St. Adelheid

Shortly after we arrived in Germany my aunt Vesti decided I was going to be an altar boy at St. Adelheid. That's the Catholic girls boarding school (Gymnasium) where she was dean.

I have to admit I was somewhat mystified as to why it would be hard to find young men to serve as altar boys at an all girls school (ages ~ 11 through 18) - but apparently there was a shortage... Go figure :-) The Catholic mass was still conducted in Latin in those days and the vestments (goofy outfits) were pretty much the same as in the U.S. so I was "good to go"- and it didn't require much arm twisting...

Now - I have to mention that back when I was at Seven Holy Founders in Affton, Missouri I didn't go to confession during the summer between the second and third grades. And when I told the priest: "Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been three months since my last confession" he blew a gasket - chewed me out for a couple of minutes - if I'd been hit by a bus I would've ended up in Purgatory, etc...
I was a bit shocked. I knew that the priest represented Christ on earth but I was pretty sure Christ wouldn't have yelled at me like that :-) So the next day in Catechism class I asked "If Christ is all powerful why can't he forgive my sins directly?" The nun's answer implied that Christ was not all powerful, which I (of course) quickly pointed out. After a bit of back and forth it became clear that we were getting nowhere and she was getting agitated so I dropped the subject :-) Bottom line - I didn't want to risk getting chewed out again so I stopped going to confession - and therefore never took communion again (that's one of the rules). But luckily there's no rule against being an "unconfessed acolyte" so it didn't stop me from being an altar boy :-)

Aside: Despite having been both a Boy Scout and an altar boy I was never molested... What are the odds??? But I digress :-)

Now I've always liked girls (a lot) but there was a certain age range where it was not "OK" to like them - that whole "cootie" thing :-) But by the time we got to Germany I was solidly past that. The only negative aspect of the whole "girls school altar boy" experience was that I was facing away from the congregants during most of the service :-(
But communion more than made up for it. The hosts (sacramental wafers) were brought from the back of the chapel by a blond senior girl who was one of the loveliest young ladies I'd ever seen. I would meet her at the altar rail and take the hosts to the priest.
Then there was communion itself. The girls would come up and kneel at the altar rail. The priest and I would move along the rail and I would hold a small silver plate under each girl's chin while the priest placed a host on her tongue. So in a way I got to be "up close and personal" with every girl in the school :-)

Alas, it all ended four months later when I was sent off to an all boys boarding school. But it was fun while it lasted... And what's the point of all this? There isn't one... It's just a pleasant memory - one of my favorite religious experiences :-)