Church Orders / Ranks / Saints
Church Orders, Ranks, and Saints
ARCHDEACON: He is on the top of deacons, and their leader. St. Stephen was the first deacon, and first martyr.
ARCHIMANDRITE: Every monastery has its leader, called the archimandrite. He is responsible of the monks, to care for them. Nowadays an archimandrite is a member in the Holy Synod.
BISHOP (Episkopos): (Greek for "overseer"). The duties peculiar to the office of a bishop are to preside over his diocese as the spiritual father, ordain priests and deacons, administer Chrism, consecrate church buildings, participate in ordaining bishops and in making the Chrism (Myron). Bishops are successors to the apostles, and, from the historical point of view, the episkopate is an extension of the apostolate.
CLERGYMEN: There are three orders of clergymen, namely bishops, priests and deacons who are ordained to serve the people of God.
DEACON (servant): The institution of the diaconate is traditionally seen in the ordination of the seven deacons, among which were St. Stephen and St. Philip, by imposition of hands for the service of the poor and distribution of alms (Acts 6:1-6). Deacons wear a stole crosswise over the left shoulder and under the right arm. It is wing like red cloth, which reminds us that the deacon is angel-like. In funerals it is replaced a black one. Deaconry is a priestly degree, as follows:
- Subdeacon
- Deacon
- Archdeacon
He cares for the altar service as well as people. The First Epistle to Timothy (3:8-10) lists the qualities to be expected in candidates for the diaconate. To be admitted, they must be men of high principles, above reproach, not given to hypocrisy or double-talk, not indulging in excessive drinking or amassing of riches.
DEACONESS: A maid that had devoted her life to serve God, and to prayers as well. St. Paul mentioned Phoebe as a deaconess (Rom. 16:1). She is officially in charge of certain duties in the church. She helps the priest in serving women, particularly the sick and needy, besides at their baptism. She is not to be ordained but raised. In the early church, deaconesses were recognized as a distinct order of women who were vowed to perpetual chastity. They were, nevertheless, allowed to perform only certain duties in the care of women, and no sacerdotal services in the church.
EVANGELISTS: The authors of the four Gospels: St. Matthew, whose symbol is a winged face of man; St. Mark, a winged lion; St. Luke, a winged ox; and St. John, a winged eagle.
HEGUMENOS (Protopriest): A Greek word meaning "Leader." A title used by the Byzantine Orthodox church for the ruler of a monastery. The monks of the monastery usually elect him, though confirmation is required from the side of patriarch, the diocesan bishop, or the patron (according to the status of the monastery).
HERMIT: It is derived from the Greek word "Eremia," which means "desert." A monk who had loved to live in solitude with God. Christian hermits first began to abide in Egypt and surrounding regions towards the close of the 3rd century, and from that date the eremitical life quickly gained popularity. Better known as Anchorites, the Spirit Born. They are usually called "El Souah" in Arabic. This type of monk has reached a very high level of spirituality where his spirit is heavier than his body, because he is fervent in spirit, and he rarely eats. They live in groups and can easily move from one place to another in a very short time, without anyone seeing them.
JOHN THE BAPTIST (ST.): The icon of this saint is put on the right side of the iconostasis, next to that of St. Mary. In the Coptic Church, St. John the Baptist is the most venerated biblical character after our Lord Jesus and the Virgin Mary. His veneration has always been highly counted in Egypt and many churches were dedicated after his name. There are eight feasts related to him in our calendar:
- 2 Tut, commemorates the death of his father Zechariah and recalls the childhood of John the Baptist;
- 26 Tut, commemorates the annunciation of his birth by the archangel Gabriel to Zechariah;
- 18 Babah, commemorates the death of the patriarch Theophilius of Alexandria who had built the shrine for the relics of St.John the Baptist;
- 11 Tubah, marks the baptism of our Lord Jesus by John the Baptist in the river Jordan;
- 16 Amshir, marks the death of his mother Elizabeth, thus recalling John's birth;
- 30 amshir, recalls the discovery of John the Baptist's head;
- 2 Baunah, recalls the discovery of his bones; and
- 30 Baunah, celebrates his birth
LAITY: Collective name meaning the people i.e. members of the church apart from the ordained clergy.
MARK THE APOSTLE (ST.): One of the seventy apostles, and of the four evangelists. He preached in Egypt and Libya. We celebrate his martyrdom on the 30th Baramudah; the dedication of his church on the 30th Babah, and on the 15th and 17th Baounah we celebrate the occasion of moving his relic to Egypt.
MARTYR: One who sacrifices his life on refusing to deny his faith in Christ.
METROPOLITAN: He is the leader of a group of bishops
MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL: He is one of the seven archangels. He is the commander of the army of the Lord who fights with his angels against Satan and his soldiers (Rev. 12). On the 12th of every Coptic month the church celebrates his feast.
MONK: A member of a religious community of men who has made monastic vows. Someone who loves God so much that he longed to spend all his life in worship.
NOVICE: One who is spending a period of time under trial before being professed to a religious order.
NUN: The female of monk. A member of a religious order or a group of women living under the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. With the dissemination of Christian ideals in the apostolic age, many widows and virgins separated themselves from society to worship God, initially in seclusion and later in communal groups (1 Tim. 5:9-10).
PATRIARCH: Head of the Coptic Church. The word is a composite term originating from Latin and Greek words: pater (father) and archos (leader or chief). In the Coptic church the term signifies the head of the entire church organization with metropolitans, bishops, and priests under his church authority. In the earliest times the head of the church was the bishop of Alexandria, who came to be identified as Pappas, or Pope.
PATRIARCHAL DEPUTY: A position similar to that of vicar general in the Western church. This deputy may be a priest, monk, or bishop, and is chosen by the patriarch to assist him in the administration of his diocese. The Coptic patriarchate has two deputies, one in Alexandria and another in Cairo, who deputize for the Pope in these two cities. Both of them are ex officio members of the "Holy Synod."
PILGRIM (Wanderer): A monk who longs to live in solitude, all alone in the desert, not seeing man's face for a long time. He spends his life in praising God and praying on behalf of the whole world.
POPE: He is the Patriarch, the believers' spiritual father. The title "pope" has been in use in the Egyptian church from the beginning of the third century. In Rome its use began in the second half of the fourth century. From the sixth century, it was reserved in the West for the bishop of Rome. Today it designates an ordinary priest among the Greeks (Pappas). Remnants of it have been preserved among the Slaves (pope, pip).
PRIEST: He is called "Presbyter" meaning that he intercedes, for he prays on behalf of God's people. The priest has a pastoral role towards God's people, he cares for them and serves them as his own children.
PROTOPRIEST: Also called "Hegumenos" meaning a "disposer," for he disposes church affairs together with his brethren, the priests.
SUBDEACON: According to church orders he is counted to be below a deacon, whose duty in the Roman Catholic and the Eastern churches is to prepare the holy vessels for the Mass, and who in Anglican churches reads the epistle at the Eucharist. A hand is not put over him and has no priestly class. He guards church gates and keeps orders.