The Altar Boys have a very important responsibility in the Sanctuary where only the Priest and the Altar Boys can enter. They are as close to the holiest places and to the most sacred actions as any man can be. The Altar Boys must always be clean, well-behaved and always caring for their robes and their appearance. They must always concentrate on what the Priest says and does, and must be ready to serve the Priest as the angels serve God.

Altar Boys are mentioned as early as the year 251 AD by Cornelius, Bishop of Rome. These early Altar Boys were special persons appointed as personal servants to the Priests. They helped the Priests to perform their sacred work and dedicated themselves to this work. Today, in America our Altar Boys may be placed in the same category as the early Altar Boys. In the tradition of the Altar Boys, they dedicated themselves as servers to the Priest in sacred work in the Sanctuary.

Such servers are most important. They must function smoothly and uniformly. They must be trained to perform their duties properly, efficiently and with the “Fear of God (respect), Faith in God and Love to God.” By serving our Lord as an Altar Boy, each Altar Boy is offering his proper and reverent performance of his duties. Each Altar Boy is enriching his spiritual life by serving in the Altar and nourishing his love for Christ our Lord and His Holy Church and Her members.

Any boy ten (10) years old or older may become an Altar Boy. Any boy interested in becoming an Altar Boy must first speak with Fr. Chistoforos Sanford. We encourage all boys to become an Altar Boy, so that they serve the Lord like the angels that are above.

Click here for Altar Boy Registration Form

Altar Guild

The Altar Guild welcomes you and invites you to join us in our efforts to enhance our beautiful church. To this end, we are presenting a short summary of what we have chosen to do for our church.

EVERY WEEK – Upon a request from a parishioner, we prepare floral arrangements for both sides of the Royal Door, usually on a Friday. A smaller arrangement is prepared for the Narthex-next to the icon. On Friday, the sand is sifted for the candles, tidy and arrange the Divine Liturgy books at each pew. In addition to these weekly arrangements, we also do the following for special holidays.

CHRISTMAS – We decorate the interior and exterior of the church with wreaths, seasonal greens and poinsettias.

LENTEN SEASON AND PASCHA – We prepare and maintain the wreath for the appropriate icon for the services of the Salutations and Palm Sunday evening. We prepare a wreath for the Cross on Holy Thursday; and then we decorate the church with lilies and flowers for the Resurrection.

DORMITION OF THE VIRGIN MARY (AUGUST 15) – We prepare and maintain the wreath for the icon for the two-week period.

ICON BOOTH
We maintain the icon Booth, which is open one Sunday per month, bringing to the parishioners the opportunity to buy icons, incense, cookbooks, bibles, children’s books and many other items. With the profit, we donate in some way to the church, e.g., Divine Liturgy books for the pews, robes for the Altar boys.

Our efforts are supported totally by donations from the parishioners.