Saints: Life & Times
Lesson 3: Consecrated Lives
. . . . . and Deaconesses?
The passage from Paul’s first letter to Timothy, quoted above, puzzles scholars. “Let a widow who is selected . . .” Selected for what? Were they consecrated widows or deaconesses? Yes, deaconesses.
In Apostolic times widows were employed in certain capacities in the ministry of the Church, directing that one to be chosen must be "of no less than threescore years of age, who hath been the wife of one husband. Having testimony for her good works", and some see in this reference to the order of deaconess, while others do not. Shortly after, however, the office of deaconess was referred to as "widowhood" (St. Ignat., "Ep. ad Smyrn.", viii, 1). (“Widow,” Cath. Ency.)A deaconess ensured appropriate behavior toward women when the Church baptized adults by anointing their whole body and then totally immersing the naked person in water. The deaconess instructed female catechumens, and also assumed responsibility for the behavior of women in church, just as the deacons did for men: reproving those who gossiped, waking those who fell asleep, maintaining a reverent atmosphere for worship. The deaconess also acted as an intermediary between the church officials and women congregants. The Apostolic Constitutions directs a specific ritual for her, modeled after the ordination ceremony for deacons.
Concerning a deaconess, I, Bartholomew enjoin O Bishop, thou shalt lay thy hands upon her with all the Presbytery and the Deacons and the Deaconesses and thou shalt say: Eternal God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the creator of man and woman, that didst fill with the Spirit Mary and Deborah, and Anna and Huldah, that didst not disdain that thine only begotten Son should be born of a woman; Thou that in the tabernacle of witness and in the temple didst appoint women guardians of thy holy gates: Do thou now look on this thy handmaid, who is appointed unto the office of a Deaconess and grant unto her the Holy Spirit, and cleanse her from all pollution of the flesh and of the spirit, that she may worthily accomplish the work committed unto her, to thy glory and the praise of thy Christ. (Quoted in “Deaconesses,” in the Catholic Encyclopedia http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04651a.h...The article does not specify whether or not the deaconess must be a widow, although household duties would have limited the number of married deaconesses to those who could afford servants.
In no way did the deaconess perform any sacramental ritual or replace a deacon or priest. Her ceremony was modeled after that of the deacon, and his ceremony was modeled after the ordination of a priest. The office of deacon did not supplant the sacerdotal office of priests, although in later times it became one of the minor orders leading to the priesthood. “Deacon” and “deaconess” were separate and distinct functions within the Church, a spiritual work to be done by lay persons.
Since “deaconess” was an appointed office and “widow” was a consecrated lifestyle, the deaconesses were put under the supervision of widows.
There can again be no question that the deaconesses in the fourth and fifth centuries had a distinct ecclesiastical standing, though there are traces of much variety of custom. According to the . . . "Testament of Our Lord" (c. 400), widows had a place in the sanctuary during the celebration of the liturgy, they stood at the anaphora behind the presbyters, they communicated after the deacons, and before the readers and subdeacons, and . . . they had a charge of, or superintendence over the deaconesses. (Ibid.)When infant baptism became the most common form of baptism, the office of deaconess gradually died out.
Orthodox Deaconess from The Historical Orthodox Deaconess website. Photo is in the public domain. The Coptic Orthodox Church currently has 400 consecrated deaconesses. To learn more about them, click on http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2000/479/spec...
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