Deacons
Deacons are those who hold one of the ranks of the altar service.
The holy apostles required that they be “full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6).
Their service is not limited to the altar.
For Saint Stephen, the first deacon, was engaged in teaching, and he confounded many of the assemblies of heretics, and they were not able to resist the power by which he spoke or the Spirit who guided him.
And the deacon Philip preached Christ to the Ethiopian eunuch, and explained to him the Scripture, so he believed through his hands.
And Saint Ephraim the Syrian was ordained in one of the ranks of the deacons, and he was a teacher of his generation, a master of theology, and an interpreter of the Word…
And just as deacons work in the service of teaching, so also they work in the service of the poor.
This was the primary mission for which the seven deacons were ordained in the apostolic age.
And the Didascalia says that the deacon is the eye of the bishop and his hand.
And deacons—originally—are consecrated for service, meaning they have no other work except being deacons. Currently, this attribute is limited to the full deacon.
And in the past, as a sign of their consecration, deacons would grow their beards and wear priestly garments.
The ranks of deacons include the full deacon, who is the complete deacon; the subdeacon, who is the assistant of the deacon; the reader; and the chanter. Over all of them is the archdeacon, that is, the head of the deacons.
And the subdeacon was entrusted with guarding the doors of the church. It was within his authority not to allow heretics and those judged by the Church to enter the church.
The work of the deacons in the New Testament is symbolized by the work of the Levites in the Old Testament… we shall address their work successively, God willing.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Year Eight (Issue Twenty-Seven), 8-7-1977
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