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Acolytes
An acolyte is an assistant or follower assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession. In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone performing ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In others, the term is used for one who has been inducted into a particular liturgical ministry, even when not performing those duties. Etymology The word ''acolyte'' is derived from the Greek word ἀκόλουθος (''akolouthos''), meaning an attendant, via Late Latin ''acolythus''. Eastern Christianity In the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, the nearest equivalent of acolyte is the altar server. At one time there was a rank of minor clergy called the ''taper-bearer'' (κηροφόρος) responsible for bearing lights during processions and liturgical entrances. However, this rank has long ago been subsumed by that of the reader and the service for the tonsure of a reader begins with the setting-aside of a taper-bearer. The functions of an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acolyte
An acolyte is an assistant or follower assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession. In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone performing ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In others, the term is used for one who has been inducted into a particular liturgical ministry, even when not performing those duties. Etymology The word ''acolyte'' is derived from the Greek word ἀκόλουθος (''akolouthos''), meaning an attendant, via Late Latin ''acolythus''. Eastern Christianity In the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, the nearest equivalent of acolyte is the altar server. At one time there was a rank of minor clergy called the ''taper-bearer'' (κηροφόρος) responsible for bearing lights during processions and liturgical entrances. However, this rank has long ago been subsumed by that of the reader and the service for the tonsure of a reader begins with the setting-aside of a taper-bearer. The functions of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Altar Server
An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helps bring up the gifts, brings up the book, among other things. If young, the server is commonly called an altar boy or altar girl. In some Christian denominations, altar servers are known as acolytes. Latin Church While the function of altar server is commonly associated with children, it can be and is carried out by people of any age or dignity. A according to the ''General Instruction of the Roman Missal'', "Mass should not be celebrated without a minister, or at least one of the faithful, except for a just and reasonable cause." The term "acolyte" As in other churches, altar servers are sometimes called acolytes in the Latin Church. Pope Benedict XVI spoke of Saint Tarcisius as "presumably an acolyte, that is, an altar server". However, within the Latin Church, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiritus Domini (Pope Francis)
''Spiritus Domini'' is an apostolic letter in the form of a ''motu proprio'' by Pope Francis signed on 10 January 2021 and released the next day. It changed the 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' to allow women to be admitted to the instituted ministries of acolyte and lector (reader), which had until then been exclusively available to men. Background Since the Second Vatican Council, the bishops of the Catholic Church have permitted women to serve in many lay ministries. While the offices of lector (reader) and acolyte were previously minor orders, with '' Ministeria quaedam'', Pope Paul VI abolished these and the subdiaconate, creating "instituted ministries" in their stead. Paul VI wrote in ''Ministeria quaedam'' that " accordance with the ancient tradition of the Church, institution to the ministries of reader and acolyte is reserved to men." The two instituted ministries of lector and acolyte were restricted to men, and in many dioceses, reserved to those preparing for the pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subdeacon
Subdeacon (or sub-deacon) is a minor order or ministry for men in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed between the acolyte (or reader) and the deacon in the order of precedence. Subdeacons in the Eastern Orthodox Church A subdeacon or hypodeacon is the highest of the minor orders of clergy in the Eastern Orthodox Church. This order is higher than the reader and lower than the deacon. Canonical discipline Like the reader, the clerical street-dress of the subdeacon is the cassock, which is usually black but only need be so if he is a monk. This is symbolic of his suppression of his own tastes, will, and desires, and his canonical obedience to God, his bishop, and the liturgical and canonical norms of the Church. As a concession in countries where Eastern Orthodoxy is little known, many only wear the cassock when attending liturgies or when moving about the faithful on church business. In some jurisdictions in the United St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minor Orders
Minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders —priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders—acolyte, exorcist, lector, and porter (in descending order). In 1972, the minor orders were renamed "ministries", with those of lector and acolyte being kept throughout the Latin Church. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the three minor orders in use are those of subdeacon, reader and chanter. The rites by which all four minor orders were conferred, but not the actual conferral of the order, are still employed for members of some Roman Catholic religious institutes and societies of apostolic life authorized to observe the 1962 form of the Roman Rite. Some traditional Catholics continue to use minor orders, as do Old Roman Catholics and the Liberal Catholic Church. Western Catholicism From the beginning of the 3rd century, there is evidence in Western Chri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Entrance (Liturgical)
In Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, an entrance is a procession during which the clergy enter into the sanctuary through the Holy Doors. The origin of these entrances goes back to the early church, when the liturgical books and sacred vessels were kept in special storage rooms for safe keeping and the procession was necessary to bring these objects into the church when needed. Over the centuries, these processions have grown more elaborate, and nowadays are accompanied by incense, candles and liturgical fans. In the liturgical theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the angels are believed to enter with the clergy into the sanctuary, as evidenced by the prayers which accompany the various entrances. Divine Liturgy During the course of the Divine Liturgy (Eucharist), there are two entrances. Both of the Entrances, as well as the ritual of the Liturgy of Preparation, are viewed by liturgical scholars as later additions to the Liturgy, and may not have been used by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ordinary (Catholic Church)
An ordinary (from Latin ''ordinarius'') is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws. Such officers are found in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical legal system.See, e.g.c. 134 § 1 ''Code of Canon Law'', 1983 For example, diocesan bishops are ordinaries in the Catholic Church and the Church of England. In Eastern Christianity, a corresponding officer is called a hierarch (from Greek ''hierarkhēs'' "president of sacred rites, high-priest" which comes in turn from τὰ ἱερά ''ta hiera'', "the sacred rites" and ἄρχω ''arkhō'', "I rule"). Ordinary power In canon law, the power to govern the church is divided into the power to make laws (legislative), enforce the laws (executive), and to judge based on the law (judicial). An official exercises power to govern either because he holds an office to which the law grants governing power or because someone wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motu Proprio
In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a document issued by the pope on his own initiative and personally signed by him.Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ), s.v. motu proprio Such a document may be addressed to the whole church, to part of it, or to some individuals. A document issued ''motu proprio'' has its legal effect, even if the reasons given for its issuance are found to be false or fraudulent, a fact which would normally render the document invalid. Its validity is based on its issuance by the pope by his own initiative, not upon the reasons alleged. The first ''motu proprio'' was promulgated by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484. It continues to be a common form of papal rescript, especially when establishing institutions, making minor ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in August 1978. Succeeding John XXIII, he continued the Second Vatican Council, which he closed in 1965, implementing its numerous reforms. He fostered improved ecumenical relations with Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches, which resulted in many historic meetings and agreements. Montini served in the Holy See's Secretariat of State from 1922 to 1954. While in the Secretariat of State, Montini and Domenico Tardini were considered to be the closest and most influential advisors of Pope Pius XII. In 1954, Pius named Montini Archbishop of Milan, the largest Italian diocese. Montini later became the Secretary of the Italian Bishops' Conference. John XXIII elevated him to the College of Cardinals in 1958, and after the death of John XXIII, Mont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Episcopal Conference
An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to meet regularly, with its own legal structure and ecclesial leadership function, is the Swiss Bishops' Conference, which was founded in 1863. More than forty episcopal conferences existed before the Second Vatican Council. Their status was confirmed by the Second Vatican Council and further defined by Pope Paul VI's 1966 ''motu proprio'', '' Ecclesiae sanctae''. Episcopal conferences are generally defined by geographic borders, often national ones, with all the bishops in a given country belonging to the same conference, although they may also include neighboring countries. Certain authority and tasks are assigned to episcopal conferences, particularly with regard to setting the liturgical norms for the Mass. Episcopal conferences receiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the Church. Catholics trace the origins of the office of bishop to the apostles, who it is believed were endowed with a special charism and office by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Catholics believe this special charism and office has been transmitted through an unbroken succession of bishops by the laying on of hands in the sacrament of holy orders. Diocesan bishops—known as eparchs in the Eastern Catholic Churches—are assigned to govern local regions within the Catholic Church known as dioceses in the Latin Church and eparchies in the Eastern Churches. Bishops are collectively known as the College of Bishops and can hold such additional titles as archbishop, cardinal, patriarch, or pope. As of 2020, there were approximately 5,60 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Instruction Of The Roman Missal
The ''General Instruction of the Roman Missal'' (GIRM)—in the Latin original, ''Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani'' (IGMR)—is the detailed document governing the celebration of Mass of the Roman Rite in what since 1969 is its normal form. Originally published in 1969 as a separate document, it is printed at the start of editions of the Roman Missal since 1970. Background The 1960 ''Code of Rubrics'' replaced the ''Rubricae Generales Missalis'', which had been in the Tridentine Roman Missal since its first edition in 1570 and had been amplified and revised by Pope Clement VIII in 1604. This had been supplemented, since the 1920 edition, by the ''Additiones et Variationes in Rubricis Missalis ad normam Bullae "Divino afflatu" et subsequentium S.R.C. decretorum'' (Additions and Variations to the Rubrics of the Missal in accordance with the Bull ''Divino afflatu'' and subsequent decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites), which indicated the changes in the Roman Missal tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
