaching him that to serve in the Sanctuary is a great religious privilege, by instructing him the manner of observing the rites and ceremonies of the Church according to the rubrics and to the decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites and the interpretations of the most generally accepted authorities, and by encouraging him to understand the meaning and the purpose of the ceremonies in which he takes part.


HISTORY

THE guild was formed in March, 1905, by Father Hamilton MacDonald, chaplain to the Sacred Heart Convent, Hammersmith, by permission of the Archbishop of Westminster, the late Cardinal Bourne, and it was blessed by His Holiness Pope Pius X in the following November.
On the 4th December, 1906, the Holy Father erected the Guild into an archconfraternity "prima primaria" having the power to affiliate to itself other similar Guilds outside the Archdiocese of Westminster in the British Isles.
On the 19th February, 1934, His Holiness Pope Pius XI extended this privilege throughout the British Empire.


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