The Persons Performing the Services

The Clergy.

The persons who take part in the performance of divine services are divided into celebrants and church servitors. Only those persons are called celebrants who have received the grace of the Holy Spirit, through the Sacrament of Orders: they are the bishops, the priests and the deacons.

The first and highest degree of priesthood belongs to the bishop (Epíscopos, which means “overseer”). This name is given to the successors of the Apostles in the service and government of the Church; with regard to public divine service, bishops are the chiefs or heads of all the churches situated in their diocese. They dedicate churches, consecrate Antiminses, give authority for the performance of services in these churches, and appoint all those who hold any office in them. During services the bishops, as the highest performers of all Sacraments through which the grace of the Holy Spirit is imparted to men, bless Christians with both hands, and, in their capacity of chief teachers and enlighteners of the faithful, they also bless them with lighted candles — the Dikirion and Trikirion. When giving the blessing they compose the fingers of the right hand in such a manner as to form the name of Jesus Christ in Greek. To accomplish this, the index is stretched out straight and the middle finger slightly bent, thus representing the letters “IC”; then the annular is bent, the thumb is laid across it, and the little finger is slightly inclined, forming the letters “XC.” This way of composing the fingers is called nominal. In his capacity of chiefs over the priests, otherwise called ieréi, a bishop also has the title of Arch-iereus. All bishops are equal among themselves, owing to their common grace of priesthood. But as the districts subject to their jurisdiction differ in size and importance, as regarded in earthly kingdoms and empires, there are grades in the titles of bishops: those who have charge only of small districts, or cities are called simply bishops or Archieréi; those whose jurisdiction extends over larger cities and provinces have lately begun to assume the title of “Archbishop” (i.e., chief, first among the bishops); the bishop of a capital city, otherwise called “metropolis,” is entitled “Metropolitan”; the bishops of ancient capitals of the great Roman Empire (Rome, Constantinople, Antioch) and of Jerusalem — the cities from which the Christian faith spread over the globe — have received the title of “Patriarch” (which means “chief over the fathers”). A bishop sometimes has an assistant, who is also a bishop; these subordinate bishops are called “Vicars,” i.e., “lieutenants.” In some countries, as for instance, in our own, the churches are governed by an assembly of several bishops; such an assembly is known by the name of “Synod.”

The second degree of ordained priesthood is occupied by the ieréi or priests, who, by the authority and blessing of their bishops, govern small Christian communities, called “parishes,” and have in their charge the parish churches. They bless the beginning of every public divine service, perform all the sacraments of the church with the exception of ordination, and have under their supervision all the persons who hold any office in these churches. They also have the right to give their blessing in the name of the Lord to those inferior to them in spiritual rank, but only with one hand. All priests are equal as regards the grace of priesthood; but there are differences among them, according to the importance of the churches and parishes committed to their care. Some are called simply priests or ierei, others receive the title of “archpriests” or protoieréi, (i.e., “first” or “senior priest”); archpriests have the precedence when they perform services together with priests of the lower rank. The priests of churches attached to imperial palaces, to a Patriarchate, and the Synod have the title of presbyter (“elder”) and the chief priest of such a church takes that of protopresbyter. Priests who have taken monastic vows are called hieromonáchi, which means “priest-monks.”

The deacon holds the third degree of priesthood. “Deacon” means “ministrant.” He ministers to the bishop and to the priests in the performance of the sacraments, but may not perform them himself, and therefore has not the right to bless in the name of the Lord. At public divine service he, by the priest’s blessing, recites the common prayers, reads portions from the Holy Scriptures, and sees that the worshippers comport themselves decorously. In the degree of their ordination all deacons are equal; yet there are different grades among them. The senior deacons of the principal churches are called protodeacons and claim precedence when they officiate with other deacons; and the chief deacon attached to the person of a bishop receives the title of archdeacon. If a deacon is also a monk he is called hierodeacon.

Church Servitors (clerics and acolytes) are persons appointed to certain services in a church used as a place of worship. The highest position among these is that of the “subdeacons” or hypodeacons; they assist at pontifical services and therefore are found mainly in Cathedral churches. After them come the readers and choristers, also called “clerics” and “psalm-readers,” and the sacristans or doorkeepers. Part of the latter’s duty is to keep the church neat and clean and to ring the bells. During service they bring out the candlesticks and the censer, and when they have done with these duties, they take part in the reading and singing. All the church servitors together make up the “church staff,” because they are attached to the church. They are also called “clerics” or, collectively, the “kliros,” because in ancient times they used to be appointed by lot. Sometimes the celebrants are included in the kliros, which then might better be called the “clergy,” and is divided into “higher” and “lower.” The higher clergy includes the celebrants — bishops, priests and deacons; the lower includes the church servitors.