Minor Orders

[JasonV]

So I know that there are still Readers and Sub-Deacons who are tonsured, but do any jurisdictions tonsure the Acolytes, are there any other minor orders in the EO churches which Im missing here?

[EmperorConstantine]

Sub-deacons are ordained, readers are tonsured and acolytes are volunteers.

Back in the old days, there were other "jobs" in the minor orders like "door keeper" and I think even a "bell ringer", however they have fallen into disuse and the only two really used are readers and sub-deacons.

Speaking as an acolyte, no we're not tonsured. I was trained by the sub-deacon what to do during different parts of the Liturgy, however the best way I've learned is by seeing what the other acolytes are doing.

[JasonV]

Thanks EC.

[repentant]

Acolytes ARE tonsured..I was tonsured by Metropolitan Phillip of Atlanta, Memory Eternal.

[EmperorConstantine]

Acolytes ARE tonsured..I was tonsured by Metropolitan Phillip of Atlanta, Memory Eternal.
Really?

Must be an OCA vs. Greek difference than.:scratch:

I can only guess that because I was not tonsured.

[repentant]

You OCA or Greek? I'm Greek. Also, it was a few years after I became an acolyte, that I was tonsured. It was like a mass tonsure. I really have no clue what the tonsuring does..I just know I was, I have a picture of it somewhere. I remember they told us not to put anything in our hair, lol.

[Emmanuel-A]

Well, I'm an untonsured acolyte.

I belong to the MP and had never heard of acolytes being tonsured ; we just have a blessing. Maybe that's a greek custom.

[Oblio]

In the OCA I was untonsured as an acolyte, received tonsuring later as a Reader.

[Dust and Ashes]

I thought sub-deacons were tonsured rather than ordained since they can still marry or is it only priest/deacon ordinations that disqualify marriage?

[repentant]

I should add, that in my home Church, the acolytes were reader's in a sense...we didn't chant, but one of us always read the Epsitle..I know this is not technically a reader, but would this have something to do with it?

[Anatole]

My son is an Antiochian acolyte and he is not tonsured.

[ProfChrysostomos]

Greetings all!

From one Orthodox jurisdiction to the other, there are differences in terms of how minor orders are conferred upon candidates.

In the Greek tradition, acolytes and readers are tonsured. Subdeacons are not tonsured but ordained (cheirothesia, "laying on of hands" rather than cheirotonia, "extension of hands"; the difference is a fine one, but it expresses not only the rubrical manner of the ordination itself but also the difference between ordinations to the minor and three major orders).

In monastic orders, a monk or nun is tonsured and receives the great schema and a new Christian name. The tonsure itself is a sign of rebirth into a new way of life reflective of the angelic life and the Kingdom. For the minor orders below monasticism, it symbolizes a renewed dedication and commitment to a particular service of the Church, usually liturgical. As in baptism, the tonsure symbolizes a sacrifice of oneself for the Body of Christ, which is the Church.

Whether one is tonsured or ordained, two points should be remembered: (1) these rites are visible rites of passage from a previously 'profane' lifestyle into a renewed life of service in the Church; and (2) these rites essentially give a Christian official permission by the local bishop to serve in an ecclesial capacity.

+ Prof.

[repentant]

ProfChrsysostomos,

Could you explain the meaning of an Acolyte being tonsured? In other word's what does it mean? Am I above, so to say, other Acolytes because I have been tonsured? At least in the Greek jurisdiction, where tonsuring is done...

[ProfChrysostomos]

Hello Repentant,

Tonsured acolytes are not "higher" in rank than untonsured acolytes. A tonsure is essentially a blessing given by the bishop that makes one's liturgical service in the church official. Technically speaking, all men and women who serve the church in a liturgical capacity should have the blessing of the local bishop and, obviously, his awareness that they are serving. In many cases, when a local bishop or metropolitan has not yet visited a parish to tonsure new acolytes, many priests will have already encouraged and trained altar boys to serve in the sanctuary. These boys typically begin serving in the altar, but their service to the church is simply sanctioned officially by the bishop during his upcoming pastoral visit.

I hope this helps.

[repentant]

Ahh ok. I honestly had no clue what tonsuring was for an acolyte, and also assumes it was across the board. Speaking of serving the alter, maybe I should try to get back into it. Have done it in a looong time. It was more a thing for the younger kids, with a few older back when I did it back home. But at the Church I go to now, there are few older, and way older than me, lol...it was kind of cool though when I was an acolyte. I was a captain, so I was kind of like in charge, and I also wore a black cassock...lol.

[choirfiend]

Acolytes were once ALL Sub-deacons. It's why in the GOA you'll sometimes see acolytes wearing a crossed orarion, a liturgical vestment which is only for subdeacons. The vestment has become a vestige, instead of acolytes just wearing a colored robe.

Over time, as there were less men to serve in the role, and more boys to train and form through service in the altar, the age of assistants in the altar got lower and lower, and the rank of subdeacon fell into great disuse, with a blessing for acolytes arising. Far from being a boys job, however, it is properly ascribed to men who understand their purpose and role in the service (which could best be described as 'invisible.')

[EmperorConstantine]

You OCA or Greek?
OCA.

ProfChrysostomos, thank you for the information!

[repentant]

According to Wikipedia, a subdeacon is someone who is ordained by a Bishop to assist a Bishop during a Hieracrchal Divine Liturgy. It also said they could not get married after the ordination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subdeacon

[Nickolai]

Different Churches have different views of the minor orders. I can shed some light on Russky practice.

I'm OCA, and a tonsured Reader (Anagnostes- literally "non-ignorant one"). The Russians make a point to tell you in the tonsuring that this is the first rank of the Priesthood. In fact when I go to a ROCOR Church I am usually told that I must vest in a sticharion to commune.

Anything below this is pretty much considered a lay position. I've heard of people being blessed acolytes and cantors, but for the most part the Russians don't do this.

As for the Sub-deacon. Most of the time in the Russian tradition, the sub-deacon is the first rank that can't be married after ordination. A few Bishops don't follow this rule (mine being one of them). But generally they get around it by blessing tonsured readers to wear a crossed orarion, along with the blessing to touch the altar table. Which pretty much gives enables them to do everything a real sub-deacon does, just without receiving the ordination.

[repentant]

Different Churches have different views of the minor orders. I can shed some light on Russky practice.

I'm OCA, and a tonsured Reader (Anagnostes- literally "non-ignorant one"). The Russians make a point to tell you in the tonsuring that this is the first rank of the Priesthood. In fact when I go to a ROCOR Church I am usually told that I must vest in a sticharion to commune.

Anything below this is pretty much considered a lay position. I've heard of people being blessed acolytes and cantors, but for the most part the Russians don't do this.

As for the Sub-deacon. Most of the time in the Russian tradition, the sub-deacon is the first rank that can't be married after ordination. A few Bishops don't follow this rule (mine being one of them). But generally they get around it by blessing tonsured readers to wear a crossed orarion, along with the blessing to touch the altar table. Which pretty much gives enables them to do everything a real sub-deacon does, just without receiving the ordination.

Isn't a cantor a reader? I am confused..what is the difference? Is a reader what is called a "Psalti" in the Greek, or is that a cantor? A psalti is the one who chants doing the service..

As you can tell, I have no clue about the minor order's, lol...something I never really looked into I guess.

[choirfiend]

A cantor is a singer. Yes, you can call that a Psalti.

A reader, however, is a reader--someone designated to intone readings.

The role of Psalti has fallen into disuse in the churches that do not commonly use a solo chanter, and so in those churches, a reader is often an active participant in the choral singing, and may be a leader in the choir as well as someone who reads.

[Mary of Bethany]

In my OCA parish, we have a rotation of Readers (some tonsured, some not, a couple are actually Sub-Deacons). The reader's stand (is there a name for it?) is at the back of the nave, by the choir area, so that the Reader can communicate with our choir director when needed. We don't have a psalti.

Mary

[ufonium2]

Somebody on here probably knows the answer to this:

When we were engaged, my husband (who was OCA at the time) was told he couldn't be made a subdeacon until we got married. Of course, when we got married he became Antiochian, so that was a moot point I guess. But I know of at least one man in the OCA who is blessed to act as a subdeacon, but not actually a subdeacon, because he's not yet married but plans to be. In the Antiochian church, though, it seems we have actual unmarried subdeacons. Is that right?

[choirfiend]

That sounds right. Byzantine backgrounds have unmarried subdeacons and the deaconate is the first step of married clergy---and I've found this can ALSO be the case in slavic backgrounds, mostly--but you might have had a different experience.