Certain liturgies might look different at Westerville St. Paul the Apostle Church thanks to the Knights of the Holy Temple, a group of young men in grades eight through 12 who serve at Masses and receive faith formation.

The knights serve at St. Paul’s Sunday 10 a.m. Mass as well as on certain feast days in the Church, including Christmas, the Easter Triduum, Palm Sunday, Corpus Christi Sunday and at other sacred liturgies. They also assist at the church’s weekly benediction and at Masses with Bishop Earl Fernandes.

The goal of the program is to promote vocations, said Father Daniel Olvera, parochial vicar at St. Paul who oversees and helps run the program.

Father Daniel Olvera (right), parochial vicar at Westerville St. Paul the Apostle Church, is helping direct the Knights of the Holy Temple altar serving program for young men in the parish. Photo courtesy Andy Long

He said the Knights of the Holy Temple is a personal and parish priority. The parish’s priorities, after the sacraments, are vocations and evangelization.

“That’s the mission,” he said. “What’s the mission of the Church? To evangelize. So, our motto that we have is ‘Forming Men by Serving Christ,’ and that’s exactly what it is that we’re doing.”

The Knights of the Holy Temple started at St. Paul in 2019 with six members. It has grown to 20 young men. On average, between seven and eight and sometimes as many as 12 serve during a liturgy.

The program was inspired by the Knights of the Holy Temple program in the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana. Father Jonathan Wilson, the pastor at St. Paul, received permission to start the program at his parish.

Knights of the Holy Temple altar servers from Westerville St. Paul the Apostle Church prepare to lead a Eucharistic procession with Bishop Earl Fernandes at the Columbus Catholic Men's Conference in February.    Photo courtesy Father Daniel Olvera

While serving at Mass, knights wear traditional dress that includes a cassock and surplice. 

A cassock is a long-fitted garment with a button closure and long sleeves. The color varies depending on the rank of the clergy. For servers, the cassock is black. A surplice is a white outer garment with full sleeves, and it usually falls at the knee.

Altar servers at the parish who are not members of the Knights of the Holy Temple and serve at other Masses wear albs, or full-length white linen vestments with a girdle at the waist.

The Knights of the Holy Temple program not only provides faith formation but teaches young men the particulars of serving at Masses and liturgical events.

“We want them to take the liturgy seriously because the Mass is serious, and they know that,” Father Olvera said.

Outside of Mass, the knights meet twice a month. One night is dedicated to training and the other night is centered on faith, fellowship and formation. The knights have extra rehearsals around Holy Week.

Bishop Earl Fernandes adds incense to the thurible held by one of the Knights of the Holy Temple servers at the Columbus Catholic Men's Conference in February. Photo courtesy Father Daniel Olvera

Included among the recent liturgies the knights have participated in are Ash Wednesday and Candlemas, which is celebrated on Feb. 2, when all candles used in the church for the coming year are blessed, and at Masses for the Columbus Catholic men’s and women’s conferences.

“For them to be doing these type of liturgies outside of Sundays, outside of holy days of obligation, they’re really taking charge and getting into the Mass and understanding how the liturgy is actually working in the liturgical cycle and how it works in the life of Christ and the Church,” Father Olvera said.

He said the knights are trained to “say the black and do the red.” The phrase refers to the Roman Catholic Missal, which priests use when celebrating Mass.

“In the Roman Missal – that book that we use at the altar when we’re celebrating the Mass – anything that’s in black, that’s what it is that we’re to say, and then the red, there’s red rubrics that tell us how to do the gestures in the Mass,” Father Olvera said.

The program focuses heavily on the liturgy. As part of the knights’ training, he said, the young men study the liturgy and the rubrics and ask questions.

“These young men learn the liturgy very well, and they also learn how to be an MC, which is a master of ceremonies, to lead others through the Mass, to take charge,” he said. “We even have them now being MCs for the bishop when he comes.”

A master of ceremonies sees to the appropriate arrangement of sacred actions during the liturgy and ensures they are carried out by sacred ministers and lay faithful with decorum, order and devotion, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops directives. MCs are often present in cathedrals and larger churches.

Nick Brokamp (left) and Jacob Reash are two of the leaders for the Knights of the Holy Temple program at St. Paul. Reash serves as the master knight and Brokamp as the seneschal. Photo courtesy Andy Long

During faith and fellowship night each month, the young men are provided additional catechesis.

“We have videos; we have books,” he said. “Sometimes we’ll have a guest speaker, knowledge testing about the liturgy or just the faith in general.”

He said the knights also learn some Latin, including Latin prayers that they can pray before, during and after Mass.

Aron Aziz, the parish business analyst who serves as a staff adviser to the Knights of the Holy Temple, presented the Gospel message to the knights at a formation meeting.

He said he used the model of the “five Rs” – relationship, rebellion, reconciliation, re-creation and response.

“They’re getting the kerygma,” Father Olvera said. “They’re getting the Gospel presented to them. It’s making them think about who it is that they are, the shortness of their life and what it is that they’re going to do with their life because they only get that one chance.”

Aziz said the Knights of the Holy Temple provide an “elevated sense of the liturgy” and people notice their reverence. The program has received several compliments, he said, from people who appreciate having the knights serving at Mass.

“It makes a difference when servers are well trained, and people notice how they behave,” Father Olvera said.

The Knights of the Holy Temple serve Westerville St. Paul the Apostle Church on the altar during Sunday Masses and feast days and at weekly benediction and Masses with Bishop Earl Fernandes present. Photo courtesy Andy Long

Vocations is also a key part of the program. The young men explore the priesthood as a possible vocation and discuss single and married life, Father Olvera said. 

The program is already inspiring young men to pursue religious life. Two Knights of the Holy Temple members at St. Paul have gone on to become seminarians for the Diocese of Columbus.

Justin Fagge is in the discipleship, or second, stage of seminary, and Colin Lee, is a first-year seminarian in the propaedeutic, or preliminary, stage. Both men are studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical College Josephinum.

The knights participate in several events together. They have a Holy Thursday dinner, Father Olvera said, because the priesthood was instituted on Holy Thursday. The knights get together with other priests for the dinner.

They also attend St. Andrew dinners, which are put on by the diocesan Office of Vocations for young men to learn more about the priesthood. 

Father Olvera said the Knights of the Holy Temple promote the come-and-see weekend at the Josephinum, in which juniors and seniors can stay at the seminary for a retreat.

Some knights also participate in Quo Vadis at the Josephinum, which takes place at the end of July. Young men can spend a few days with current seminarians at the Josephinum in prayer and fellowship while discerning a vocation to the priesthood.

The Knights of the Holy Temple members get together for other activities outside the church such as paintball. Photo courtesy Father Daniel Olvera

The knights spend time together outside of altar serving. They have attended a Columbus Clippers baseball game and played paintball in the summer.

Young men are invited into the program by Fathers Wilson and Olvera or by the knights themselves.

For new knights, there is an induction ceremony during which a young man is presented the cassock and surplice and learns the meaning of the vestments. He is knighted with a sword, Aziz said.

“They promise to uphold the teachings of the Church, to be an example of faith, to serve Christ and His Church with dignity and honor, and through the help of the Lord and Our Lady, they promise that they will keep that promise,” Father Olvera said.

He said younger boys in elementary school can work toward being a knight if they take altar serving seriously and make a commitment.

Aziz said older students in the program train eighth graders who enter the program. He said it is a goal to equip the leaders to be confident in teaching the younger ones.

Jacob Reash, 17, a junior at Columbus St. Francis DeSales High School, serves as master knight. He became a knight in eighth grade and said the program has been helpful in discerning his vocation.

“I wanted to be a part of that because of the invitation to take a deeper look into the priesthood as a vocation,” he said. “With that in mind, I jumped on the opportunity and have definitely been thankful for it ever since.”

Reash said being surrounded by strong men of faith, as well as spending time in prayer, fellowship with the knights and serving the Lord at the altar helps him with discernment. As master knight, he helps lead meetings, schedule knights for various Masses and assign roles for Masses.

Nick Brokamp, 17, a junior at Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School, serves as seneschal, or vice president, of the Knights of the Holy Temple. 

He assists Reash with leading meetings and scheduling. Serving as a knight led him to understand the Mass better and the “nuances of it,” he said, which Catholics in the pews might not notice.

“It’s also helped with my vocation because it’s strengthened my faith life,” he said. 

Both young men serve as MC at Masses. MCs ensure that each knight is being reverent during the Mass.

“If we’re reverent and focused on the true meaning of the Mass, then that will redirect everyone else to the Mass as well,” Reash said.

The Sunday 10 a.m. Mass at St. Paul is the church’s solemn high Mass. The knights, who serve at this Mass, use torches instead of acolyte candles. 

Patens are also used for Holy Communion. The server holds the metal paten under the communicant’s chin so no consecrated hosts or particles fall to the ground.

Reash said use of the paten during Mass promotes greater care for the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

 “Jesus is truly present in the Holy Eucharist that we receive, and the care that we have for that by using a chin paten to put for every single host that is distributed, I feel like that not only has an impact on us but everyone within the congregation,” Reash said.

“The practices that we implement into serving are practices from ancient Church times, so that reignites different traditions that may have been lost through the years, so that’s a big way that we are elevating the Mass as knights.”