A new group of altar servers, called Knights of the Chair, have been formed to serve some of the Masses celebrated by Bishop Earl Fernandes at St. Joseph Cathedral. All of the Knights are current students at Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School.
The name, Knights of the Chair, refers to the cathedra, which is the name for the special chair reserved for the bishop in his cathedral. The name for the mother church of the diocese, cathedral, is named for the chair of the bishop.
The idea came to Father Paul Keller, O.P., director of the Office of Divine Worship, when he found it difficult to find enough servers for various pontifical Masses at the Cathedral. Father Keller says he was told that St. Charles used to be a minor seminary and that the seminarian-students were regular servers for bishops of Columbus over the years.
When St. Charles was no longer a seminary, the expectation of having the students serve the bishop also ended. Father Keller spoke with Dr. Adam Dufault, superintendent of Catholic schools in the diocese, about the possibility of St. Charles students helping at some cathedral Masses. Jim Lower, then principal but now head of school at St. Charles, also thought highly of the idea.
Five students currently serve at some of the Masses with Bishop Fernandes. Father Keller anticipates that the St. Charles group will grow in coming months, especially because the current Knights are enthused by the notion of serving the bishop of Columbus.