The bus ferrying the altar servers from Church of Nativity in
Burke to the Battle of the Servers, hosted at St. Leo School in Fairfax, was
electric with anticipation for the day, brimming with 35 servers coming to take
part in the fun and games.
I had been talking about the Battle of the Servers with the altar
servers at my summer parish assignment at Nativity for weeks. As we pulled into
the parking lot, the bus was buzzing with excitement. As I directed everyone to
head to the school gym for the opening announcements, I could see several other
seminarians looking on in shock at how many excited altar servers were climbing
out of the bus.
Once everyone gathered in the gym, the competitions began and our
altar servers immediately began to divide and conquer. Fortunate to have enough
altar servers to compete in several games at once, we were able to score points
in several of the tournaments at the same time. I found myself on the soccer
field for most of the morning managing subs for my team. Everybody competed
seriously but showed great sportsmanship and enthusiasm.
By lunch time everyone had played in several of the games and was
eager to tally up their points. Over lunch, generously provided by the Knights
of Columbus, I caught up with the rest of Nativity parish and checked in to see
how we had been competing. By the time that everyone gathered in the gym for
the announcement of the winner, Nativity’s victory was a foregone conclusion to
most of our altar servers. The announcement that Nativity was tied with another
parish and would compete for the title in a final game of tug of war was met
with dramatic gasps, followed by cheers.
This final competition was held on the soccer fields as altar
servers from parishes throughout the diocese gathered to cheer on their
friends. With shouts of encouragement surrounding us, both sides competed
fiercely but Nativity pulled through and won the day. After congratulating the
other team on their solid effort, everybody gathered in the chapel to finish
the day in prayer with Bishop Burbidge.
After the excitement of the day, a hearty lunch and a time of
prayer and encouragement with Bishop Burbidge, everybody piled back onto the
bus in soaring spirits. By the time we arrived back at Nativity, everyone was
already talking about next year’s Battle of the Servers.
Witherow, from Holy Trinity parish in Gainesville, is in
his second year of theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md.