Servant at the Altar: The Deacon

The permanent deaconate was restored within the Roman Church with the Second Vatican Council.  Until this point, the vast majority of deacons were simply seminarians within their last year prior to the priesthood.  These transitional deacons still exist today and are still required to be celibate.  Permanent deacons, on the other hand, are deacons that may be married, provided that the marriage occurs prior to ordination.  But what is the deacon?  Is it a position of power that can be lorded over the congregation?  Or is it simply a calling that a few are chosen for?



St. Stephen, dressed in the dalmatic,
which is the vestment proper to deacons
in the Roman Church.

The first deacons can be found easily enough in Acts 6:5.  There, the Apostles, concerned that their ministry of offering the perfect sacrifice to God may leave them with little time to care for the Christian community, selected seven men to care for the faithful.  Among these men was St. Stephen, who is considered by Christians everywhere to be the first martyr, or protomartyr, as he was stoned to death for preaching the Gospel, with a certain man named Saul looking on. 

Chief among the roles of the deacon are the preaching of the Gospel during the Liturgy, and the care of the Chalice.  During the Roman Mass, the deacon holds up the Chalice at the Consecration and places and removes the pall.  In the Roman Church, the deacon is considered an ordinary minister of Holy Communion, meaning that no extraordinary ministers may be used if there are enough deacons. 

The dress of the deacon, regardless of the Liturgical rite is the stole (or corresponding vestment), either running from left shoulder to right hip for Western deacons, or hanging from the left shoulder from many Eastern deacons.  The history of the stole may in fact be linked to that of the deacon, having later been applied to the priest.  Within the West, the dalmatic has been associated as a vestment proper to both the deacon and the bishop, and some parallels can be seen in the Byzantine sakkos worn by a bishop.  The fact that the bishop wears a dalmatic is indicative of the fact that the bishop and the priest, having been ordained deacons themselves are also deacons.  This fact is most evident in the 1962 Missale Romanum where oftentimes priests would vest as deacon and subdeacon.  In the Roman Rite, the stole is to be placed under the dalmatic; over it in the Ambrosian Rite. 

Why mention the deacon?  Oftentimes, especially in American culture, the deacon is seen as the Roman equivalent of a married priest.  Deacons cannot, however, perform any Sacraments that no other member of the faithful cannot perform in times of need.  For example, in a certain circumstances, anyone can Baptize or witness a marriage.  Deacons are meant to care directly for the people.  They convey directions during the Liturgy and guard against profranation of the Eucharist.  They are not the high and mighty.  They are not the greatest of us.  They are the servants of the altar, and they help to bring those heavenly truths to the masses.