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Ordained Ministry:
Diaconate
Who is the Deacon?
By Deacon Eric Stoltz, Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Origins | Love & Justice | The Word | The Altar | Other Ministries
The Origins of the Diaconate
In the very earliest days of the Church, there was one order of clergy: bishop. Bishops led the assembly in the celebration of the Eucharist. As we read in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 6:1-6), there came a time when the ministry of charity on the part of the apostles was delegated to seven men, who were the first deacons. One of these first seven deacons, St. Stephen, became the first Christian martyr. Later, when it became physically impossible for the bishops to preside at every Eucharistic celebration, they delegated presbyters (priests) to preside in their stead, sharing in the bishop’s munus as High Priest. It was also at this time that the initiation of Christians was separated into the two sacraments of baptism and confirmation, because the bishop reserved the anointing to himself as a sign of unity, and people would sometimes have to wait years until the bishop could come and complete their initiation.
Later, in the stational liturgies of Rome, unity with the bishop was considered so important that deacons would bring portions of the Body of Christ consecrated by the bishop to the outlying churches to be dropped into the chalices at the various Eucharistic liturgies, a practice that remains today where the priest drops a portion of the host into the chalice.
Deacons became very important in the early Church because of their relation to the bishop. As one ancient description says, they were “the eyes and ears of the bishop” in the community, informing him of who was in need and the special concerns of the people. The ancient form of basilica churches reflected this relationship, with the bishop’s chair in the apse, flanked by his deacons and surrounded by semi-circular tiers of benches for the presbyters.
The role of deacons was of such importance that the See of Rome was in the early days administered by The Seven Deacons of Rome, who were deputized by the Bishop of Rome to handle the everyday affairs of the diocese. The ministry of the bishop and deacon was very closely intertwined. The story of the martyrdom of St. Sixtus, an early pope and martyr, tells of St. Lawrence and the other six deacons of Rome following and crying as Sixtus was led away to his death, saying “Father, where are you going without your deacon?”
Among the early deacons were also prominent theologians, such as St. Athanasius, who came to the Council of Nicaea as a deacon and was subsequently elected bishop . One of the greatest theologians of the Eastern Church is St. Ephrem, a deacon. It was not uncommon for deacons to be elected bishop, in fact St. Callistus II was elected pope when he was only a deacon. Numerous other stories exist of such episcopal elections of deacons, many of whom became saints. Another notable example is St. Thomas Becket, the archdeacon of Canterbury who was named Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England by his friend and future nemesis, King Henry II. St. Patrick was the son of a deacon and the grandson of a priest.
The ministry of the deacon is typically described as a three-fold ministry: a servant of Charity, the Word and the Altar.
