DEACON (As. (Macon, from Lat. diaeonus, from Gk. Sulicovos, diakonos, attendant). A subordinate ecclesiastical officer. In apostolic times, the name was applied to those officials of the Church who had the charge of collecting and distributing the alms of the faithful and taking care of the poor and the sick (Acts vi. 1-S) ; and these seem to have been considered the characteristic functions of the diaconate as late as the Trallan Council of 692. Thus, we find Saint Laurence, Archdeacon of Rome, in the middle of the third century, making the care of the poor and the attendance upon Sixtus, his bishop, at the altar, his principal occupation and his pride, and it was as a deacon that Atha nasius attended his bishop at the first general council of Nitwit, 325, and defended the faith against Arius. But that the ollice was not intended to be restricted to these functions may be inferred from the fact that immediately after its institution eye find deacons teaching and even baptizing (Acts vi. 10; viii. 5, 38). It evidently included in very early times the duties of guarding the sacred assemblies from the presence of unworthy persons, receiving the oblations and bringing them to the priest, read ing the epistle and gospel from the andoo, and the names of those who were inscribed on the dip tychs for commemoration, and assisting in the administration of the holy communion. In mat ters of external ministry, they had a very wide range, which the Apostolic Constitutions sum up by saying that the deacon must be the ear, eye, mouth, hand, heart. and soul of the bishop. With the development of the subdiaconate and the minor orders. only the more important and honorable offices in and out of the church were left to the deacon. Owing to their small number (in early times not more than seven in any place), and to their immediate relations to the bishop, they began to assume considerable importance, and their pretensions had more than once to be restrained. The office of deacon as it existed in the Early Church has been preserved in the Eastern churches with little modification. At the present time in the Roman Catholic Church, the (Ali•e is practically of no importance. as it is really nothing more than a step to the priesthood, which is usually administered almost immediately after ordination to the diaconate.
The Pontificate Romanum, indeed. defines the duties of a deacon as ministering at the altar, baptizing, and preaching; but all duties specially belonging to the offices of deacon and subdeacon, including. their special functions in a solemn mass, are in practice nearly always discharged by priests. The special ceremonies of the nrdi nation of a deacon include the putting on of the dalmatie and stole, and the delivery to him of the book of the Gospels, as well as the laying on of the bishop's hands. In the Angliean Church the imposition of hands, and the delivery of the book of the Gospels. are retained. The deacon. who must be twenty-three years of age, con tinues a year in the office except in special eases. Besides pastoral work, preaching, and baptizing, he may read a large part of the service: but in England lie is not allowed to hold a benefice. In the Methodist Episcopal Church, the deacon is a member of an order of the ministry next below the elder. The deacons are elected by the annual conference, and ordained by the bishop presiding. They may assist in the administration of the Lord's supper. may administer the rite of bap tism. solemnize marriage. and serve as traveling preachers. In the Congregational churches, one or more deacon are elected by the members of each church to distribute the elements in the communion. to act as the advisers of the pastor, and as the almoners of the charities of the Church. The nature of the office is the same in the Presbyterian Church, where the deacons are elected by the congregation and ordained by the minister to assist the hotly known as the session of the church in the care of the poor, and in the general management of the secular affairs of the church. In the Lutheran churches of the United States. the deacon is a layman chosen to attend to the charities and temporalities of the congregation. Gf recent years, there have been introduced into the statute law of a number of the States provisions by which deacons, by virtue of their office. become legal trustees of church property for the congregation, whether incorporated or unincorporated. Consult Seidl, Der ',if/co/Int in der t holischtu Ri ?The (Regen,bu•g, 1 SS 4 ) .