Subdeacon

Eastern Orthodoxy

A subdeacon is one who holds a subdiaconate, a religious degree, order or office in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Subdeacons may wear religious clothing (black clothing), including a cassock. This order is higher than the Anagnostis (reader) and lower than the deacon. It is a minor order and thus not considered clergy per se , but is still often considered one of the steps towards the priesthood. A subdeacon typically assists the priest during religious services in the sanctuary, the area around the altar in a church. It is also the subdeacon's special privilege and responsibility to vest the bishop during a hierarchical Divine Liturgy, a Divine Liturgy at which a bishop is present and presiding.

Subdeacons have a similar role and function in the Oriental Churches (Armenian, Coptic, etc.)

Roman Catholicism

A subdeacon was one of the major orders of the Roman Catholic Church until it was for the most part abolished along with the minor orders and the tonsure in the aftermath of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Today, subdeacons are permitted only in certain orders of priests operating with special Papal dispensation (such as the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter), though in certain national conferences of bishops, acolytes are called subdeacons.

The other major orders are deacon, priest, and bishop, and these are maintained because they are considered sacramental, or part of the sacrament of Holy Orders, whereas the subdiaconate and the minor orders were considered ecclesiastical or created by the Church. Thus, a subdeacon did not receive the imposition of hands at his ordination. Instead, the ceremony consisted of him receiving from the bishop an empty chalice and paten, his vestments, cruets of wine and water, and the Book of Epistles.

Subdeacons had a specific role in the liturgy of the Mass. This included (but was not limited to): carrying the cross or the Book of Epistles in the entrance procession, reading the epistle, carrying the Gospel Book during the Gospel procession, holding the Gospel Book while the deacon read it aloud, leading the intercessory prayers, and/or assisting the priest or deacon in the setting of the altar. These liturgical functions have been subsumed by the now lay ministries of lector and acolyte. The vestments particularly associated with the order of subdeacon were the tunicle and the maniple, though the subdeacon also wore the humeral veil during Mass when touching sacred vessels.

It is worth mentioning that while the office of subdeacon was abolished in the Anglican Church at the time of the Reformation, certain Anglican churches and communities assign laymen to act as subdeacons in the practice of the liturgy of the mass or Holy eucharist, even though it is no longer an ordained order.