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Submitted March 2, 2005
Accuracy about
Deaconesses |
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Editor:
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Mother Seraphima’s recent letter to the editor
(“Orthodox News,” 1 March 2005)
said, accurate information about the order of
deaconesses and its revival is a must if it is not
to create confusion among Orthodox Christians.
The problem is, some of what is said and written
nowadays about the holy order of deaconesses and
its revival seems far from accurate and
agendaless.
For example, “Ligonier: Ten Years Later” by Dr.
Valerie Karras (“Orthodox News,” 1 February 2005)
states that Saint Nectarios of Aegina ordained
several nuns as deaconesses precisely for the
purpose of offering litanies during divine
services in church.
But a letter written by Saint Nectarios himself
contradicts this claim, documenting that he
ordained two nuns as subdeaconesses, solely for
service as sextons or sacristans, tending to the
upkeep of the sanctuary, vestments and liturgical
vessels and utensils. On 10 October 1914, he wrote
to the Archbishop of Athens, head of the Orthodox
Church of Greece’s synod of bishops:
“Concerning the subdeaconesses, I informed you
that they are primarily sextons at the sanctuary.
Their clothing was made according to the holy
vestments that the readers of the city churches
wear. Since there are no deacons in a nunnery, and
in this particular one, there are no priests
either, I am therefore unable to constantly remain
serving as a sexton of the church. The sanctuary
has absolute need of dedicated personnel, who will
clean the consecrated vessels, change the
coverings and linens of the holy table, move the
holy ciborium, and do all the general work of a
sexton in the sanctuary. For this reason I
considered dedicating two, so that they would be
able to take turns. In extreme need they carry the
Holy Eucharist to extremely ill sisters in a small
glass specifically made for such a purpose. Except
in this extreme circumstance, which is only done
out of necessity, these sisters are simply
sextons.”
This letter was published on page 234 of the book
“Saint Nektarios: The Saint of Our Century.”
Which piece of information here is accurate? The
scholar’s or the saint’s? There is a big
difference between subdeacons and deacons (and
their female counterparts, subdeaconesses and
deaconesses), and the parameters of their
differing roles and ministries in the Church.
Obviously, as we can see, we do indeed need
accurate information about ancient deaconesses and
their function in the Church, because not
everything being said and published about the
issue nowadays is accurate. Just because
half-truths, inaccuracies, falsehoods and hearsay
are repeated over and over again, until everybody
gets used to hearing them and accepts them as
true, doesn’t mean they are true, or that we are
truly informed!
Our stretched-thin bishops and overworked
presbyters certainly could use the help of a
genuinely revived order of deacons and deaconesses
— one devoted full-time to education, charity and
care of the sick, as in ancient times. Deaconesses
could be particularly useful in tending to women’s
charitable and healthcare needs, where great
propriety, discretion and sensitivity is called
for, or by escorting bishops and presbyters in
ministering to women in private, in an age where
scandalous accusations and lawsuits abound. There
is great neediness and suffering in the world
around us, which would give full-time deacons and
deaconesses plenty to do in the Lord Jesus
Christ’s name.
But to be truly Orthodox Christian and beneficial,
such a revival must be driven by the Holy Spirit,
rooted in the sacred Tradition of the one, holy,
catholic and apostolic Church, and aimed at
enhancing the effectiveness of the Church’s
mission and ministry in the world. It cannot be
driven by the spirit of the times, rooted in
“human tradition and the basic principles of this
world” (Colossians 2:8), and aimed at “keeping up
with the Jones” when it comes to worldly, secular
sociopolitical ideologies and agendas around us,
such as feminism, “women’s liberation,” sexual
equality and gender politics.
“See to it that no one takes you captive through
hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on
human tradition and the basic principles of this
world, rather than on Christ,” Saint Paul the
Apostle warns us. “Do not conform any longer to
the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and approve what God’s will is — His good,
pleasing and perfect will” (Colossians 2:8 and
Romans 12:2).
With prayers and good will,
Gregory Orloff
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