"It was a rare priviledge and an equally rare honor to serve the Cathedral in Kuwait and guide its altarserver sodality in some of its most memorable and historically important occasions... those being the Dawn of a New Millenium celebrations in 2000, the Golden Jubilees of Priesthood of a Bishop and an Archbishop, 50 years anniverary of the Cathedral, a transition of Bishops and an Installation of a New Bishop, the retirement of an Apostolic Nuncio and the appointment of a new Arcbishop, the Death of a Pope and the Elevation of a New Pope. In fact, i am sure that no living altarboy or living Head of Altarboys will see or witness the amount of church events that i have witnessed during the 12 years of my service!"
I am born and brought up in Kuwait. My family enrolled me into the altarboys service of the Holy Family Cathedral in the year 1996. Most of my family were altarboys, including my elder brother. It used to be fun to be a server, enjoying what most new boys usually do .. a lot of dressing up, wearing flowing robes, getting a guaranteed seat behind the altar, being in the spotlight in front of the whole cathedral and having special access to the altar and places other people cant go while the mass was in session. Of course, as time went on and i got trained into the altarboy service, i realized that there was much, much more than that.
I happily and diligently attended mass every Friday at 9am and used to miss it terribly when I went out on vacations out of Kuwait. I faithfully attended all the meetings whenever I could and was undertook with responsibility all the duties that my seniors and the deacon gave me to do during masses or otherwise.
As time went on, the senior boys soon started 'retiring' from their service as it was time for them to leave Kuwait and pursue their further studies abroad, and there came to be a dearth in discipline among the boys, during mass or otherwise. Gradually the Deacon came to ask me to keep a watch on the boys during masses, and I came to be known as an informal "supervisior" or "monitor" to take after Viju Varghese, who was the seniormost altarboy and considered our leader at that time. In the course of time after Viju retired, the handling of the thurible was given to me and I became the formal Incense Holder of the community. Among the altar circles at that time, the holder of the Incense was considered the leader, and that position was automatically regarded to be as mine.
The holding of the thurible brought me great joy. I enjoyed handling it because I knew its smell was pleasing to God, and it also brought me close to the then Bishop, Francis Michallef. My subsequent increased duty in the sacristy brought me even closer to our then Archbishop and Apostolic Nuncio Giuseppe de Andrea.
My role and duty towards the Cathedral took a dramatic turn at the end of 2004, when the Bishop retired and the Holy Father appointed a new Apostolic Vicar for the community after a gap of 27 years. This was a historic event in our Cathedral, and for the first time, a Bishop would be ordained and installed in Kuwait. The country would also see the arrival of a Cardinal for the ceremonies.
It soon became clear during the ancient Installation Ceremonies on September 2, 2005 that there was a leader for the altarboys who worked in close co-ordination with the Masters of Ceremonies, Fr. Windel and Msgr Frances. A small golden cross on my chest distinguished me from the remaining altarboys, and on that day the title of Head of Altarboys came into being.
The changes that I have introduced into the community, now established as a "sodality", is now well known by the congregation. Increased importance was placed by the clergy, the Eucharistic Ministers and the congregation on the presence and working of an altarserver leader. This keeping in mind that the altarboys of a church are the biggest and most visible group of lay ministers bearing a strong presence at every mass.
I made sure that as the first Head of the Cathedral, several rules, regulations and traditions were imposed in lines with the doctrines of the Catholic Church. The job of a Head slowly included teaching his boys various aspects of the working of the catholic church and the intricacies of a Holy Mass. This in turn widened my knowledge on my Church to tremendous lengths, made me research in great detail on various topics like the Papacy and the Vatican, and increased my respect for the church and an understanding of the presence of God during the Eucharist. In turn, teaching the kids who would one day become senior boys and even grow up to be priests, bishops and cardinals gave me great joy. It also made me happy to share some of the workload of our Deacon, who was responsible for the working of the altarservers in the church ever since the early 1990s.
On April 15, 2006, I decided that it was time for me to bring this wonderful journey to an end. After imposing various traditions on the selection and subsequent installation of a new altarboy leader, I finally found a new Head of Altarboys in Gracious Joseph, and the sodality has continued to progress in great catholicism and young love for serving Jesus ever since. I ofcourse, became an Emeritus ("one who has retired with grace"), a position of honor held by every outgoing Head Altarserver of the sodality for 2 years.
I am honored to be an Altarboy and get a chance to serve God and his Church and its Bishops for so many years of my life. Becoming an Altarboy has changed my life forever, and I look with great longing (for wearing those robes and become a young child again) and love on the new generation of altarboys in the sincere hope that they will carry the name of the Altarservers Sodality of Kuwait forward for many many years to come.
Newton Fernandes
Emeritus Head of Altarservers
2004 - 2006
