Who and what is an Instituted Acolyte?

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The Ministry of Instituted Acolyte

In September of 2017, yours truly and one other man from the Roman Catholic Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman, the Ordinariate community in Victoria, were installed in the Ministry of Acolyte by the Bishop of the North American Ordinariate, His Excellency Steven J. Lopes. The three day event based in Houston, Texas, was the second of its kind in as many years. Last year, some 60 men were instituted as acolytes.

The ministry of the Instituted Acolyte fully realizes Bl. Pope Paul VI's teaching in his motu proprio Ministeria Quaedam (1972) regarding the appropriate roles of the laity in the Sacred Liturgy. The institution of acolytes in Houston coincided with the patronal feast of The Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter. Some 30 men from across North America were installed in the ministry of acolyte on the occasion of the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. And what a feast! Texas hospitality is legendary, and the host parish did not disappoint.

During the course of a very full weekend at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham, candidates received theological, historical and practical formation provided by Bishop Lopes, Fr. Charles Hough IV (Rector of the Cathedral and Director of Divine Worship, Fr. Timothy Perkins (Vicar General) and Dr. Clinton A. Brand, KSG, Associate Professor of English at the University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas.

What is an Instituted Acolyte?

Recommended by his pastor, a man is installed in the ministry of acolyte

    “in accordance and compliance with Canon 1035:1 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law.”

Instituted Acolytes are

    “appointed to aid the deacon and to minister to the priest.”

During the celebration of Divine Worship, which is the proper name given to the Ordinariate Mass approved by Pope Francis, Instituted Acolytes may chant the Old and New Testament readings, and are properly formed to exercise the role of Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion when exceptional circumstances merit assistance.

    “Instituted Acolytes provide a ministry in the Church which is intimately connected to the proclamation of the Word and the service of the altar.”—Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas.

The Instituted Acolyte is obliged to

    “participate in the Holy Eucharist with increasingly fervent piety, that he should receive nourishment from it, and that he should deepen his knowledge of it.”

    “Destined in a special way for the service of the altar, the Instituted Acolyte must learn all matters concerning public divine worship and strive to grasp their inner spiritual meaning. In that way he shall be able to offer himself daily entirely to God, be an example to all by his seriousness and reverence in the sacred building and have a sincere love for the Mystical Body of Christ, the people of God and especially the weak and the sick.”

   —Excerpts from the Text to Request Installation in the Ministry of Acolyte (2017), Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter.

The Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman (FBJHN) is a small but steadily growing Catholic community that worships at Our Lady of Fatima Parish, our very gracious hosts. Mass is currently 9:30am seven days a week. FBJHN hosts Friday Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Saturday Rosary (9am), Wednesday Faith and Scripture Study and daily Sung Mattins.

An Ordinariate Primer

Ordinariate: a diocese-like structure. The Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter includes 47 parishes and communities-in-formation in the United States and Canada. Our Bishop, Steven J. Lopes, is a member of both the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Divine Worship is one of three forms of the Roman Liturgy (Mass) commonly celebrated: the Ordinary Form, celebrated in most Catholic parishes; the Extraordinary Form, which is celebrated in Latin according to the Missal of Pope John XXIII; and the Ordinariate Form, Divine Worship, celebrated in hieratic (Prayer Book) English and incorporating elements of Anglican liturgical customs approved by Rome. Divine Worship is celebrated ad orientem according to the two-thousand year old practice of the Church. That is, both the congregation and priest together face Eastward (ad orientem) to pray. Several times during the course of the (Ordinariate) Mass, the priest turns toward the congregation to invite the people to pray. Holy Communion is received on the tongue under both kinds. Communicants kneel as they are able to receive both the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Our Lady of Walsingham, Patron of the North American Ordinariate. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in the year 1061 to Richeldis de Faverche, a pious English noblewoman living in the village of Walsingham in Norfolk, England. The Shrine which was built became one of the greatest pilgrimage sites in northern Europe. The 14th-century Slipper Chapel was restored as the Roman Catholic shrine in 1897.

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