A hierodeacon (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Ἱεροδιάκονος, ''Ierodiákonos''; Slavonic: ''Ierodiakón''), sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in

Eastern Orthodox Christianity Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

is a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

who has been

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

(or deacon who has been tonsured monk). The term literally translates as "sacred servant (of God)", in accordance with early Byzantine usage of the adjective "sacred" to describe things monastic. To be eligible for ordination to the diaconate, a man must be either married or he must be tonsured a monk. In the Church hierarchy, a hierodeacon or a secular (i.e. non-monastic) deacon is of lower rank than a

hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church and E ...

(a priest-monk) or a secular priest. Within their own ranks, hierodeacons are assigned

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

according to the date of their ordination. Ranking above Hierodeacon is an

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

or Protodeacon. In some countries, married clergy are referred to as "white clergy" while monastic clergy are called "black clergy" because monks should always wear black clothing but married clergy in many parts of the world typically wear white (or gray or colored) cassocks and rasons. The proper title for a hierodeacon is, "the Reverend Hierodeacon (name)" The proper form of address would be, "Hierodeacon (name)", "Father Hierodeacon (name)", or "Father Hierodeacon". Deacon

References

*{{efron Eastern Christian ecclesiastical offices Christian monasticism

See also

References