Subdeacon is a title used in various branches of Christianity. It is sometimes spelled with a hyphen: sub-deacon. Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, known by Christians as Jesus Christ, as recounted in the New Testament. ...

Eastern Orthodoxy

A subdeacon is the highest of the minor orders of clergy in the Eastern Orthodox Church. This order is higher than the anagnostis and lower than the deacon. The subdeacon's essential role is to assist the bishop during a hierarchical Divine Liturgy (a Divine Liturgy at which a bishop is present and presiding) by vesting him, holding his service book, carrying his staff, presenting him with the dikiri and trikiri, etc. There is a special service for the ordination of a subdeacon, although in contemporary practice an acolyte or a reader may receive the bishop's blessing to vest and act as a subdeacon, either for a particular occasion or permanently. The main reason for this practice lies in the fact that the canons (e.g. Apostolic canon 26 etc.) prohibit subdeacons to marry after their ordination (just like deacons and priests). This latter stipulation has sometimes led to the reservation of the formal ordination service to candidates for the priesthood, although this is not universal. Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ... Church in Villach, Austria. ... In some Christian churches, the Reader is responsible for reading aloud excerpts of the scripture at a liturgy. ... 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. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. ... Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religions, especially the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican Churches. ... Dikiri and trikiri are liturgical candlesticks, often quite ornate, used by a bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... Dikiri and trikiri are liturgical candlesticks, often quite ornate, used by a bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... Ordination is the process in which clergy become authorized by their religious denomination and/or seminary to perform religious rituals and ceremonies. ... This article is about religious acolytes. ... A reader might be several different things, depending on the context: there are several cities in the United States named Reader a reader is a minor member of the clergy in some Christian churches a reader is a book of different pieces of writing, often by many authors, collected for... The diaconate is one of three ordained offices in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches. ... Roman Catholic priest A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ... Roman Catholic priests in traditional clerical clothing. ...

The subdeacon is vested in a sticharion with an orarion tied around his waist, up over his shoulders (forming a cross in back), and with the ends hanging down in front, tucked under the section around the waist. [1] Often, ordained subdeacons will wear their orarion crossing in front and in back (forming a cross on either side) to separate themselves from acolytes (servers) who wear theirs as in the former case. Like readers, subdeacons are permitted to wear a cassock, although many only do so when attending services. Often a clergy-shirt will be worn instead, and is commonly worn buttoned but with no collar or collar-tab to indicate a rank lower than deacon. The sticharion is a liturgical vestment of the Eastern Orthodox Church, roughly analogous to the dalmatic or tunicle of the Roman Catholic Church. ... The Orarion is the distinguishing vestment of the deacon in the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... An Anglican priest wearing a single-breasted cassock. ...

When there is no bishop present, a subdeacon will take the role of acolyte, assisting the priest during religious services in the sanctuary, the area around the altar in a church. Sanctuary has multiple meanings. ...

Subdeacons have a similar role and function in the Oriental Churches (Armenian, Coptic, etc.) Jesus Christ in a Coptic icon. ...

Latin-Rite Roman Catholicism

Until abolished by Pope Paul VI's apostolic letter Ministeria quædam of 15 August 1972, the subdiaconate was one of the major orders of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Paul VI (Latin: ), born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini (September 26, 1897 – August 6, 1978), reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and as sovereign of Vatican City from 1963 to 1978. ... 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 (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... The term major orders was a part of the clerical terminology of the Roman Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council. ... Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article (The Latin Rite), is a term by which documents of the Catholic Church designate the particular Church, distinct from the Eastern Rite Churches, that developed in western Europe and northern Africa, where Latin was the language of... Catholic Church redirects here. ...

The other major orders — those of deacon, priest, and bishop — are considered of divine institution and part of the sacrament of Holy Orders, whereas the subdiaconate and the minor orders were considered of ecclesiastical institution, created by the Church. Thus, a subdeacon did not receive the laying on of hands at his ordination. Instead, the bishop handed to him an empty chalice and paten, his vestments, cruets of wine and water, and the Book of the Epistles. But, as the recipient of a major order, a subdeacon could not contract marriage, and any breach by him of the obligation to observe celibacy was classified as a sacrilege (cf. canon 132 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law). Canon 135 of the same Code of Canon Law obliged him to say all the canonical hours of the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours or Breviary). 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. ... Roman Catholic priests in traditional clerical clothing. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... Holy Orders in the modern Roman Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Assyrian, Old Catholic, and Independent Catholic Churches, includes three degrees: bishop, priest, and deacon. ... The minor orders were formally a part of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. ... The laying on of hands is a religious practice found throughout the world in varying forms. ... Ordination is the process in which clergy become authorized by their religious denomination and/or seminary to perform religious rituals and ceremonies. ... Russian chalice A chalice (from Latin calix, cup) is a goblet intended to hold drink. ... A paten is a small plate, usually made of silver or gold, used to hold Eucharistic hosts. ... Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religions, especially the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican Churches. ... A cruet (plural cruets) is a small container used to keep wine and water during the celebration of Holy Mass. ... Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of grapes and grape juice. ... Water (from the Old English waeter; c. ... An epistle 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. ... Clerical celibacy is the practice of various religious traditions in which clergy, monastics and those in religious orders (female or male) adopt a celibate life, refraining from marriage, sexual relationships including masturbation and impure thoughts (such as sexual visualisation and fantasies). ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Canonical hours are ancient divisions of time (also called offices), developed by the Christian Church, serving as increments between prayers. ... The Liturgy of the Hours is particularly popular in monastic communities. ... A breviary (from Latin brevis, short or concise) is a liturgical book containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially for priests, in the Divine Office (i. ...

The rôles of a subdeacon at Solemn High Mass included those of crucifer, singing the Epistle, carrying the Book of Gospels in the Gospel procession and holding it while the deacon sang the Gospel, and assisting the priest or deacon in setting the altar. The subdeacon's specific vestment was the tunicle, in practice almost indistinguishable in form from the deacon's dalmatic (the tunicle was sometimes somewhat smaller than the dalmatic, or had slightly less elaborate decoration, but this was often unnoticebale by the average lay churchgoer). He wore a maniple, until this was abolished by Pope John XXIII, but unlike the deacon, priest and bishop, the subdeacon never wore a stole. He also wore a humeral veil while holding the paten during a large part of Solemn High Mass, from the offertory to the Our Father; and, if the chalice and paten with host were not already on the altar, he also used the humeral veil when bringing these to the altar at the offertory. Mass is the term used of the celebration of the Eucharist in the various liturgical rites of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, and in some Lutheran regions which are largely High Church: the main Lutheran service is still known as the... In some Christian churches (particularly the Anglican Communion), one server is appointed to carry the churchs cross during processions at the beginning and end of the service. ... Until the abolition of minor orders in the Roman Catholic church after the Second Vatican Council, the tunicle was the distinguishing vestment of the subdeacon. ... Rather similar to the chasuble, the dalmatic (one of the liturgical vestments of Catholic and Anglican churches) is the outermost vestment worn by a deacon at the Eucharist or Mass. ... A maniple can be either: A division of a Roman legion - see maniple (military unit) A garment formerly worn by certain officials in the Roman Catholic Church - see maniple (vestment). ... Pope John XXIII (Latin: ), born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (November 25, 1881 – June 3, 1963), he was elected as the 261st Pope of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City on October 28, 1958. ... The humeral veil is one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. ...

The apostolic letter Ministeria quædam, which abolished the Latin-Rite subdiaconate, also decreed that what had previously been called minor orders should be known as "ministries". It retained for the Latin Church as a whole the ministries of lector and acolyte, and allowed bishops' conferences to use for acolytes the term "subdeacon", if they considered it opportune to do so. This permission has been availed of by the Latin Church in Greece, in harmony with Eastern Orthodox Church usage, but almost nowehere else. The minor orders were formally a part of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. ... A LECTOR, in Latin is he who reads (aloud or not). ... This article is about religious acolytes. ... Pentecost - The Birth of the Church The Eastern Orthodox Church (encompassing national Orthodox jurisdictions such as Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc. ...

Institutes such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, as well as the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney, have been allowed to retain the subdiaconate, as well as the pre-1970 form of all liturgical rites. Pope Benedict XVI (then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger) at an ordination of FSSP priests in Wigratzbad-Opfenbach, Germany in 1990. ... 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 exclusively in its traditional form according to the liturgical books promulgated before the reforms of 1965 and 1969, or what is commonly called... 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. ...

Thus, within the Latin-Rite Catholic Church, the term "subdeacon" now applies to the recipient of either a major order abolished, except for these institutes, in 1972, or to the holder of a ministry that is more commonly denominated as that of acolyte.

Anglicanism

While the office of subdeacon was abolished in the Anglican Church at the time of the Reformation, certain churches and communities in the Anglican Communion assign a layperson to act as subdeacon in the celebration of the liturgy of the mass or Holy Eucharist; however, this is considered a liturgical function one fills, not an order to which one is ordained. In practice, an Anglican subdeacon performs similar roles to those performed in the Roman Catholic Church. The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... The Anglican Communion uses the compass rose as its symbol, signifying its worldwide reach and decentralized nature. ... In religious organizations, the laity comprises all lay persons collectively. ...

External links

• Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter
• Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest
• History of Subdeacons
• Ministeria quaedam, Apostolic Letter on First Tonsure, Minor Orders, and the Subdiaconate