In some Christian churches, the Reader is responsible for reading aloud excerpts of the scripture at a liturgy. In early Christian times, the reader was of particular value, given the rarity of literacy. // Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Many religions and spiritual movements hold certain written texts (or series of spoken legends not traditionally written down) to be sacred. ... The word leitourgia is derived from the two Greek words, leos and ergon. Leos, meaning the people of God and Ergon meaning the work. ... World literacy rates by country The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. ...

Roman Catholicism (Latin Rite)

In the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, the term "lector" is used in preference to that of "reader". The term can mean someone who in a particular liturgy is assigned to read a Biblical text other than the Gospel. (Reading the Gospel at Mass is reserved specifically to the deacon or, in his absence, to the priest.) But it also has the more precise meaning of a person who has been "instituted" as a lector, and so is a lector even when not assigned to read in a specific liturgy. This is the meaning in which the term is used in this article. Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article (the Latin Rite), designates the particular Church, within the Catholic Church, which developed in western Europe and northern Africa, when Latin was the language of education and culture, and so also of the liturgy. ... The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. ... The word leitourgia is derived from the two Greek words, leos and ergon. Leos, meaning the people of God and Ergon meaning the work. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library of Congress. ... For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ... A Medieval Low Mass by a bishop. ... Deacon is a role in the Christian Church which is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. ... . ...

In the Latin Catholic Church, the office of lector, in this sense, was formerly classed as one of the four minor orders and in recent centuries was generally conferred only on those preparing for ordination to the priesthood. With effect from 1 January 1973, the apostolic letter Ministeria quaedam of 15 August 1972 decreed instead that: Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article (the Latin Rite), designates the particular Church, within the Catholic Church, which developed in western Europe and northern Africa, when Latin was the language of education and culture, and so also of the liturgy. ... The minor orders were formally a part of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

2. What up to now were called minor orders are henceforth to be called ministries.

3. Ministries may be assigned to lay Christians; hence they are no longer to be considered as reserved to candidates for the sacrament of orders.

4. Two ministries, adapted to present-day needs, are to be preserved in the whole Latin Church, namely, those of reader and acolyte. The functions heretofore assigned to the subdeacon are entrusted to the reader and the acolyte...

5. The reader is appointed for a function proper to him, that of reading the word of God in the liturgical assembly. Accordingly, he is to proclaim the readings from sacred Scripture, except for the gospel in the Mass and other sacred celebrations; he is to recite the psalm between the readings when there is no psalmist; he is to present the intentions for the general intercessions in the absence of a deacon or cantor; he is to direct the singing and the participation by the faithful; he is to instruct the faithful for the worthy reception of the sacraments. He may also, insofar as may be necessary, take care of preparing other faithful who are appointed on a temporary basis to read the Scriptures in liturgical celebrations. That he may more fittingly and perfectly fulfill these functions, he is to meditate assiduously on sacred Scripture.

Aware of the office he has undertaken, the reader is to make every effort and employ suitable means to acquire that increasingly warm and living love and knowledge of Scripture that will make him a more perfect disciple of the Lord.

Canon 1035 of the Code of Canon Law requires candidates for diaconal ordination to have received and have exercised for an appropriate time the ministries of lector and acolyte and prescribes that institution in the second of these ministries must precede by at least six months ordination as a deacon. Subdeacon is a title used in various branches of Christianity. ... Canon Law is the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Deacon is a role in the Christian Church which is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. ...

Instituted lectors are obliged to wear a liturgical vestment (alb, or cassock and surplice) when proclaiming the readings at Mass; others who perform the same function are neither required nor forbidden by universal law of the Latin Church to do so: "During the celebration of Mass with a congregation a second priest, a deacon, and an instituted reader must wear the distinctive vestment of their office when they go up to the ambo to read the word of God. Those who carry out the ministry of reader just for the occasion or even regularly but without institution may go to the ambo in ordinary attire, but this should be in keeping with the customs of the different regions" (General Introduction to the Lectionary for Mass, no. 54). A deacon wearing an alb and cincture wth a purple stole. ... A Roman Catholic priest from Belgian Congo wearing the Roman cassock. ... An Anglican priest wearing a surplice as part of his choir dress. ...

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 101 speaks as follows of those who, without being lectors in the specific sense, carry out their functions at Mass: The General Instruction of the Roman Missal or GIRM is the liturgical document which governs the celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church with the force of canon law. ...

In the absence of an instituted lector, other laypersons may be commissioned to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture. They should be truly suited to perform this function and should receive careful preparation, so that the faithful by listening to the readings from the sacred texts may develop in their hearts a warm and living love for Sacred Scripture.

In its sections 194-198, the same document lists the lector's specific duties at Mass.

Traditionalist Catholic organizations such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney have been permitted to continue to employ the denomination "minor order" rather than "ministry" for the lectorate and to use the pre-1973 rite of "ordination" rather than "institution" into the office. The controversial Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) and other traditionalist Catholic bodies in dispute with the Holy See, such as sedevacantists, act in the same way without seeking authorization. A 1950s Low Mass in Bohermeen, Ireland in the presence of a bishop and several priests and with the altar arranged for Eucharistic devotions to follow A traditionalist Catholic is a Roman Catholic who believes that there should be a restoration of the liturgical forms, public and private devotions, and... The Priestly Fraternity of St. ... The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (Latin: Institutum Christi Regis Summi Sacerdotis) is a society of priests in the Catholic Church that celebrates the liturgy in Latin exclusively in its traditional form according to the liturgical books promulgated before the reforms of 1965 and 1969, or what is... Antônio de Castro Mayer, who was born on 20 June 1904 and ordained a priest on 30 October 1927, was Bishop of the Diocese of Campos in Brazil from 3 January 1949 until his resignation on 29 August 1981. ... Archbishop LefebvreFounder of the Society of St. ... Sede vacante coat of arms, used when there is no reigning pope. ...

Orthodoxy

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Reader (in Greek, ἀναγνώστης/anagnostis; in Church Slavonic, Чтец/Chtets) is the second highest of the minor orders of clergy. This order is higher than the Doorkeeper (now largely obsolete) and lower than the subdeacon. The reader's essential role is to read the Old Testament and Epistle lessons during the Divine Liturgy and other services, as well as to chant the Psalms and the verses of certain antiphons. There is a special service for the tonsuring of a reader, although in contemporary practice a layman may receive the priest's blessing to read on a particular occasion. The office of a reader subsumes that of a taper-bearer, and the service of tonsuring a reader mentions both functions. Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ... St. ... Church Slavonic may refer to: Old Church Slavonic language Church Slavonic language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Subdeacon is a title used in various branches of Christianity. ... Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh. ... An epistle (Greek επιστολη, epistolÄ“, letter) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of persons, usually a letter and a very formal, often didactic and elegant one. ... The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... This article is about the musical term. ... Tonsure is the practice of some Christian churches of cutting the hair from the scalp of clerics as a symbol of their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem. ... Look up Layman in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... . ...

Readers are permitted to(and should in accordance with his particular churches pactices)wear a cassock, although many do so only when attending services(again in accordance with particular church practices). Readers will generally not wear a clergy shirt, as they are not considered clergy and may not perform any of the duties reserved for a subdeacon, deacon, priest or bishop. A Roman Catholic priest from Belgian Congo wearing the Roman cassock. ... A Clergy shirt is an item of clerical clothing worn by some members of the Christian clergy. ...

After being tonsured, the reader is vested in a short phelonion [1], which he wears while reading the Epistle for the first time. This short phelonion is then removed (and never worn thereafter) and replaced with a sticharion, which the reader wears thereafter whenever he reads the Epistle. This practice is not universal, however, and many bishops and priests will allow a reader to perform his function dressed only in a cassock or (if a monk) a riassa [2]. Often, a bishop will decree what vesting practice he wishes to be followed within his own diocese; for an example, see here, section VIII. Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religions, especially the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican Churches. ... The phelonion (plural, phelonia) is a liturgical vestment worn by a priest of the Eastern Christian tradition. ... The sticharion is a liturgical vestment of the Eastern Orthodox Church, roughly analogous to the dalmatic or tunicle of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Munichs city symbol celebrates its founding by Benedictine monks—and the origin of its name A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, the conditioning of mind and body in favor of the spirit. ... A Roman Catholic priest from Belgian Congo wearing the Roman cassock. ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ...

Byzantine icons often show readers and church singers wearing a sticharion-like garment (more loose and flowing than the modern sticharion) and a pointed hat with the brim pulled out to the sides (see here, lower left corner). This distinctive garb is now obsolete. Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. ... Christ the Redeemer (1410s, by Andrei Rublev) An icon (from Greek , eikon, image) is an image, picture, or representation; it is a sign or likeness that stands for an object by signifying or representing it, or by analogy, as in semiotics; in computers an icon is a symbol on the...

Anglicanism

Main article: Lay Reader

Minor orders were discontinued in the reformed Church of England. The modern office of reader is that of a licenced lay minister. After a period of theological training (often three years of evening classes), a lay person is licenced to preach and lead public worship. A reader is not a member of the clergy, and cannot preside at the eucharist, baptize, perform marriages, absolve or bless. The reader is licenced to lead non-sacramental worship (including, in some cases, funerals), may assist in the leadership of eucharistic worship and may preach. An Anglican reader usually wears a blue tippet with choir dress. Reader Ministry in the Church of England. A Lay Reader is a layperson authorized by a bishop of the Anglican or Roman Catholic church to read some parts of a service of worship. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... For other uses, see Eucharist (disambiguation). ... Baptism in early Christian art. ... Nubian wedding with some international modern touches, near Aswan, Egypt Preparing for the photographs, at a wedding in Thornbury Castle, England A traditional Japanese wedding ceremony A wedding is a ceremony which celebrates the beginning of a marriage. ... Absolution in a liturgical church refers to the pronouncement of Gods forgiveness of sins. ... Look up blessing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The term Anglican (from Medieval Latin ecclesia anglicana, meaning the English Church) is used to describe how the people, institutions and churches as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the state established Church of England, the Anglican Communion. ... Meriwether Lewis wearing a tipped presented to him by Sacagaweas brother, Cameahwait. ... Choir dress is the vesture of the clerics, seminarians and religious of traditional churches worn for public prayer, either apart from the eucharist or by those attending the eucharist as the clergy part of the congregation rather than as the celebrants. ...

See also

• Holy Orders
• Cantor
• Lay Reader