Celebrating the ‘smells, bells and incense’

By Emily Chaffins -

MIAMI | For Danielle Clapper, watching her daughter Addison receive a certificate during the 2025 Altar Server Awards brought up bittersweet emotions. When Addison graduates this year from Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School in Miami and attends college at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Danielle will no longer have the opportunity to witness her daughter serve as an altar server at St. John Neumann Parish in Miami.

“I’m very proud of her dedication and service to God,” Clapper said. Regarding her daughter Addison’s decision to serve as an altar server, she added, “It’s fantastic. I love that she did this.”

Addison began in 2018, motivated by observing other children serve at Mass. She, in turn, would eventually influence her younger brother to join the ministry, serving side by side with him. About three years ago, Addison rose to the responsibility of becoming an MC, or master of ceremonies, helping to facilitate Mass.

In Addison’s view, the certificate is an affirmation of her commitment. “I put a lot of hard work and service into it,” she said.

According to Kimberly Rocha, president of Serra Club of Miami, 54 altar servers from 25 parishes in Broward County received this affirmation this year, as well as 80 altar servers from 39 parishes in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

The annual event was organized by the Serra Club of Miami and the Serra Club of Broward, local chapters of Serra International – a worldwide, Vatican-recognized lay organization that educates Catholics on vocations to the priesthood and religious life. The organization also supports priests, religious, seminarians and those discerning their vocation as they pursue their calling.

Father Milton Martinez, vocations director for the Archdiocese of Miami, celebrated the opening Mass at St. Raphael Chapel at St. John Vianney College Seminary. Afterward, the award certificates were presented, followed by a reception at the refectory – as Monsignor Pablo Navarro, seminary rector, joked, “De la Misa a la mesa” (from Mass to the dinner).

During the homily, Father Martinez praised the ministry of altar servers. “Altar serving teaches you to listen not just with your ears but with your heart,” he noted. “You serve the altar not because you have to, but because you want to, which makes it beautiful. It’s not about impressing others but about your love for Jesus. Love makes your ‘yes’ powerful.”

Father Martinez noted that saints such as St. John Paul II and St. Dominic Savio were also altar servers, and “even some of your priests and seminarians first heard God’s call while serving at Mass.”

Tomas Salom, in the Discipleship III year at St. John Vianney College Seminary, credits his service as an altar server with helping him to give his “yes” to God.

Salom served as an altar server at St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Southwest Ranches during high school. He resumed the ministry at St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Weston in the early 2020s while praying about whether to enter seminary.

“I started altar serving again when discerning,” he said. “If I was going to envision myself becoming a priest, I needed to transition to being by the altar.”

At the seminary, he routinely serves around two to three times per week. “In the beginning, when you start altar serving, you’re thinking about how to make things run smoothly,” he reflected. “Then it becomes second nature and you’re able to deeply pray.”

“I’d say one of my favorite aspects of serving is the spirituality of service at the altar,” he said. “There’s a particular spirit of prayer when you’re sitting in the pews – you’re receiving the smells, bells and incense. On the altar, you’re giving that to others, giving your labor.”

Salom believes that the Altar Server Awards reinforce the value of the ministry. “When altar servers are recognized, it gives them motivation that what they’re doing matters, and the Church recognizes that their service matters.”