Subdeacon

SUDDIACONO. — It is the first, in ascending order, of the sacred and major Orders. The term s. (Gk. ὑποδιάκονος: subminister) denotes the office of a minister of the second degree, entirely subordinate to the deacon. Concerning the sacramental character of the subdiaconate, following the affirmative opinion of s. Tommaso, a theological debate took place that has not yet been entirely concluded; today it is commonly held that it is not a Sacrament.

I. HISTORY

The first mention of the s. in the West occurs at the beginning of the 3rd century in the Traditio apostolica, 14 (ed. B. Botte, Paris 1946, p. 4; ed. A. Casamassa, Rome 1947, p. 22 [for private use]), then in the correspondence of S. Cipriano (e.g., Ep., 24: PL 4, 294) and in the letter of s. Cornelius to s. Fabius of Antioch (251), in which the Pope recalls seven s. (as many as there were deacons) for the Roman Church (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., VI, 43: PG 20, 622). Further mentions are found in the Council of Elvira at the beginning of the 4th century (can. 30) and later in the First Council of Toledo (cann. 2, 3, 5, 20). In the East, the s. is mentioned for the first time, at the end of the 3rd century, in the Didascalia of the Apostles (IX, 34, 3), then in the Canons of the Apostles (can. 43 [42]) and at the Council of Antioch in 341 (can. 10).

II. ORDINATION

According to the apostolic tradition 14: « Subdiacono manus non imponatur, sed nominetur, ut sequatur diaconos ». The imposition of hands is likewise excluded by the Canones Hippolyti, cann. 48-49 (ed. L. Duchesne, Origines du culte chrétien, 5th ed., Paris 1909, p. 534), by s. Basil (Ep. 217, 51: PG 22, 706), and by the Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua: « Subdiaconus cum ordinatur, quia manus impositionem non accipit, patenam de manu episcopi accipiat vacuum et vacuum calicem. De manu vero archidiaconi accipiat urceolum cum aqua et manile et manutergium » (F. Cavallera, Thesaurus doctrinae catholicae, no. 1311, 2nd ed., Paris 1936, p. 675). The Constitutiones Apostolicae (VIII, 21, 1-4), on the other hand, require the imposition of hands. In the 5th century, in the Roman Church, it was conferred with a simple blessing (cf. A. Michel, Ordre, in DThC, col. 1264). In the Gallican rite, almost all the elements that are reproduced in the modern Pontificale Romanum are found: an invitation to consider the seriousness of the obligations attached to the order, the singing of the litanies, the admonition Adepturi concerning its proper functions, the handing over of the chalice and paten by the bishop, with corresponding formulas, of the cruets by the archdeacon, two Oremus, the handing over of the vestments (amice, maniple, tunic), and of the book of the Epistles with its corresponding formula (cf. Michel, op. cit. in bibl., cols. 1266, 1268-79).

III. OBLIGATIONS AND FUNCTIONS

Only at the end of the 12th century was the subdiaconate counted among the sacred and major Orders, and especially from that time the s. celibacy (v.) and subsequently that of Breviary (v.). The functions of the s. in ancient times were varied and numerous, and also concerned the external life of the Church (e.g., the administration of the patrimonies of the Roman Church, the exercise of judicial power in ecclesiastical tribunals; V. DIACONO E ARCIDIACONO). At present their functions are reduced to pouring the water into the chalice, singing the epistle, assisting the deacon at the altar and presenting him with the chalice and paten, and washing the corporals and sacred linens (cf. Pontificale Romanum, admonition Adepturi).