By Andrew Winter
1.
The first deacons of the Catholic Church were ordained by the Apostles shortly after Pentecost. Their names were Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas.
2.
Unlike the order of the priesthood, the diaconate as a degree of Holy Orders was established by the Apostles themselves. The Acts of the Apostles tells us they instituted deacons to serve as administrators and directors of food and money distribution. Today the Catholic Church recognizes the diaconate as an ordained rank subordinate to the priesthood and the episcopacy (bishops).
3.
Deacons today assist on the altar at Mass, perform baptisms, and witness marriage vows. They also often serve as administrators and teachers. They can give some kinds of blessings, but not others. It is the deacon’s special office to read the Gospel at Mass and preach to the faithful.
4.
Many of the Church’s greatest saints held the office of deacon, including St. Francis of Assisi, who felt unworthy of the priesthood. St. Lawrence, a 3rd century deacon martyr, was roasted on a gridiron by the emperor of Rome for refusing to hand over the wealth of the Roman Church. St. Stephen, one of the seven original deacons, became the first person in history to die for the Catholic Faith of Jesus Christ.
5.
Before the establishment of the Novus Ordo, or New Mass, the Church also had many subdeacons, who were not ordained to Holy Orders, but assisted in a very specific way in the Latin Mass. It is the subdeacon’s duty to hold the paten before his face during the Eucharistic Prayer, for he represents the hidden divinity of Christ in His human body. Subdeacons are still present in Traditional liturgies and Ordinariate Masses throughout the West.
6.
In the first 1,500 years of Church history, many deacons had the honor of serving as archdeacons, assistants to the bishop who often supervised clergy, alongside the usual duties of money distribution and general administration. These deacons would often have so much influence that they would appoint subordinate officers to help them in their work. Archdeacons sometimes judged priests who had allegedly committed grave crimes, and sometimes even held the power of excommunication. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, the archdeacons lost most of their power and today archdeacon is largely an honorary title for deacons who are fundamentally connected to the administration of a diocese.
7.
Though it sounds confusing, the ancient Church did have deaconesses, women who performed many duties of charity, service, and administration. But as women cannot receive Holy Orders, these deaconesses were never ordained, and their office existed largely to fill needs where women would be most suited to the work, such as the full-immersion baptism of other women.
8.
As the diaconate is a level of Holy Orders and therefore a sacrament, it has a specific form, or set formula of words. The essential part of the prayer of ordination of deacons is: “Send forth the Holy Spirit upon them, O Lord, we pray, that they may be strengthened by the gift of your sevenfold grace to carry out faithfully the work of the ministry.”
9.
Most deacons in the Diocese of Lincoln are transitional deacons, meaning they are ordained to the diaconate as a stepping stone on the path to priesthood. But the Church also ordains permanent deacons, men who intentionally remain in the first degree of Holy Orders for the whole of their ordained lives. The current permanent deacons ordained for the Diocese of Lincoln are Rev. Mr. Matthew Hecker and Rev. Mr. Patrick Burke. Though transitional deacons cannot be married, permanent deacons often are.
