Sacristan

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A sacristan is an officer charged with care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents.

In ancient times, many duties of the sacrist were performed by the doorkeepers (

In the Old Testament, the office and duties of the sacristan are assigned to the Levites. 1 Chronicles 23-26 describes how David assigned them duties such as temple doorkeepers, guardians, singers and musicians.

Custos

The under-sacristan is also mentioned in the

In some European medieval contexts, a custos was given the more important roles of keeping the safety of the church, its relics, its treasure, and its archives, but was also responsible for the perception of capitationes, symbolic head-taxes that associated freemen with a religious institution.^[4]

Altar societies

Altar societies were once commonly organised within most Catholic parish churches. Member duties vary according to circumstances, and in some instances include tasks that ordinarily fall within the sacristan's province, such as the vestments and altar vessels, making ready for the priest's Mass. In general, they consist of the payment of yearly dues into a fund for maintenance and repair of accessories used in Church ceremonies, and usually also include a certain amount of labour for this purpose. Altar societies differ from

Eastern Churches

In the Eastern Churches, the sacristan is known as the ecclesiarch, particularly in monasteries. In large monasteries he may be assigned an assistant known as the paraecclesiarch. An analogous office is that of the skeuophylax. In parishes, however, the sacristan is called sexton. In addition to the tasks and responsibilities mentioned above, if an individual has a message for the priest while serving in the sanctuary, it is given to the sexton to give to the priest or deacon.

Academia

Many Christian-faith schools appoint sacristans as members of their

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References

Citations