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Great link Father Thomas!

Do the faithful proclaim Axios! after the Deaconesses are ordained?

I wonder if anybody knows how the ancient Latin traditon version of the ordaination of a Deaconess reads?

I'm looking into it a bit. Here is some information from Mary P. Truesdell.


THE OFFICE OF DEACONESS IN THE
WESTERN CHURCH


In the West, deaconesses were not as numerous, nor do we find early evidence that this office was much used. The great Latin Fathers Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine are silent on the subject, but we know that the existence of the office was not unknown in Rome because Rome was represented in the great ecumenical councils. The council of Nicaea recognized the order as a matter of course.22

Conditions of oriental society created a need for deaconesses and their ministry that did not obtain in the West. Accordingly, we find younger widows � not pensioners of the Church � doing some active work in the Western Church; but these were not deaconesses and the distinction is quite clear.

The first mention of deaconesses in the West occurs in 394 A.D., when a local synod (Nimes) forbade further ordination of them;23 possibly the order had recently been introduces into Gaul from the East. There followed other prohibition by other local synods (Orange, 441, Ep�on, 517), and severe penalties against the marriage of a deaconess by the synod of Orleans in 533. We may judge that local prohibitions had little effect on an institution sanctioned by the general Church, for we have the record of some deaconesses in the West. For example, in 530 the influential and saintly bishop of Rheims, St. Remigius, left a bequest to �my blessed daughter Hilaria, the deaconess.�24 and in 539 in Pavia, �Theodora, the deaconess, of blessed memory� was buried.25

In 544 we have the interesting story of the ordination of the deaconess St. Rhadegund. She was a Thuringian princess who was captured as a child by Clothaire I, a Frankish king, and later forced into marriage with him, becoming one of his seven recognized wives. He was a violent and wicked man. Rhadegund, who has learned the Christian faith, fled from court after the King�s treacherous murder of her brother and sought refuge at Noyon where she entreated the bishop, St. Medard, to ordain her a deaconess. The demand was entirely irregular, and the bishop at first refused on the ground that her married state disqualified her for the diaconate. With the pursuing king and his warriors at the door of the church, she hurried to the sacristy, and laying aside her rich clothing and jeweled girdle, donned a religious habit she found hanging there, returned to the altar and said to the bishop: �If thou shalt refuse to consecrate me, and shall fear men rather than God, let the soul of the sheep be required of the shepherd at thy hand!� Smitten by this solemn adjuration, he laid his hands upon her and consecrated her a deaconess (manu superposita consecravit eam diaconam).

Through the mediation of another bishop, Germanus, the king was induced to consent to a separation, and the deaconess Rhadegund retired to Poitiers, where she founded a convent. She herself was not the abbess, but lived as a simple nun, renowned for her saintliness, and consulted by rulers of state. One of her friends was the poet, Bishop Fortunatus, who is known to us by some very familiar hymns he wrote: �The royal banners forward go,� �Hail, Festal Day,� �Welcome, happy morning,� and others. Their�s was a beautiful friendship, and many little gifts of fruit and flowers were sent from the convent to the bishop. When deaconess Rhadegund died in 587, she was buried with great honor by Gregory, bishop of Tours. Bishop Fortunatus wrote an account of her life.26

Deaconesses were in Rome in the eighth century, if not before. We find a votive tablet erected to the deaconess Anna by her twin brother Dometius, deacon and treasurer of the Holy See. When Pope Leo III and Charlemagne entered Rome in triumph in 799, they were met by �the Roman populace, including nuns, deaconesses, and noble matrons.�27 In the eleventh century we find charters of four popes issued to bishops in Italy, which state the right of the bishops �to make priests, deacons, deaconesses, and subdeacons.�28

In Christ,

Matthew Panchisin

Actually, I'm going to post the full text here. Unfortunately, the link leaves out the texts that are the same as deacon, and for those who are not familiar with the rite, it would seem rather incomplete.

--
ORDER FOR THE ORDINATION OF A WOMAN DEACON

After the completion of the holy Anaphora and the opening of the doors, before the Deacon says, Having commemorated all the Saints,[1] the one to be ordained is brought before the Bishop. As he declaims the invocation, she bows her head, on which he lays his hand.

Divine grace, which always heals what is infirm and completes what is lacking, ordains N., the most devout (...), as Deacon. Let us therefore pray for her, that the grace of the All-Holy Spirit may come upon her.

And at once Lord, have mercy is chanted three times by those in the Sanctuary [by those on the right and three times by those on the left] and [in the same way] by those outside.

He makes the sign of the Cross three times over her and prays as follows:

Holy and All-powerful God, through the birth in flesh of your Only-begotten Son and our God from a Virgin you sanctified woman, and granted not only to men but also to women the grace and visitation of the Holy Spirit. Now, Master, look upon this servant of yours also, call her to the work of your service[3] and send down upon her the rich gift of your Holy Spirit. Guard her in your Orthodox faith in a blameless way of life in accordance with what is well pleasing to you, as she fulfils her ministry[4] at every moment.[5]

For to you belong all glory, honour and worship, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

After the Amen the Archdeacon says in a quiet voice, such that the Deacons present can hear and respond, the following Diaconal Litany:

In peace, let us pray to the Lord.

For the peace from on high and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.

For the peace of the whole world, for the welfare of the holy Churches of God, and for the union of all, let us pray to the Lord.

For our Archbishop N., for his Priesthood, for help, continuance, peace, health, salvation and for the work of his hands, let us pray to the Lord.

For the servant of God N., who is now ordained Deacon, and for her salvation, let us pray to the Lord.

That our God who loves mankind will grant that her Diaconate may be without spot or blemish, let us pray to the Lord.

For our [civil ruler] let us pray to the Lord.

For this city, for every city, town and village, and for the faithful who dwell in them, let us pray to the Lord.

For favourable weather, an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and temperate seasons, let us pray to the Lord.

For those who travel by land, air or water, for the sick, the suffering, for those in captivity, and for their safety and salvation, let us pray to the Lord.

For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger and constraint, let us pray to the Lord.

Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and keep us, O God, by your grace.

Commemorating our all-holy, pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the Saints, let us entrust ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.


While the Deacon is saying this, the Bishop, with his hand still resting on the head of the one being ordained, prays as follows:

Master and Lord, you do not reject women who offer themselves, and by divine counsel, to minister as is fitting to your holy houses, but you accept them in the order of ministers. Give the grace of your Holy Spirit to this servant of yours also, who wishes to offer herself to you, and to accomplish the grace of the diaconate, as you gave the grace of your diaconate to Phoebe, whom you called to the work of the ministry. Grant her, O God, to persevere without condemnation in your holy churches, to give careful attention to her way of life, to chastity in particular, and show her to be your perfect servant, that, when she stands before the judgement of Christ, she may also receive the fitting reward of her way of life.[6]

By the mercy and love for humankind of your Only-begotten Son, with whom you are blessed, etc.

And after the Amen the Bishop places the Deacon�s Orarion on her neck, under the Maphorion, bringing the two extremities round to the front.[7]

The other Deacon stands outside the Sanctuary and says:

Having commemorated all the Saints, again and again in peace, let us pray to the Lord, etc.

[At the communion...]

After she has received Communion of the holy Body and Blood, the Bishop hands her the Chalice. When she has taken it, she places it on the holy Table.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] The ordination takes place at the same point of the Liturgy as that for male Deacons and the role of the diaconate as the minister of the Chalice is stressed by the giving of the Chalice to the newly ordained woman Deacon. This clearly indicates that the newly ordained was admitted to the Sanctuary and stood near the Altar. The 14th century canonist Matthew Blastares notes that, �except for a few things, the ordination of women deacons is to be performed like that for male deacons�. He notes particularly that �she is brought to the Holy Table�. The rubrical details in the older books are few and the actual formula of ordination is not given in full. As a result we do not know how the candidate was described or what her ecclesiastical status was before ordination. I do not think the fact that she only bows and does not kneel has any theological signifance.

[1] This prayer is less specific than that for male Deacons and makes no reference to the �service of the Mysteries�. On the other hand there is no distinction between the sexes with regard to the �gift of the Holy Spirit� conferred by ordination.

[2] See the rite for male Deacons.

[3] Greek diakonia.

[4] Greek leitourgia. Here and elsewhere translated by �ministry�. The verb by �minister�.

[5] This prayer is less specific than that for male Deacons and makes no reference to the �service of the Mysteries�. On the other hand there is no distinction between the sexes with regard to the �gift of the Holy Spirit� conferred by ordination.

[6] Whereas the model for the male diaconate is St Stephen, that for women Deacons is St Phoebe of Kenchreae, who is clearly described as a �Deacon� in Romans 16. In contrast to the prayers for male ordinands, the prayer underlines that fact that the woman has offered herself for ordination, which is more reminiscent of the rite of monastic profession.

[7] The woman Deacon is specifically said to be vested in a �deacon�s orarion�, but she wears it with both ends hanging down in front, like a western stole, rather than over the left shoulder. This difference appears to be purely practical, since the woman Deacon would be wearing the maphorion, or ample monastic veil, which would make wearing the orarion over her shoulder difficult.

No, they would proclaim "Axia!"

Dave

Dear-in-Christ Matthew,

Axios is masculine (singular) [meaning 'he is' worthy] so for a woman it would be "axia" which should be proclaimed IIRC at the installation of an Abbess too.

Tony

Going back to a point Matthew made regarding the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia:

- it's a scanned version of an encyclopedia that was given its N.O. and Imprimatur in 1907

- it was published by an American company, and can be reasonably said to reflect the state of American Catholic scholarship in 1907.

- it is NOT Catholic doctrine. True, there are many elements of Catholic doctrine in there, and many good things that reflect Catholic tradition hidden inside, but the site should in no way be construed as to being the position of the Catholic Church at any time (even if it explains Catholic doctrine in some parts).

- the only place where one finds (more or less) the official stance of the Catholic Church is in the Cathecism of the Catholic Church [usccb.org] .

- The encyclopedia is only a source of information, and it reflects the scholarship of a century ago- and this is critical due to the enormous amount of new information that's availble on some subjects it discusses. It is good book for that time, has great historical value, and is useful for those studying Catholicism (and I say this with reservation due to all the facts listed above).

It also clearly has sections where the authors were allowed to insert their own opinions on a particular subject. Therefore, its opinions on many issues are not to be construed as anything besides that of its own authors e.g. the suitability of deaconesses, Hesychasm [newadvent.org] , or "Byzantine Chant" [newadvent.org] (do a search on that page for the word "nasal").

I don't know about deaconesses, but I assure you that the Catholic Church as a whole has a better appreciation of Hesychasm than the Encyclopedia, and (someone correct me if I'm wrong) there's an entire Catholic Patriarchate (the Melkites) that feels "Byzantine Chant" is suitable for its primary style of liturgical music.

I also assure you that it is not the official position of the Catholic Church that "The religious music of the Russians is the only [Orthodox music] that expresses any true piety".

Marc

[My starets would like to add: Is outrage! Even in early 20th century newcaldendarist filioquist Latin West it was known that 19th Century Russia and its music was height of Orthodoxy!]

Fr. Thomas and Matthew Panchisin,

Thank you for the clear-minded way that you are addressing the topic of "Orthodox Deaconnesses". It has taken away a lot of the emotions that I was feeling when I first posted on this forum.

I have printed and am reading and pondering upon the Order for the Ordination.

Shestelle

Father bless. I am not sure what the relevance of this link is; it appears to be the webpage of yet another non-canonical "Orthodox" hierarch....

Dear-in-Christ iconophile,

Yes you are confused. Ephrem Lash is not a hierarch. He belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Tony

Dear Tony- yes, I see upon re-reading it that you are right; please forgive me...
-Daniel, repentant

Dear Marc,

There is quite a bit of more recent information on the matter from the Vatican. I'm aware of the difference between the Vatican and the Catholic encyclopedia. Is there a difference regarding the Vatican's teaching nowadays on the ordaination of Deaconesses?

Dear Tony,

I've learned to get used to the confusion thing, it took a while.

In Christ,

Matthew Panchisin

Somethings some people especially many Latin Catholics are going to have to get a handle on:

1. The ordination of the deaconess in the Byzantine Church is nearly identical to that of deacon. The deaconess was ordained in the altar, with the same formula, vested with the same vestments, and communed in the altar with the rest of the clergy after the deacons but before the subdeacons. However, the deaconess did not perform the incensations, say the litanies, or proclaim the Gospel.

2. The strict Scholastic concept of Seven Sacraments and only seven has not been generally adhered to in the East, so the ordination to deaconess can be seen as a Sacrament without being part of the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

3. The reinstitution of deaconesses in Eastern Churches have nothing to do with the feminist women priest movement and cannot be judged because this movement may try to spin this as support for their position.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Daniel,

Archimandrite Ephrem's liturgical scholarship is top notch and the manuscripts he is transalting from are from Mt. Athos, the Vatican Library, and the Monastery of Grottaferratta.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Dear All,

Orthoman had brought to our attention the Apostolic Constitution compiled c. 390:Deaconess

7.410 - Let not any woman addresss herself to the deacon or bishop without the deaconess.

Maybe the woman in Greece are often addressing the Bishops of the Holy Synod and perhaps they thought we have to stop this so they called a meeting. Maybe they will only ordain one Deaconess to cover all of Greece!
I'm surprised the Latin Bishop's don't see such great wisdom. Fr. Deacon Lance might even like it. As a Priest Father Stephanos would have to handle the conversations. Sounds good to me.

7.410 - Let not any woman addresss herself to the deacon or bishop without the deaconess.

Open the doors for Deaconesses!

In Christ,

Matthew Panchisin

It seems to me - and I could easily be wrong about this, since the only deacons here are Latin Rite - that the functions of deacons in the Western and Eastern rites are quite different. That being the case, there will be misunderstandings. The Latin deacons bless, baptize, read the gospel, preach, and perform marriages. It seems that Eastern deacons serve at the altar and don't do any of those Latin functions. If the understanding of the role of deacons is so different between the rites, I am sure the role of deaconesses will not be understood and will be looked upon with great suspicion.