Deaconesses and Their Work in the Church
Deaconesses and Their Work in the Church
We are pleased to open this new section, in which we will publish matters concerning women or young women: regarding their service in the Church, their particular concerns, their various fields of activity, and their news. The magazine welcomes what our sisters may send of ideas or news for publication. We begin this section with an article about (Deaconesses):
Deaconesses and Their Work in the Church
There were deaconesses in the early Church. There are many articles in the Church canons specifically concerning them.
His Holiness the Pope has seen fit to restore the service of deaconesses once again to the Church. Their special attire is currently being prepared, as well as the liturgical prayers.
Some churches have nominated names to undertake this service, and the door is open for other churches to submit their nominations. A deaconess may be a virgin, and she may also be married. She must be of dignified age, have a history in service, and possess qualifications for it.
The diaconate for women is not a priestly rank, but merely a church service. Therefore, she does not receive the laying on of hands, but she has a special liturgical prayer.
The Service and Work of the Deaconess:
The deaconess does not serve at the altar, because the priesthood is for men only. However, she has other services in the areas of teaching, organization, social service, and certain liturgical aspects. The details are as follows:
- The deaconess may maintain order in the church in the women’s section.
- She may organize the women who approach for Holy Communion and present them for Communion after ensuring that they are Orthodox Christian confessors, lest some women mingle among the communicants. She must also ensure their modesty in approaching the Holy Mysteries. In this way, she relieves the priest’s conscience in all these matters.
- The deaconess works in the field of social service, according to the nature with which woman has been endowed—love, compassion, and tenderness. Thus she can care for widows and orphans, whether in homes or institutions.
- She may visit women in their homes and provide her information to the priest so that he may do what is necessary within the scope of this service. Through her visitation, she can contribute to the growth of meetings and to visiting those who are absent.
- The deaconess may also visit sick women, whether in their homes or in hospitals. She offers them a kind word, service, and assistance, and speaks to them the Word of God. She represents the Church in caring for them and informs the priest of cases that require his visitation or Holy Communion.
- The deaconess may also work in the area of personal status matters. She may contribute to resolving family problems, especially since she is more able to understand a woman’s psychology and circumstances. She can relieve the priest of issues that do not require his direct intervention, and she is better able to hear certain women’s matters and understand their true causes. In this, she assists the father-priest in knowing the facts before entering into resolving them.
- The deaconess may also assist the priest in the baptism of women, especially adult women, in matters that do not fall within the bounds of the sacrament itself but within the bounds of modesty.
- The deaconess may also work in the field of education, especially in teaching women, young women, and children in general. Therefore, female servants in Christian education—if mature—may become deaconesses in the Church.
- The deaconess may serve in early childhood education.
A woman is more capable of bearing with a child, granting him tenderness and love, and raising him in his early stages. Therefore, nursery schools may be supplied with deaconesses who serve in them, giving them a church character in addition to their present social character.
- The deaconess may supervise women’s activities in the church, whether workshops, exhibitions, the girls’ library, or the club and summer activities for girls.
- The deaconess may also supervise the cleanliness of the church and the arrangement of its furnishings, for a woman has an excellent sensitivity in cleanliness and elegance. She can perceive what is needed to complete its splendor and beauty. In this, she may be assisted by many young women working under her direction.
- The deaconess may supervise nursing in hospitals, if this matter is among her gifts. In this way, we would fulfill the role in which Catholics use nuns. The nuns devote themselves to worship, and this service is carried out by deaconesses.
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