DEACONS
650
DEACONS
Hie levitarum primus in ordine vivens
Davidici cantor camiinis iste fuit.
But Pope Gregory the Great in the council of 595
abolished the privileges of the deacons in regard to the
chanting of Psalms (Duchesne, Christian Worship, vi),
and regular cantors succeeded to their functions.
However, even as it is, some of the most beautiful
chants iu the Church's liturgy are confided to the
deacon, notably the prmconium paschale, better known
as the Exsultet, the consecratory prayer by which the
paschal candle is blessed on Holy Saturday. This has
been often praised as the most perfect specimen of
Gregorian music, and it is sung throughout by the
deacon.
Dress .\nd Number of Deacons. — The early de- velopments of ecclesiastical costume are very ob- scure and are complicated by the difficulty of identi- fying securely the objects indicated merely by a name. It is certain, however, that both in East and West a stole, or ornrium (oipdpi.ov), which seems to have been in substance identical with what we now understand by the term, has been from an early period the dis- tinctive attire of the deacon. Both in East and West, also, it has been worn by the deacon over the left shoulder, and not round the neck, like that of a priest. Deacons, according to the Fourth Council of Toledo (633), were to wear a plain stole (orarium — orarium quia oral, id est, prcedicat) on the left shoulder, the right being left free to tj^sify the expedition with which they were to discharge their sacred functions. It is interesting to note as a curious survival of an ancient tradition that the deacon during a Lenten high Mass in the Middle Ages took off his chasuble, rolled it up, and placed it over his left shoulder to leave his right arm free. At the present day he still takes off his chasuble during the central part of the Mass and replaces it with a broad stole. In the East the Council of Laodicea, in the fourth century, forbids subdeacons to wear the stole (dpdpiov), and a passage in St. John Chrysostom (Hom. in Fil. Prod.) refers to the light fluttering draperies over the left shoulder of those ministering at the altar, evidently describing the stoles of the deacons. The deacon still wears his stole over the left shoulder only, although, except in the Ambrosian Rite at Milan, he now wears it under his dalmatic. The dalmatic itself, which is now regarded as distinctive of the deacon, was originally confined to the deacons of Rome, and to wear such a vestment out- side of Rome was conceded by early popes as a special privilege. Such a grant was apparently made, for ex- ample, by Pope Stephen II (752-757) to Abbot Fulrad of St-Denis, allowing six deacons to array themselves in the stola dalmaticw riecoris (sic) when discharging their sacred functions (Braim. Die liturgische Gewan- dung, p. 251). According to the "Liber Pontificalis ", Pope St. Sylvester (314-335) consiituit ut diaconi dalmaticis in ecclesia iilerenlur (ordained that dea- cons should use dalmatics in church), but this state- ment is quite unreliable. On the other hand it is practically certain that dalmatics were worn in Rome both by the pope and by his deacons in the latter half of the fourth century (Braun, op. cit., p. 249). As to the manner of wearing, after the tenth century it was only in Milan and Southern Italy that deacons carried the stole over the dalmatic, but at an earlier date, this had been common in many parts of the West.
As regards the number of rleacons, much variation existed. In more considerable cities there were nor- mally seven, according to the type of the Church of Jerusalem in Acts, vi, 1-6. At Rome there were seven in the time of Pope Cornelius, and this remained the rule imtil the eleventh century, when the number of deacons was increased from seven to fourteen. This was in accord with Canon xv of the Council of Neo-Caesarea incorporated in the "Corpus Juris". The "Testament of Our Lord" (I, 34) speaks of twelve priests, seven deacons, four subdeacons, and
three widows with precedence. Still this rule did not
remain constant. In Alexandria, for example, even
as early as the fourth century, there must apparently
have been more than seven deacons, for we are told
that nine took the part of Arius. Other regulations
seem to suggest three as a common number. In the
Middle Ages nearly every local use had its own cus-
toms as to the number of deacons and subdeacons that
might assist at a pontifical Mass. The number of
seven deacons and seven subdeacons was not infre-
quent in many dioceses on days of great solemnity.
But the great distinction between the diaconate in the
early ages and that of the present day lay probably in
this, that in primitive times the diaconate was com-
monly regarded, possibly on account of the knowledge
of music which it demanded, as a state that was per-
manent and final. A man remained a simple deacon
all his life. Nowadays, except in the rarest cases (the
cardinal-deacons sometimes continue permanently as
mere deacons), the diaconate is simply a stage on the
road to the priesthood.
S.\CR.iMENT.\L Character of the Diaconate. — Although certain theologians, such as Cajetan and Durandus, have ventured to doubt whether the Sacra- ment of Order is received by deacons, it may be said that the decrees of the Council of Trent are now gen- erally held to have decided the point against them. The council not only lays down that order is truly and properly a sacrament, but it forbids under anathema (Sess. XXIII, can. ii) that anyone should deny "that there are in the Church other orders both greater and minor by which as by certain steps advance is made to the priesthood", and it insists that the ordaining bishop does not vainly say, "receive ye the Holy Ghost", but that a character is imprinted by the rite of ordination. Now, not only do we find in the Acts of the Apostles, as noticed above, both prayer and the laying on of hands in the institution of the Seven, but the same sacramental character suggestive of the im- parting of the Holy Spirit is conspicuous in the ordina- tion rite as practised in the Early Church and at the present day. In the Apostolical Constitutions we read: "A deacon thou shalt appoint, O Bishop, laying thy hands upon him, with all the presbytery and the deacons standing by thee; and praying over him, thou shalt say : Almighty God ... let our sup- plication come unto Thy ears and make Thy face to shine upon this Thy servant who is appointed unto the office of a deacon [eis Siamvlav] and fill him with the Spirit and with power, as thou didst fill Stephen, the martyr and follower of the sufferings of Thy Christ."
The ritual of the ordination of deacons at the present day is as follows: The bishop first asks the archdea- con if those who are to be promoted to the diaconate are worthy of the office and then he invites the clergy and people to propose any objection which they may have. After a short pause the bishop explains to the ordinandi the duties and the privileges of a deacon, they remaining the while upon their knees. When he has finished his discourse, they prostrate themselves, and the bishop and clergy recite the litanies of the Saints, in the course of which the bishop thrice imparts his benediction. After certain other prayers in which the bishop continues to invoke the grace of God upon the candidates, he sings a short preface which ex- presses the joy of the Church to see the nuiltiplication of her ministers. Then comes the more essential part of the ceremony. The bishop puts out his right hand and lays it upon the head of each of the ordinandi, saying": " Receive the Holy Ghost for strength, and to resist the devil and his temptations, in the name of the Lord". Then stretching out his hand over all the candidates together, he says : " Send down upon them, we beseech Thee, O Lord", the Holy Ghost by which [f they may be strengthened in the faithful discharge of the work of Thy ministry, thro\igh the bestowal of Thy sevenfold grace". After this the bishop delivers
