‘Weekly Post. Anno Domini 2023 July 22

Beloved of the Lord:

Today is Saturday, 22 July, in the year of our Lord 2023. The scheduled services are as-follows:

• Saturday (today): 5:00 PM, Mass, S. Mary Magdalene, Penitent.
• Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 AM, Mass, Trinity VII, Parish Brunch at Schooners following the 10:00 service.
• Monday: 10:00 AM, Mass, Vigil of S. James.
• Tuesday: 5:30 PM, Mass, S. James the Great, Apostle & Martyr.
  6:30 PM, Sung Evensong.
• Wednesday: 12:10 PM, Mass, S. Anne, Mother of the BVM.
• Thursday: 6:30 PM, Mass, Feria, followed by Soup & Study.
• Friday: 9:00 AM, Mass, SS. Nazarius & Company, with the Gregorian Canon.
  Immediately following, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Saturday: 5:00 PM, Mass, S. Martha, Virgin.
• Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 AM, Deacon's Liturgy of the Holy Sacrament.

Please note that our monthly Parish Brunch will take-place tomorrow, after the 10:00 Mass. We will be dining at Schooners, which is a few miles up Warwick Avenue, past CNU. We've eaten there previously, with good results.

At-least through the Summer months, we will be alternating Sundays between the Mass, and the Deacon's Liturgy. This Service is called a liturgy to distinguish it from a Mass. Deacons are unable to Bless, much-less Consecrate, anything. The Sacrament that is distributed by a Deacon has been previously Consecrated by a Priest or Bishop.

A number of liturgical details are altered, in-order that the difference between this and a Mass will be made clear. The Apostle's Creed is been substituted for the 'Nicene (as is allowed by the Prayer Book rubrics), and the Bidding Prayer takes the place of the Prayer for the Whole State of Christ's Church. There is no form of Absolution following the General Confession, inasmuch as Absolution, which is a form of Blessing, is also an act that Deacons are not able to bestow.

Deacons may perform marriages and funerals, teach Confirmation classes, and the like. The most famous Deacon was likely the first, S. Stephen ~ first Deacon, and first Martyr. Inasmuch as the word 'Priest' does not explicitly appear in the New Testament accounts of the nascent Church, many once thought that the Order of Deacon was more ancient than that of Priest.

In the modern system of the Church, Deacons fundamentally disappeared from public view. For both the Anglican- and Roman Churches, the Diaconate became something that happened after the successful completion of the Middler Year of seminary, that being the second of three years. Anglican Deacons were rarely seen outside of Seminaries; Roman Deacons were never seen, leading many Roman laity to be surprised, should they discover that Deacons did indeed exist in the Church.

The shortage of Priests, especially in the Roman Church, in recent decades, has changed much of this. Rome went so far as creating an Order of married Deacons, who are primarily used as were the ancient Deacons, taking the Holy Sacrament from the Table of the Lord, to those who might not otherwise receive it. Rome has also degraded Holy Orders, by allowing those for whom 'Orders are not appropriate to distribute the Sacrament, but that is a separate topic.

Although it should never be allowed, due to the Clergy shortage Deacons are occasionally given charge over Parishes. My first Cure was as a Deacon, in a Parish for which no Priest was available. Again, as I learned from first-hand experience, this is a terrible idea, at many levels, and should never be permitted.

Thus, a thumbnail of the role of a Deacon in the modern Church. Now that they have been largely restored to their historic function and honour, perhaps we should investigate the return of the Sub-Diaconate, which was once itself a part of major Orders.... I remain

in His praise,

The Rev'd Canon. T. L. Crowder

Pastor, Saint Matthew's Parish