Altar boy

Altar boy (from the disused noun monago, from ecclesiastic Latin: monăchus, monk, with the diminutive -illo), also a monastery, with the meaning of little clerics. It is the name given to those who help in the Catholic liturgy, especially during the mass service. It generally applies to children, but can refer to adults or women.

Since the middle of the XX century, it is preferred to refer to them as acolytes, reserving the use of altar boy for the extraordinary ministers, that is, those who have not been solemnly appointed.

Its functions are:

1. Attend at the service of the altar, taking the minister the mass, the chalices or the patena.
2. To serve in the various processions, for example, by carrying the cross, the circuses, the incensary or the evangelical.
3. Attend in the offer to the collection of gifts.