Distinctions of Orders

Distinction of the Orders.—The following distinctions of the orders or ranks of the clergy should be noted:

(a) an Order is either sacramental or non-sacramental, according as it was instituted by Christ Himself or by the Church. It is the teaching of St. Thomas that all of the Orders are sacramental in character, but there is not the same degree of certainty in each case. As to the priesthood, there is the certainty of defined dogma; as to the diaconate (and also episcopal consecration according to many) there is theological certainty, but no definition of faith; as to the subdiaconate, and the lower Orders, there is probability;

(b) an Order is Major (sacred) or Minor (non-sacred) according as its functions are concerned with consecrated or non-consecrated matter in the celebration of the Eucharist. The Major Orders, therefore, are the priesthood (whose office is to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ), diaconate (whose office is to dispense Communion to the faithful), and sub-diaconate (whose office is to prepare the bread and wine of the sacrifice in the consecrated vessels, that is, the chalice and paten). The Minor Orders are those that prepare the matter of the Eucharist in non-consecrated vessels (acolythate), or that dispose the people for the Eucharist by freeing them from the impediments of demonic influence (exorcistate) or of ignorance (lectorate), or that exclude unbelievers from participation in the sacred rites (portership). To the Sacred Orders, on account of their closer approach to the Eucharist, are annexed the duties of celibacy and of the Divine Office.

694. • By the name Order here is understood a rank of Clerics consecrated for special ecclesiastical Offices. But how great the dignity and excellence of this Sacrament is can scarcely be expressed by a human voice. Concerning this matter the Catechism of the Council of Trent, among many other things, speaks thus: The power conferred upon it both of consecrating and offering the Body and Blood of our Lord and of remitting sins surpasses human reason and understanding, much less can anything equal and similar to it be found on earth.

Order is commonly defined as a certain seal of the Church by which spiritual power is bestowed upon the one ordained. - St. Ligorius, no. 735, after St. Thomas, etc. According to others, it is also rightly defined as: A Sacrament of the new law by which spiritual power is handed over and grace is conferred for duly performing ecclesiastical duties.

695. Matters to Be Established. - I. Order is a true and properly so-called Sacrament of the new law.

This is established because all things required for the nature of a Sacrament are found in it, namely: first, a sensible sign, since it is conferred with an exterior sign. Second, divine institution, since Christ instituted the Apostles as Ministers of Order and gave them the power of consecrating, remitting sins, dispensing the sacred Mysteries, governing the Church, and instituting other Ministers. Acts 22. - 1 Corinthians 12. - Galatians 2. - Matthew 28. Third, the conferral of grace, as is established from 1 Timothy 4:24. Neglect not, says the Apostle, the grace that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with imposition of the hands of the priesthood. And 2 Timothy 1:6: I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands.

It is also gathered from the definition of the Council of Trent, session 23, canon 3, where it is thus read: If anyone says that Order is not truly and properly a Sacrament instituted by Christ the Lord, let him be anathema.

696. • II. Seven Orders are enumerated, namely, the Priesthood, the Diaconate, Subdiaconate, Acolytate, Exorcistate, Lectorate, and Ostiariate. The first three are called major Orders, the others minor.

This is deduced from several Councils, especially from the Council of Trent, session 23, chapter 2; for after it had said explicitly that Priests and Deacons are spoken of in the sacred Scriptures, it adds: From the very beginning of the Church, the names of the following Orders and the ministries proper to each of them, namely, Subdeacon, Acolyte, Exorcist, Lector, and Porter, are known to have been in use. Likewise, canon 2 says: If anyone says that besides the Priesthood there are not in the Catholic Church other Orders, both major and minor, through which, as though by certain steps, one tends toward the Priesthood, let him be anathema.

697. Questions. - QUESTION 1. What is the nature and property of these Orders?

Reply 1. The Ostiariate is the Order by which there is conferred a special power of opening or closing the door of the Church, admitting the worthy, and excluding the unworthy.

2. The Lectorate is the Order by which there is handed over a special power of reading psalms and lessons from the pulpit in the Church, and of catechizing the people, or instructing them in matters of Faith.

3. The Exorcistate is the Order by which there is conferred upon someone a special power of casting out demons through exorcisms instituted by the Church.

Nevertheless, today the faculty of exorcizing is reserved to Priests alone, who can use it only with the permission of the Ordinary. - Recall what was said, volume 1, no. 317.

4. The Acolytate is the Order by which there is conferred upon someone a special power of serving the Subdeacon during solemn Mass, lighting candles, and preparing and presenting the cruets of wine and water.

5. The Subdiaconate is the Order by which there is conferred upon someone a special power of serving the Deacon at solemn Mass and chanting the Epistle with solemn rite.

6. The Diaconate is the Order by which there is conferred the special power of immediately assisting the Priest at solemn Mass, chanting the Gospel during the solemn rites, preaching, and solemnly baptizing, provided, nevertheless, that a just cause intervenes. Whether a Deacon, in order to preach at some time, needs the special permission of the Bishop, or whether the permission of the Pastor or Rector of the Church suffices, appears to be determined from particular statutes or custom.

7. The Priesthood is the Order by which there is conferred the special power of consecrating the Body and Blood of Christ in the celebration of Mass, absolving from sins, and feeding subjects by deed and doctrine.

To these add the Episcopate and first tonsure, of which the former is the complement of the Priesthood itself, while the latter is not an Order but a disposition toward Orders by which someone is declared a Cleric.

698. • QUESTION 2. Is the Diaconate a Sacrament?

Reply. Yes, according to the common and certain opinion, because all things required for a Sacrament are found in it, namely: first, a sensible sign, through the imposition of hands; second, a sign of grace, in the words of the form: Receive the Holy Spirit, etc.; third, a sign instituted by God, because God alone can institute signs conferring grace. This is also established from the Council of Trent, session 23, canon 6, where it is thus defined: If anyone says that in the Catholic Church there is not a hierarchy instituted by divine ordination, which consists of Bishops, Priests, and Ministers (namely, Deacons), let him be anathema. - See St. Ligorius, no. 737.

699. • QUESTION 3. Is the Subdiaconate also a Sacrament?

Reply. It is disputed. The first probable OPINION affirms it. The reason is that the Subdiaconate, just as the Diaconate, possesses all the signs constitutive of a Sacrament; for it is: first, a sensible sign, as is evident; second, a sign of grace, since it is a sacred Order; third, a sign instituted by God, for the Council of Trent defined that in the Church there is a hierarchy instituted by divine ordination, which consists of Bishops, Priests, and Ministers; but Subdeacons, no differently from Deacons themselves, are to be numbered among the Ministers. - Thus Billuart, with many others after St. Thomas, Supplement, question 37, article 2.

The second OPINION, likewise probable, indeed perhaps more probable, denies it. For there is doubt both concerning divine institution and consequently concerning the promise of grace. Nor does the Subdiaconate appear to be numbered among the major Orders by divine institution, but only by ecclesiastical institution, since among the Greeks it is not regarded as a sacred Order. - St. Ligorius, no. 737.

But the minor Orders, according to the common opinion, are by no means to be numbered among the Sacraments. - St. Ligorius, ibid.

1891. I. The Order of EPISCOPATE confers on a presbyter the power of confirming, ordaining, judging concerning the Faith, and consecrating things pertaining to divine worship.

The OFFICES of a Bishop annexed to the power of Order are the following: Administration of Order and Confirmation; likewise consecration of altars and churches, of oil of the sick, of catechumens and chrism, of chalices and patens, of Kings and Queens; veilings of Nuns, and the major or solemn blessing. - The offices annexed to the power of jurisdiction will be briefly explained in Part IV (cf. n. 2250 and following).

1892. II. The Order of PRESBYTERATE confers on a deacon the power of consecrating the Body and Blood of Christ, of remitting and retaining sins, and of feeding subjects by work and doctrine.³ It is established from Trent, l. c., can. 1. - See in what words the Offices of a presbyter are described in the Pontifical: "It belongs to a Priest to offer, to bless, to preside, to preach, to baptize" (see also n. 2266 and following).

1893. III. The Order of DIACONATE confers on a subdeacon the power of immediately assisting the priest in solemn Mass, by extending to him the paten with the host, and the chalice with wine, and of chanting the Gospel, and of preaching.⁴ The Diaconate pertains to the divinely instituted hierarchy, as is established from what was said at n. 1888; for under the name of ministers at least deacons are comprehended. Their OFFICES, besides those already commemorated, are the following: 1. To baptize solemnly, but only with permission of the pastor and in grave necessity; for a deacon who, without commission, even in a case of necessity, baptizes solemnly, incurs irregularity (cf. n. 1462). - 2. To minister the Eucharist; but neither is this licit to them unless from commission, and in a case of grave necessity: such as if the priest is lacking to the people approaching Communion; otherwise he would be irregular. 3. To carry the pyx or monstrance with the Eucharist. - 4. To wash Corporals, in default of a subdeacon.⁵

1894. IV. The Order of SUBDIACONATE confers on the ordained the power of serving the deacon in solemn Mass and solemnly chanting the Epistle.

The OFFICES of subdeacons, besides the most grave obligation of reciting the divine Office daily and of observing perpetual chastity, can be stated briefly thus: 1. To minister to the deacon at the altar; to prepare wine, bread, linens, etc., for the Sacrifice; to chant the Epistle with the maniple in solemn Mass; to carry the chalice and paten to the altar; to pour water into the chalice; to hold the paten elevated; to carry the peace to the choir. 2. In processions to carry the cross; to wash corporals and purificators: as is prescribed in the Roman Pontifical.⁶

If a subdeacon is lacking for solemn Mass, Superiors can, if necessity exists, permit that a cleric marked only with minor Orders be substituted for him, to chant the Epistle, but without the maniple (thus from the decree of the S. R. C. on July 5, 1698, ad 18).⁷ For if he intended to exercise the proper office of a Subdeacon, he would incur irregularity⁸ (cf. n. 1943).

1895. V. The Order of ACOLYTHATE confers on a cleric the power of carrying cruets to the altar, and of lighting candlesticks and lights on it. (From the ROMAN PONTIFICAL.) - "The OFFICE of an Acolyte is to prepare the ampullae of wine and water for the Sacrifice of the Mass, and to extend them to the Subdeacon; to carry candles to the same Sacrifice and to minister to it: whence he is also called candle-bearer."⁹

1896. VI. The Order of EXORCISTATE confers on a cleric the power of expelling demons from the possessed, lest they impede them from Communion (FROM THE ROMAN PONTIFICAL.) The OFFICE of an Exorcist is to impose hands over those vexed by unclean spirits, for adjuring and casting them out; likewise for exorcizing catechumens.¹⁰ "But in order that an exorcist be able to exorcize solemnly, there is required also the conferral of jurisdiction, or permission of the Bishop. Yet this is not by common law, but by a particular precept of Bishops prohibiting exorcism without their permission. - It was said solemnly, since any one of the faithful can privately command demons, that they not harm, nor impede the faithful from sacred actions"¹¹ (cf. n. 622).

1897. VII. The Order of LECTORATE confers on a cleric the power of reading the sacred Scriptures in church (From the ROMAN PONTIFICAL.) - The OFFICE of a Lector is: 1. To chant Lessons and read sacred Scriptures outside Mass (for in Mass it is the office of the Subdeacon); 2. to catechize, or to teach catechumens the rudiments of faith; 3. to bless bread and all new fruits. Thus the ROMAN PONTIFICAL.¹²

1898. VIII. The Order of OSTIARIATE assigns to a cleric the power of opening, closing, and guarding the church. (From the ROMAN PONTIFICAL.) - To his office moreover it belongs to ring bells, to admit the worthy into the church, to expel the unworthy, namely infidels, heretics, and the excommunicated.¹³

1899. IT IS ASKED. What are the effects of TONSURE?

Resp. Tonsure, although it is not an Order, nor confers any power, nevertheless by the institution of the Church obtains manifold effects and precious privileges, namely: 1. The tonsured man is transferred to the clerical state. And hence it is why the hairs themselves are cut off, and indeed in the manner of a crown, by which the royal dignity of those who have been called into the lot of the Lord is splendidly expressed. - 2. Clothed with a surplice, he can intervene in choir for singing the divine Offices. 3. He acquires the privilege of forum, by which he is exempted from the jurisdiction of the lay forum. 4. He also acquires the privilege of the canon, so that those injuriously striking him incur excommunication reserved to the Pope, if the striking is grave; but to the Bishop, if light. 5. The tonsured man becomes capable of an ecclesiastical benefice, provided he has 14 years. 6. He becomes capable of every ecclesiastical jurisdiction, for conferring benefices, bringing censures, and judging spiritual causes. - 7. He becomes proximately apt to receive Orders. For although one not yet tonsured is validly ordained, nevertheless he receives Orders illicitly, and sins gravely against the precept of Trent (sess. 23, cap. 1).¹⁴

1513. - By the name of Order here is understood a grade of Clerics consecrated for special ecclesiastical Offices.

Order is defined: a Sacrament of the new law by which spiritual power is handed over, and grace is conferred for duly undertaking ecclesiastical functions.

1514. Things to be established. - I. Order is a true Sacrament of the new law, properly so called. - See the arguments among the Dogmaticians.

II. Seven Orders are numbered, namely, Presbyterate, Diaconate, Subdiaconate, Acolythate, Exorcistate, Lectorate, and Ostiariate. The first three are called Major or even Sacred; the others Minor. - See the arguments among the Dogmaticians.

1515. Questions. - Quaer. 1° What is the nature and property of these Orders?

Resp. 1° Ostiariate is the Order by which there is conferred a special power of opening or closing the door of the Church, of admitting the worthy, and of excluding the unworthy.

2° Lectorate is the Order by which a special power is handed over of reading psalms and lessons from the pulpit in the Church, and of catechizing the people, or instructing them in matters of Faith.

3° Exorcistate is the Order by which there is conferred on someone a special power of casting out demons through exorcisms instituted by the Church.

Nevertheless today the faculty of exorcizing is reserved to Priests alone, who can use it only with the license of the Ordinary (n. 376).

4° Acolythate is the Order by which there is conferred on someone a special power of serving the Subdeacon during the solemnities of Mass, of lighting candles, and of preparing and presenting the cruets of wine and water.

5° Subdiaconate is the Order by which there is conferred on someone a special power of serving the Deacon in solemn Mass, and of chanting the Epistle with solemn rite.

6° Diaconate is the Order by which there is conferred a special power of immediately assisting the Presbyter in solemn Mass, of chanting the Gospel during solemnities, of preaching, of solemnly baptizing, and of dispensing the Most Holy Eucharist. But whether the Deacon, in order to preach at any time, needs the special license of the Bishop, or whether the license of the Pastor or Rector of the Church suffices, seems to have to be defined from particular statutes or custom. Cf. n. 1257. II. 1287. III.

7° Presbyterate is the Order by which there is conferred a special power of consecrating the Body and Blood of Christ in the celebration of Mass, of absolving from sins, and of feeding subjects by work and doctrine.

To these add Episcopate and First Tonsure, of which the former is the complement of Priesthood itself, but the latter is not an Order, but a disposition to Orders, by which someone is enrolled as a Cleric.

Quaer. 2° Whether Diaconate is a Sacrament?

Resp. Affirmatively, according to the common and certain opinion. - See the Dogmaticians.

Quaer. 3° Whether Subdiaconate also is a Sacrament?

Resp. It is disputed; the more probable OPINION denies. For both the matter of the Sacrament of Order is lacking, namely imposition of hands, and also its form; for in the form of Subdiaconate the conferral of grace is not expressed, but only of spiritual power. Nor does Subdiaconate seem to be numbered among the Major Orders from divine institution, but only ecclesiastical, since among the Greeks it is not held as a Sacred Order.¹

Say the same concerning the Minor Orders.²

S. Th., Suppl., q. 37; q. 35, a. 2 and 5; and q. 40.

725. There are several orders in the Church, which are ordered to different offices. - This is certain, indeed defined by the Council of Trent, sess. 23, c. 2 and can. 2, as pertaining to Catholic truth.

St. Thomas gives the reasons, q. 37, a. 1:

"The multitude of orders has been introduced in the Church for three reasons:

1. For commending the wisdom of God, which shines forth most of all in an ordered distinction of things, both in natural things and in spiritual things...

2. For assisting human infirmity, because through one man all things which pertained to the divine mysteries could not be fulfilled without great burden; and therefore diverse orders are distinguished for diverse offices. And this is clear from the fact that the Lord gave seventy elders to Moses for assistance.

3. That a broader way of profiting may be given to men, while many are distributed in diverse offices, so that all may be cooperators of God; than which nothing is more divine, as Dionysius says in Eccl. hier. 3."

726. Seven orders are distinguished in the Church, by which, as by grades, clerics ascend even to the priesthood. - This is certain from the Council of Trent, sess. 23, c. 2.

St. Thomas, a. 2, takes the reason of the distinction from the relation to the Eucharist, to which the sacrament of Order is ordered: the priest consecrates the Eucharist; the three more noble somehow cooperate with him in order to the Eucharist itself: the deacon immediately cooperates with the priest in the sacrament itself, and indeed does not consecrate it but dispenses it; the subdeacon prepares the matter in sacred vessels, but the acolyte in vessels not sacred; the remaining three cooperate only in order to preparing those receiving the Eucharist: the exorcist cleanses the faithful who have an impediment from the power of the demon; the lector prepares the subject by instructing, or by teaching the rudiments of faith; the ostiary keeps the unworthy from the Church, by opening to the worthy alone.

Thus in the Latin Church; and although in the time of the apostles the inferior ministers had not yet been distinguished from deacons, but their power and office remained contained in the diaconate, nevertheless from the beginnings of the Church all orders with their proper ministries are known to have been in use.¹

¹ Thus the Council of Trent, l. c. - Thus, for example, Cornelius (a. 251), ep. to Fabius of Antioch (H. E. VI, 43), says "that in the Roman Church there are 46 presbyters, 7 deacons, 7 subdeacons, 42 acolytes, and 52 exorcists and lectors with ostiaries." The function of all these is described by the Apostolic Constitutions, l. II, c. 57. They are also numbered in the Liber Pontificalis, decree of Pope Caius; afterward in the canons which come under the name of the Council of Carthage IV. - Already before Cornelius, in the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, subdeacons and lectors are named; indeed in can. 7 of Hippolytus lectors are exhibited as fulfilling an excellent function, so that they ought to be adorned with the virtues of deacons. The Council of Laodicea also speaks of several, even of exorcists, who according to can. 26 must be ordained by bishops.

In the Greek Church, however, besides the diaconate there are only the subdiaconate and lectorate; but the offices of the others are reduced to these: thus the acolyte-ship and ostiary-ship are conferred together with the subdiaconate, the exorcistate with the diaconate.

727. All orders are more probably sacraments, but they constitute only one sacrament of Order. - This is the obvious sense of the Councils of Florence and Trent, l. c.

A. The individual orders are sacraments. It is proved:

1. From the Councils. For the Council of Florence says: "The sixth sacrament is Order, whose matter is that by the handing over of which Order is conferred"; which it applies to the presbyterate, diaconate, subdiaconate, and similarly to the other orders.

It does the same for the form of the orders. Afterward it adds: The effect is an increase of grace, that one may be a fit minister.

Similarly the Council of Trent, after it has enumerated the seven orders, immediately adds without restriction: that Order is a sacrament.

2. From the Pontifical, which generally says concerning all orders: "Let the bishop admonish those to be ordained to touch the instruments by which character is imprinted."

3. From the reason of St. Thomas, q. 35, a. 2: "Some have said that character is imprinted only in the priestly order; but this is not true, because no one can licitly exercise the act of a deacon unless he is a deacon; and thus it is clear that he has some spiritual power in the dispensation of the sacraments which others do not have. And because of this others have said that character is imprinted in sacred orders, but not in minor orders. But again this is nothing, because through each order someone is constituted above the people in some grade of power ordered to the dispensation of the sacraments. Whence, since character is a sign distinctive from others, it is necessary that character be imprinted in all; a sign of this also is that they remain perpetually, and are never repeated."

Moreover, that their character is indelible is clear from the fact that it is not taken away by excommunication.

Many moderns, however, deny this, and hold all orders below the diaconate not as sacraments but as mere sacramentals instituted by the Church, both because they were not always in the Church, and because they are not conferred by the imposition of hands, which is the essential rite of Order instituted by Christ. - Resp. If Christ did not determine the sacramental sign in its ultimate species, but left it to the Church to be more determined, she could ordain that the power which at first was conferred all at once in the presbyterate or in the diaconate should now or elsewhere be conferred in several times by partitions; and also that this might fittingly be done by a sign, even if diverse from the imposition of hands. "In the primitive Church," says St. Thomas, q. 37, a. 2, ad 2, "on account of the paucity of ministers, all the inferior ministries were committed to deacons... Nevertheless all the aforesaid powers were there, but implicitly in the one power of the deacon. But afterward divine worship was enlarged; and what the Church implicitly had in one order, she handed over explicitly in diverse orders."

B. All orders are one sacrament in species. This is clear from the fact that in the Church there are neither more nor fewer than seven sacraments. And it is understood from the fact that the sacrament of Order essentially and principally consists in the sacred power of character, which exists fully in the supreme order, namely, in the priesthood, and in the others participatively and defectively.

Whence St. Thomas: "The division of order is not that of an integral whole into its parts; nor of a universal whole (as a genus which has several species), but of a potestative whole, whose nature is that the whole according to its complete account is in one, but in the others there is some participation of it. And so it is here: for the whole fullness of this sacrament is in one order, namely, the priesthood, but in the others there is a certain participation of order... And therefore all orders are one sacrament" (q. 37, a. 1, ad 2).

728. Note. - Three orders are called sacred by a special title, namely, by reason of the matter, because they are concerned with a sacred thing. For "order is called sacred in two ways: in one way according to itself, and thus any order is sacred, since it is a certain sacrament (at least, according to others, a sacramental); in another way by reason of the matter concerning which it has some act, and thus that order is called sacred which has some act concerning some consecrated thing. And thus there are only three sacred orders, namely, priesthood and diaconate, which have an act concerning the consecrated body and blood of Christ, and subdiaconate, which has an act concerning consecrated vessels; and therefore continence is also enjoined upon them, that those who handle holy things may be holy and clean" (a. 3), and they are kept from nuptials (can. 132, § 1). Hence they are also called major, because in dignity and holiness they exceed the others.

Before the twelfth century, however, the subdiaconate was not considered a major and sacred order; and today in the Greek Church it is still reckoned among the minor orders, where neither does it have the vow of continence annexed.

729. The power and acts of the individual orders. - Orders are distinguished by the grade of sacred power and consequently by the diverse acts to which the power is ordered.

1. The presbyterate is a sacred order by which there is conferred the power of consecrating the body and blood of Christ and remitting sins. That it is a sacrament is doctrine of faith, as was demonstrated, n. 714; but concerning its matter and form there is dispute, as we noted, nn. 718-720. Five of its acts are customarily numbered: "the priest must offer, bless, preside, preach, and baptize," says the Pontifical.

To offer indicates power concerning the real body of Christ, namely, of consecrating the body and blood of the Lord, offering it in sacrifice, and dispensing it in communion. The others are referred to the mystical body of Christ: to bless, even solemnly, things and persons; to preside, i.e., in the absence of the bishop, to preside over the divine offices and to rule the people under the bishop; to preach or announce the word of God; to baptize and confer other sacraments unto the remission of sins, namely Penance and Extreme Unction.

2. The diaconate is a sacred order by which power is handed over for ministering immediately to the priest at the altar in solemn Mass, for solemnly singing the Gospel, and, by legitimate commission, for solemnly baptizing, dispensing the Eucharist, and preaching.

According to the opinion now long common, the diaconate is a sacrament; which seems certain. For in it there is a sensible sign conferring sacred power; it is instituted by Christ, since it pertains to the hierarchy instituted by divine ordination, as the Council of Trent defined, sess. 23, can. 6; it also confers grace, as is deduced from the same Council, can. 4: If anyone shall say that through sacred ordination the Holy Spirit is not given, and therefore that bishops say in vain: Receive the Holy Spirit..., let him be anathema; but bishops say this in the ordination of deacons.

Concerning the rite of the diaconate in the Latin Church there was dispute. Some placed it in the sole imposition of the hand by physical touch, with the words: Receive the Holy Spirit unto strength and unto resisting the devil and his temptations; others in the sole handing over of the book of the Gospels, with the words: Receive the power of reading the Gospel in the Church of God, both for the living and for the dead; others in both together.

Now the question for the future has already been decided from the Apostolic Constitution cited above: "In Diaconal Ordination the matter is the imposition of the Bishop's hand, which alone occurs in the rite of this Ordination. But the form consists in the words of the 'Preface,' of which these are essential and therefore required for validity: 'Send forth upon him, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the Holy Spirit, by whom he may be strengthened by the gift of Thy sevenfold grace for faithfully carrying out the work of Thy ministry.'"

3. The subdiaconate is a sacred order by which the power is conferred of ministering to the deacon in solemn Mass and solemnly singing the epistle in it. Hence he can prepare the matter of the sacrifice, offer the chalice and paten to the deacon, and pour water into the chalice for the priest solemnly celebrating.

The matter is the handing over of an empty consecrated chalice with an empty paten; the form: See whose ministry is handed over to you; therefore I admonish you, that you so exhibit yourselves that you may be able to please God. Yet the consecration of the chalice with the paten does not seem to be required for validity from the rescript of the S. Off., Jan. 28, 1937. To the essence do not pertain: the handing over of the book of epistles (or Missal) under the words: Receive the book of epistles, and have the power of reading them in the Church..., for formerly the epistle was read by the deacon; likewise neither the handing over of the cruets, which is done by the archdeacon, nor of the sacred vestments.

The obligations annexed to the subdiaconate in the Latin Church are of reciting the divine office and preserving continence, whose vow is implicitly emitted by the reception of the order, as the perpetual tradition of the Church has understood; but if someone internally refused to vow, he would nevertheless be held to continence from the precept of the Church.

4. The acolyte-ship is an order by which power is handed over of presenting the cruets with wine and water in Mass and of lighting and carrying the lights; or by which the office is conferred of ministering to the sacred ministers in solemn Mass, and also to the priest in private Mass.

The matter and form are twofold: 1) the handing over of a candlestick with an extinguished candle under the words: Receive the candlebearer with candle, and know that you are bound to the lighting of the lights of the church in the name of the Lord; - 2) the handing over of an empty cruet, with the words: Receive the cruet for supplying wine and water into the Eucharist of the blood of Christ in the name of the Lord.

5. The exorcistate is an order by which the power is conferred of expelling demons by the exorcisms of the Church from the bodies of the baptized or catechumens, and of providing blessed water.

The matter is the handing over of the book of exorcisms, such as the Ritual, in place of which the Pontifical or Missal can be given; the form: Receive and commit to memory, and have the power of imposing hands upon energumens, whether baptized or catechumens. - In practice, however, it is not licit solemnly to pronounce exorcisms over the possessed except by the special and express license of the Ordinary, which is not conceded except to priests who are pious and prudent (can. 1151).

6. The lectorate is an order by which the power is conferred of reading the word of God in the Church, and of catechizing the people in the rudiments of faith.

The matter is the handing over of the book in which the readings of Scripture are contained; in place of which the Bible, Missal, or Breviary can be handed over; the form: Receive and be relaters of the word of God, about to have, if you shall have fulfilled your office faithfully and usefully, a part with those who have ministered the word of God well from the beginning.