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An Inside Look At Our Sacristans Ministry
Have you ever noticed how beautifully prepared our sanctuary is for each and every Mass? The altar sits ready for the celebration of the Eucharist — everything is right where it belongs. The attention to detail provides a reverential atmosphere for worship, though many of us may not know who we have to thank for ensuring that our sanctuary remains such a sacred haven — our parish sacristans.
Larry Angyal, coordinator of the Sacristan Ministry, enjoys being able to lend his time and talents to the church in this special capacity. Larry Angyal coordinates our parish He first became a sacristan in 1998, at the Sacristans Ministry. invitation of Fr. Malone — now Bishop Malone of the Diocese of Shreveport. At the time, Fr. Malone had duties both at Immaculate Conception and the cathedral, and often had to arrive at our parish just moments before Mass was to begin. Training a parishioner to serve as a sacristan was the best way to ensure that the church would always be ready when it was time to celebrate the Mass. Larry fulfilled this duty by himself every weekend until the official Sacristan Ministry was initiated in our parish just over a decade ago.
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Today, 18 sacristans who have completed the training and approval process help prepare for the Masses at Immaculate Conception on a rotating schedule. Most of their work happens “behind the scenes” as they unlock the church and prepare the altar for the liturgy — yet, these tasks provide an invaluable service to our parish priests.
“This saves the priests probably close to 10 or 12 hours of their time each weekend,” Larry says. “They have enough worries and stress that they don’t need to spend time doing these things. It just provides a service, and that is really the best reward — to know you are doing a very important service and lightening the load on our priests.”
As a sacristan, Larry has found that the extra moments spent in the Lord’s house have continued to bring him close to Christ.
“It’s very hands-on and you’re involved,” he says of serving as a sacristan. “There is a moment when I’m locking up after the weekend — it’s a special moment knowing you have done your duty for the weekend and have another one coming. There are those quiet moments at the end of Saturday or Sunday that are kind of special in that way.”
Feeling richly blessed by his experience as a sacristan, Larry encourages anyone who may be interested in living out intentional discipleship at Immaculate Conception to prayerfully consider giving of their time and talent in this essential ministry.
