Holy Orders Discussion

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I’m subscribed to a catholic priest YouTuber called Breaking in the Habit and he made a video that briefly talked about how deacons we’re not always seen below the priest, but an equal religious servant task alongside the priest to aide the bishop. I personally don’t see deacons as below priests myself, they are both equal religious servants just with different roles. What do you guys think in relation to scripture and views?
 
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I agree with you. It’s just that people seem one vocation as superior to the other.
 
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I know my Bible pretty well, but I don’t know enough about Church history to know. It is, sadly, an area where I lack knowledge.
 
There much information on church history that is missing. There so much information to learn.
 
There are three levels of Holy Orders - Deacon, Priest and Bishop - with a bishop having the fullness of Holy Orders (in very basic terms, he can do more stuff). However, function shouldn’t be confused with dignity - the three levels of orders each have their own particular mission. The mission of a deacon in directed towards charity and assisting the bishop - therefore, properly speaking, a deacon’s ministry is given him by the bishop and, while he is a co-operator with the priest, he is answerable to the bishop.
 
InThePew said:
The mission of a deacon in directed towards charity and assisting the bishop - therefore, properly speaking, a deacon’s ministry is given him by the bishop and, while he is a co-operator with the priest, he is answerable to the bishop.
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A point I suspect a lot of people don’t know.
 
Epistle for the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women (Acts 6: 1-7 with footnotes):

[1] And in those days, the number of the disciples increasing, there arose a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, for that their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. [2] Then the twelve calling together the multitude of the disciples, said: It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. [3] Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. [4] But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch.

[1] “Greeks”: So they called the Jews that were born and brought up in Greece.

[6] These they set before the apostles; and they praying, imposed hands upon them. [7] And the word of the Lord increased; and the number of the disciples was multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly: a great multitude also of the priests obeyed the faith.

IOW, deacons are ordained to help bishops with the material needs of the Church.

However, in the Eastern Catholic Churches the deacon assists the priest in offering the Liturgy. In fact, the rubrics for the Liturgy assume that a deacon will be assisting the priest. Since most parishes don’t have a deacon, the priest assumes the duties of the deacon as well as the priest as the old axiom goes: “A higher Order may assume the functions of a lower Order but a lower Order may not assume the functions of a higher Order.”

Example: The petitions of the ektenias (litanies) are supposed to be chanted by the deacon, not the priest. Yet the priest must chant them in the absence of a deacon. However, a deacon cannot assume the duties of a priest (e.g. he cannot say the words of consecration).

Does that help? Maybe one of the priests can “fact-check” my information.
 
Father, coukd you see if I made a mistake in my post on this thread? Thank you.
 
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Deacons are, indeed, assistants to the bishop. Meant to be the eyes and ears of the bishop in the community, and to report to him on the needs of the People of God.

In the West most deacons have secular jobs and serve as a “bridge” between the lay faithful and the priesthood.

By being among and for the people; deacons respond to the material needs, and advise the bishop of areas that need particular attention.

This is exemplified in the Mass by the deacon composing the Universal Prayer (sometimes called them general intercessions). He knows what is going on in the parish or diocese, and what specific needs should be addressed in prayer.

The original deacons of Rome were advisors to the Pope, and administered the temporal resources to care for the poor and needy. They performed a role like cardinals today.

Most deacons today work in parish settings, but some address specific needs identified by the bishop, like jail ministry, administering shelters or food pantries and the like.

In the East, deacons predominantly serve the bishop (and, by transitive property, the priest) in assisting with offering the liturgy.

The Divine Liturgy is far more complex than Mass; and presupposes both a deacon and a priest (or bishop) to serve it. In the absence of a deacon the priest has to do both parts.

I could ramble on more, but that’s enough for now.

Deacon Christopher
 
Yes, that’s all correct.

In the Divine Liturgy the priest and deacon compliment each other in a lovely way, which greatly enhances the beauty and completeness of the liturgy.

There is a beautiful image that the priest be so consumed in prayer and focused on the heavenly liturgy that the deacon interrupts him to prompt him throughout what to do:
  • Master, lift it out (the lamb)
  • Master, sacrifice it.
  • Master, pierce it.
  • It is time to act for the Lord. Master, give the blessing.
  • Master, bless the holy Bread.
  • Master, bless the holy chalice.
  • Master, bless them both.
    And so on.
May the Lord God remember in His kingdom all you orthodox Christians, always, now and for ever and ever,
Deacon Christopher
 
Blockquote
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In the East, deacons predominantly serve the bishop (and, by transitive property, the priest) in assisting with offering the liturgy.

The Divine Liturgy is far more complex than Mass; and presupposes both a deacon and a priest (or bishop) to serve it. In the absence of a deacon the priest has to do both parts
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The Divine Liturgy is not more complex then the EF latin mass. Also, divine liturgy is not the same in every eastern rite! I guess that you are (or have experience with) byzantine catholic, but please remember that the Byzantine rite is very different from for example the Chaldean or the Armenian rite. It doesn’t make any sense to conflate them all as eastern when it comes to liturgy.
 
The deacon’s soul receives a sacramental character, but does not receive spiritual power; the deacon who is ordained a priest receives a sacramental character, but does receive spiritual power (the ability to administer sacraments - deacons receive authority to baptize and witness marriages, but this does not require additional power, as any layman could also do these under certain conditions, at least in the West); then the priest who is ordained a bishop receives a sacramental character and more spiritual power, specifically the power to ordain priests. So there is a clear hierarchy. The historical point is admitted - there were some places and times where the deacons were in much closer collaboration with the bishop and so were functioning “above” priests. But ontologically, the priest is superior to the deacon, and the bishop to the priest.
 
Margaret_Ann said:
IOW, deacons are ordained to help bishops with the material needs of the Church.
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This is correct; at its heart, the diaconate is a ministry of service (although not necessarily directed towards material needs)
Margaret_Ann said:
However, in the Eastern Catholic Churches the deacon assists the priest in offering the Liturgy. In fact, the rubrics for the Liturgy assume that a deacon will be assisting the priest. Since most parishes don’t have a deacon, the priest assumes the duties of the deacon as well as the priest
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This is also largely true of the Latin Church too. If a deacon is present, he should proclaim the gospel - since this is one of the primary liturgical roles of the deacon (and is also a ministerial function not a presidential one). He should also distribute the precious blood but, as you say, cannot consecrate.

A priest can fulfill the functions of a deacon because every priest is ordained a deacon prior to ordination as a priest and so remains a deacon in a sense.
 
So, I can fairly say that deacon’s are not the priests assistants like a teachers aide, but more of an equal partner with a different role?
 
There is a distinct hierarchy between the two Orders… The priest is ontologically superior (superior in “being”) to the deacon - and likewise the bishop is ontologically superior to the priest. (Obviously, that does not mean moral superiority!)
 
Those are the only things the priest can’t say (e.g. “Master, lift it out.”) because those are strictly proper to the deacon.
 
Margaret_Ann said:
IOW, deacons are ordained to help bishops with the material needs of the Church.
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True enough, but we should not neglect the next verses:
Now Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.
Acts 6:8-10
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Their ordinations seem to have called out more than just a concern for “the material needs of the Church.“ Deacons are called to preach the Gospel.
 
Is the diaconate an important vocation in the world, could the church properly function without it? I sometimes feel likes underappreciated.
 
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