Full list of Duties and Responsibilities of the 'διακων'.

Khepra

Can anyone show me such a list? Liturgical and Extra-Liturgical.

minatasgeel

I am wondering if this question came to your mind because of ordinations that took place today in a church... :-)

Khepra

No not at all. My dad asked me about it.

joeg

[Source: ©1996; Copyright Translation; Dr. William A. Hanna; St. Mary & St. Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church; 1843 Ross

Ave.; St. Louis, Missouri 63146, USA. Translation of The Collection of Safey Ibn Al-Assal. Important Collection of

Writings on Church & Civil Laws by Awlaad Al-Assal (Sons of the Honey Maker). Coptic Christians Lived in Cairo,

Egypt in the 13th Century A.D.]

Concerning Deacons: Five parts

(Preliminary Translation)

First: The Conditions for Being Worthy:

1. Paul the Apostle after stating the conditions for becoming priest (bishops), gave the conditions for deacons as

follows: “Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy

lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the

office of a deacon, being found blameless.” (I Timothy 3:8-10).

2. ‘Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have

used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in

Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 3:11-13).

3. (Apostles 15): (St.) Matthew stated: “The deacons should be chosen as it is written: On the mouth of two or three

witnesses every word stands, and they should be examined by in all services and should have the witness of the

congregation and should be the husbands of one wife and raised their children in righteousness. They should be

kind, humble, not complaining, and not speaking from both sides of the mouth and not driven to anger. Because

anger drives away wisdom. And they should not take by the appearance of the rich and should not be unfair to the

poor and should not drink wine in excess. They should labor for the good qualities. They should stay close to the

brothers who are in abnormal circumstances and sympathize with those who are in need and help them in paying

what they owe. They also should give honor to the congregation with honor, modesty, and fear.

3. The deacons should be seven if the city is great (large) as is stated in the book of Acts (Acts 6: 2-6).

4. (Nicea 62): They should ordain as many deacons as the Church is capable to withstand, no more than seven

receive their wages from the service of the altar and the rest are volunteers.

5. The deacon is required to have the nomination of three.

(Second): Concerning His Ordination:

6. (Apostles 53): And the deacon ordain him (speaking to the bishop) and lay your hand on him and pray while the

priests and other deacons are standing (in prayer).

7. He should be selected and only the hand of the bishop without the priests on him because he was not to be given

to the spirit of greatness? by the participation of the priests??/ but he is to obey the orders of the bishop.

(Third): His Rank:

8. (Descolia 34): Let the deacons be blameless like the bishop and be given many honors and be counted from the

priests (clergy) of the Church and to be depended on to do the labor of the Church without seeking honor.

9. The deacon serves the bishop with purity in everything without any desire as if he is serving Christ and should

not do anything of his own will without the blessing of his father the bishop.

10. Bishops, let the priests and deacons attend with you the ruling councils.

11. The deacon as a servant of God serves the priests and the bishop in everything (meaning serves with them) not

only during the liturgy but also serves the sick of the people those who have no one to care for them and lets the

bishop know so he can pray for them or gives him what covers their need to give it to them not only that but serves the widows and orphans and completes every service because this is the way a true deacon should be those about

whom Christ said those who serve me will receive honor from my Father.

12. He or the priest reads the Gospel and he visits (observes) the congregation in the service lest one falls asleep or

laughs or engages in improper talk with his friends (during the service) and the rest of the prohibitions mentioned in

the chapter on liturgical service.

13. He carries the cup if there is not enough priests.

14. He brings the people forward if given permission.

15. The blessing bread is accepted from his hands in a party if a priest or bishop is not present.

16. (Descolia 34) The deacon does not have the authority to teach, baptize, make offerings, or give blessings but he

should limit his service to what the bishop or priests requires him to do and complete the service of deaconea.

17. (Apostles 57) He does not give the bread of blessing but accepts it from the bishop or priest and does not carry

offerings (body) but if the bishop or priest has need he can carry the cup not because he is a priest but the servant of

the priests.

joeg

18. He does not lay his hands and does not bring forward those who are higher in rank than he is but he can give

commands only to those who are below him in rank

19. (Nicea 17) Deacons are not allowed to sit in front or next to the priests in the altar (room) or outside it except

by their permission.

20. The Arch-deacon stands next to the bishop in prayer like a successor and like one who brings attention to all the

prayers and the affairs of the Church. If there is disputes among the deacons below him in rank he resolves the

disputes and he should not bring any of it to the attention of the bishop because they are under his rule and he is the

head of the service and on his hands all the affairs of the Church should be conducted lest they loose the respect.

[Translator Footnote: Does not make any sense!]

21. No one higher than the arch-deacon except for the khory episcopose, because he and the khory episcopose are

like the two hands and the two wings for the bishop and if the bishop walks in the Church the arch-deacon should

be on his right side and the other on his left side and the bishop is like the father walking between his two sons. The

bishop should not bring forward anyone for the priesthood except the arch-deacon because he is the son of the city

(episcopate) and he is familiar with the people and the leaders of the prayer (service) and all the affairs of deaconea.

(Fourth) His Advise:

22. The deacon should do all that is required and present the bigger affairs/problems to the bishop to manage them

with his own opinion. The deacon should be like an eye, and ear, and a mouth for the bishop. He should be with him

with a single heart so that he does not need to worry except for the bigger problems as Jethro the father in-law of

Moses advised him concerning running the daily affairs of the Israelites and he accepts his advise and was thankful

for the (good) results. (Exodus 18:1).

23. Deacon, you must visit those in need and inform your bishops with these needs because to the bishops you are

the soul and senses and in everything obey them and follow their commands as fathers, leaders, and teachers.

24. (Descolia 7): If the bishop give one of the needy tightly and hide it from the bishop he can cause an uproar and

a rising against the bishop but even against God, he will hear what Aaron and his sister (meriam) heard when they

spoke against Moses: “why you did not fear (God) and spoke against my servant Moses.” ((Exodus 12:8).

25. (Apostles 17) Let the deacons be doers of good deeds night and day everywhere and if one serve’s well and

without blame he will assure himself a place good pasture. (Matt 25:14-) and (I Timothy 3:13).

(Fifth): Reasons That Can Cause Him To Loose His Rank:

26. Some of the reasons are already mentioned in the chapters on bishops and priests and the summation is that a

deacon is cut off if he received his rank through bribery, influence, tricks, promise of bribe, received two

ordinations (for same rank), married twice, excessive drinking or evil doing, continues to neglect good deeds, asks

usury from those who borrow from him, known to give false witness, uses an upturned attitude, leaves with a

woman that can be the cause of strife, goes to see the king/ruler without permission from those above him, beats one

to put fear in people, accepted the baptism of the heretics, or their communion, or prayed with them, sent his wife

away using the service of God as excuse, sent her away using celibacy or free choice poverty as excuse, was legally

cut off and dared to continue in the service, made fun of his bishop, was called by his bishop and did not respond, or

moved from his Church to another without permission and returned back. Also if he went on travel or joined a

monastic order without the permission of his bishop which is preferred in writing and especially if he did such while

he was prevented. Also if he brings a woman in her menstrual period to the Church or brings her forward for

communion. Also if he married in secret and this is beyond what was mentioned concerning priests.

27. Some was mentioned in this chapter which is two things:

28. (First): (Ancara 10) If he was ordained deacon without being married he has to stay without marriage. If he

marries after his ordination as deacon he is cut off from deaconea.

29. (Second): (Nicea 12) If he admits after ordination to transgression he committed before ordination which

denies one the rank of deacon he should not participate in any of the services related to the offerings (Eucharist) but

if he denies it and was scolded for it by a congregation (ruling council) he should be reduced to the rank of epodeacon

(subdeacon).

[Awlaad Al-Assal, four generations of a wealthy Coptic family who lived in the 13th century A.D(The reign of

Ayoubite family during the crusades). They were writers, historians scholars and religious men believed to be the

first Copts to write in Arabic, since Coptic continued to be in use until the middle of the 13th century A.D. They are

authors of books in Church laws, Church history, science, mathematics, and astronomy. They are believed to be the

first to translate the Bible from Coptic to Arabic. Their writings are invaluable in describing the transition from all

Coptic to partly Coptic and partly Arabic Church communications. The Church does not accept all the statements in

the book being translated, but the translation is for historic record and information we need to understand and

appreciate our most highly regarded Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox Heritage. I hope you benefit from reading this

humble work]

(to the best of my ability, I preserved the meaning. Repetition was customary in old writings for emphasis. Also,

repetition is caused by multiple sources of same cannon (law)). 

(C) 1996 Dr. W.A. Hanna; St. Mary & St. Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church;

1843 Ross Ave.; St. Louis, MO 63146; USA

cyril

Are these documents referring to Deacons or chanters, readers and subdeacons too?

joeg

Deacons only. The next chapter in the book deals with the lower ranks.

cyril

Wow. Joeg could you share the book with us in pdf if you have it in that format?

joeg

http://www.zeitun-eg.org/ASSAL_AL.pdf

mabsoota

one thing i may be able to explain:

(joe g please correct me if i am wrong)

"If there is disputes among the deacons below him in rank he resolves the

disputes and he should not bring any of it to the attention of the bishop because they are under his rule and he is the

head of the service and on his hands all the affairs of the Church should be conducted lest they loose the respect.

[Translator Footnote: Does not make any sense!]"

i think it means that the deacon should sort out this problems so smoothly that the bishop never needs to know that there was a problem in the first place.

what do others think?

qawe

Khepra said:

Can anyone show me such a list? Liturgical and Extra-Liturgical.

Everything is liturgical in the Orthodox Church. Nothing is 'extra-liturgical'. That's why it's so important not to use 'it's not inside the liturgy' as an excuse to make compromises which are not in the spirit of the liturgy in eg Sunday School.

Khepra

I meant Eucharistic and Extra-Eucharistic

ophadece

Dear @qawe,
please explain more the terms liturgies vs extra-liturgical.. I'd like to understand that better please..
oujai khan ebshois

qawe

Khepra said:

I meant Eucharistic and Extra-Eucharistic

I am uneasy with this distinction for similar reasons.

Khepra

Me too. But unfortunately the status quo in our diocese, (whereby people are ordained deacons because they have some sort of prestige) dictates this sort of distinction. Much like the stupid distinction between 'deacon' and 'full deacon'.

minasoliman

Khepra said:

Me too. But unfortunately the status quo in our diocese, (whereby people are ordained deacons because they have some sort of prestige) dictates this sort of distinction. Much like the stupid distinction between 'deacon' and 'full deacon'.

I think that's fair enough.  Recently, the type of "full deacons" that I see get ordained are retired men of the Church, rather than vibrant young servants willing to sweat for the community, even outside the Church.