100 Years 100 Stories The Door A Monument to a Century of Altar Service

The Door: A Monument to a Century of Altar Service

By written by Ronald Malooley and edited by Jake Malooley

 

The year was 1940. I was four years old. Father Seraphim Nassar of St. George Orthodox Church, Spring Valley, told my parents it was time for me to become an altar boy. A robe, the customary vestment, was fitted for me. I carried an icon during the Great Entrance and occasionally gave the censer to Father Seraphim.

Soon, I was introduced to “the Door”—the special entrance to the altar from the basement of the church—and was invited by the senior servers to carve my name into its dark wood. Engraving one’s name on the Door is the traditional acknowledgement that he has joined a sacred club.

Over the years, former altar boys have made many a nostalgic visit to the Door. If only for a moment, these men go back in time, recalling their years of service as a youth to the Orthodox faith. The Door has become a monument to the generations who have served in the altar for the better part of a century. The names of fathers are etched beside those of their sons, uncles next to nephews, cousins adjacent to cousins—a living record of Easter and Christmas services past, and those yet to come.

No photo description available.

No photo description available.
  
Paul Khory

Sam Abraham

Mickey Darwish

Gabe Malooley

Ferris Assalley

Ferris Malooley

Louis Malooley, Sr.

Louis Darwish

George Bacchio

Ronald Malooley

Tony Bashir

George Forsa

Nick Forsa Jr.

George Nimee Jr.

Mitch Kaleel

George Kaleel

Bob Abraham

Richard Malooley

Robert Malooley

Jeffrey Saad

Nick Malooley

Keith Malooley

Nick Medawar

Kenneth Welgott

Kenneth Wiltse

Louis Malooley Jr.

Christopher Leonard

Nick Leonard

Gabe Leonard

John Bacchio

Mike Bacchio

Jim Yeazel Jr.

Nick Yeazel

John Yeazel

Bill Miller III

Cary Miller

Julian Essa

John Essa

Michael Anderson Malooley

Ryan Majerus

Cary Majerus

Jake Malooley

Bradley Abraham

Nicholas Belcher

John Belcher

Thane Kaleel

Nolan Kaleel

Tim Lymberopoulos

Pericles Tarsinos

Jim Tarsinos

Michael Harshman

Alex Harshman

John Kishler

Isaac Kishler 

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