Women Deacons in ancient Christian communities

Women Deacons in Ancient Christian Communities

Leadership and Ordination

by John Wijngaards

Published in Patterns of Women’s Leadership in Early Christianity, Joan E. Taylor & Ilaria L. E. Ramelli (eds.), Oxford University Press 2021, pp. 195-210.

Abstract

During the first millennium of the Christian era, women were part of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church as deacons. They were ordained/appointed through a ceremony that was substantially identical to that through which men became deacons. They played an important leadership role in the spiritual life of Christian women. They were essential at the initiation rite of baptism. They ministered to women when they worshipped, when they fell ill, were dying or had to be buried. In the Eastern part of the Christian world, every community had at least one female deacon.

 

1. Clarifying the notions ‘deacon’ and ‘deaconess’

What shall we call her: ‘woman deacon’ or ‘deaconess’? Following on the Reformation, Protestant Churches re-introduced the ministry of ‘deaconesses’. These women have performed outstanding services to the poor, the homeless, the sick and other disadvantages groups. However, their ministry was/is far removed from the authoritative rank enjoyed by the women of the first millennium who received the diaconate. Therefore, to avoid misunderstanding, I will in this essay, when talking about the early women, call them ‘women deacons’. Ancient Greek sources did the same.

Church laws proclaimed under Justinian I in 535 AD called an ordained woman deacon a ‘διακονος’, using the same masculine term they applied to men (Novella 6,6 § 4, 5, 8). The term ‘διακονίσσα’ also found in Greek sources from the 4^th century (see the later Novella 123.30 & 131.23) arose as a synonym. At the time it did not signify a diminishing of status.

Another misunderstanding concerns the term ‘deacon’ itself. For many centuries the word has been interpreted as meaning ‘servant’. But recent research has shown that in the Greco-Roman context of the early Church, it indicated more responsible roles (Collins 1990 & 2002; Hentschel 2007; Latvus 2008). I will summarise their findings.

In NT times, the Greek for ‘slave’ was ‘δουλος’.  Among the range of ‘servants’ was the ’οικετης (house servant), παις (boy), ‘υπηρετης (assistant) or θεραπών (personal valet). None of them would be called a ‘διακονος’. A deacon was someone to whom you entrusted a task. A person delegated to act or speak on your behalf. A person with a mission, with responsibility, with a job to do in your name. You would not call the servant who swept your floor, cooked your meal or washed your clothes your deacon.

The term ‘deacon’ covered the following responsibilities:

• Deacon as an administrator or trustee. It required accountability. Paul says: “We try not to give offence to anyone so as not to bring discredit on our administration (διακονία). Instead we prove ourselves in everything to be God’s [faithful] trustees (διακονοί) . .  .” (2 Cor 6,3-4). When the apostles appointed the first seven deacons, it was to entrust to them the financial administration of the community (Acts 6,1-6).
• Deacon as an official in charge of people. Paul urges Timothy, put in charge of the community of Ephesus, to be a good ‘deacon’ acting on behalf of Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 4,6).
• Deacon as an envoy, entrusted with a message. Paul calls himself a ‘deacon’ of the Gospel (Eph 3,7 & Col 1,23).

This also throws light on the earliest woman deacon we know. Paul calls her ‘our sister Phoebe, ’ουσαν διακονον [= who is the deacon] of Cenchreae’ (Rom 16,1-2). Obviously, she had been appointed to that position (Lohfink 1983). She exercised real leadership in her community. This is clear from the fact that she is given the title of being ‘a προστασις of many’, that is: benefactor or patron. By good fortune we also know of a first-century non-Christian who bears the same title: Junia Theodora of neighbouring Corinth. Inscriptions show that Junia as prostatis provided hospitality and political patronage (Kearsley 1985).

2. Who were the first-millennium women deacons?

In the Eastern part of the Church the memory of women deacons was kept alive by the celebration of 22 female ‘deacons’ in the liturgical calendar of saints (Karidoyanes 1998, App. 1). In the West their existence and ministry were almost totally forgotten by the time of the Middle Ages. Thirteenth-century Thomas Aquinas could write: “In the Decretals, mention is made of deaconesses . . . but deaconess there denotes a woman who shares in some act of a deacon, namely who reads the homilies in church” (STh Suppl. q.39 a.1).

A study of ancient church documents, writings of the Fathers and inscriptions on tombstones are now revealing that tens of thousands of women deacons served in parishes of the Eastern, Greek-speaking part of the Church, whereas in the West there were only a sprinkling. Specifically, 117 individual Catholic women who served as women deacons have now been identified (Lists of women deacons, in Wijngaards Institute 2010). The numbers vary by country: Gaul (7), Italy (7), Dalmatia (2), Armenia (1), Mesopotamia (7), Syria (12), Palestine (10), Egypt (4), Greece (20), Asia Minor (47).

Typical examples are:

• “Here lies Sophia, the slave and bride of Christ, the deacon, the second Phoebe, who slept in peace on the twenty-first of the month of March …” (inscription on a broken stone on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, 4^th cent).
• “Here lies the slave of the Lord, Theoprepia, perpetual virgin and deacon of Christ, who has completed an ascetic and zealous life, distinguished in the Lord God” (Bonitsa, Macedonia, late 4th cent).
• “Polygeros the most reverend lector and Andromacha the most beloved deacon of God, beautified [this church] as they had vowed” (sixth-century mosaic inscription on the left side of the main altar of the basilica of St. Leonidas, in Klauseios, Achaia, Greece).
• “Here lies Maria the deacon of pious and blessed memory who, following the instruction of the Apostle, raised children, exercised hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, and distributed her bread to the needy. Remember her, Lord, when she enters into your kingdom (Archelais, Asia Minor, 6^th cent).”
• “A certain woman from Cappadocia named Basilina, a deacon of the great church of Constantinople, came to Jerusalem with a high-ranking nephew who was otherwise devout but not in communion with the Catholic Church, since he belonged to the Severan sect. The deacon was trying hard to change his mind and bring him into union with the Catholic Church . . .” (sixth-century Cyril of Scythopolis,Life of John the Hesychast).”

The Church’s ecumenical  councils clearly recognised the rank of women deacons. The First Council of Nicea (325) declared that the women deacons belonging to the sect of Paul of Samosata, had not been validly ordained as they did not receive the ‘laying on of hands’. It thereby acknowledged the existence of genuine female deacons in their own communities. At the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451), an earlier minimal age of 60 years for women deacons was relaxed to 40 years. The earlier practice had been based on 1 Timothy 5,9: ‘Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age’. “A woman shall not receive the laying on of hands as a deaconess under forty years of age, and then only after searching examination” (Canon 15). This minimum age was confirmed at the Ecumenical Council of Trullo (692).

The Didascalia Apostolorum (Syria, 3^rd century) contains this injunction:

“Therefore, O bishop, appoint virtuous ministers as helpers who may co-operate with you in [bringing about] salvation. Out of all the people that please you, choose and appoint as deacons: a man for the performance of many tasks that are required, but a woman for the ministry of women. For there are families to whose women you cannot send a male deacon, on account of the non-Christians, but may be able to send a deaconess. Moreover, the office of a woman deacon is required for many other tasks” (Didascalia c. 16, Homer).

3. Women’s ordination to the rank of ‘deacon’ in the East

Almost right from the beginning, three ranks of leadership arose in early Christian communities: overseers [επισκοποι = bishops], elders [πρεσβυτεροι = priests] and administrators [διακονοι = deacons]. The exact powers, tasks and functions of these ranks were only defined in the course of time.

These ranks were conferred through a proper ordination procedure which came from two sources: the apostolic tradition of praying over a person while imposing hands and the secular custom of designating a person in public with the imposition of distinctive insignia.

Traditional Catholic scholars contend that the early female deacons received only a second-rate ‘diaconate’ and were not appointed to the full rank of deacon. To speak theological language, in their opinion women deacons were not ‘sacramentally ordained’ (Martimort 1982; Hauke 1986 & 1987; Müller 2000). This issue merits detailed discussion, contentious as it is in the Catholic Church today and of importance for a potential restauration of women’s diaconate.

My study will be based on an analysis of the actual appointment procedure of a woman deacon in the Byzantine East, the ‘ordination rite’, as preserved in ancient Greek documents (Wijngaards 2011:190-205) : Barberini Gr. 336 (780 AD), Sinai Gr. 956 (950), Grottaferrata Γβ1 (1020), Coislin Gr. 213 (1027), Bodleian E.5.13 (1132) and Vaticanus Gr. 1872 (1150). The rite in all these documents can be shown to derive from a fifth-century proto-type (Wijngaards 2011:20-31).

The ordination/appointment procedure had the following steps which I will describe one by one:

1. Being brought up to the altar.
2. The Divine Grace proclamation.
3. First imposition of hands and calling down of the Spirit.
4. Second imposition of hands and calling down of the Spirit.
5. The investiture with the diaconal stole.
6. Receiving the chalice at communion.

• 3.1. The setting. “After the sacred offertory, the doors [of the sanctuary] are opened and, before the deacon starts the litany ‘All Saints’, the woman who is to be ordained deacon is brought up [to the altar]”.

It is significant that women deacons were ordained in the sanctuary, before the altar and right within the eucharistic celebration, namely after the sacred anaphora [= offertory]. Its import lies not only in indicating access to the altar, but to mark the ordination as one of the ‘major orders’, to distinguish it from minor ministries such as the sub-diaconate and the lectorate.

Theodore of Mopsuestia (350 – 429) explains the classic distinction. He defines the diaconate as a ‘ministry to sacred things’, which certainly also included baptism.

“It is worth adding that we should not be surprised at the fact that he [Paul] does not mention sub-deacons or lectors here. For these [functions] are actually outside the orders of real ministry in the Church. They were created later on by the need of many things that had to be done by others for the good of the mass of the faithful. That is why the law does not permit them to receive ordination in front of the altar because they do not minister at this mystery. For the lectors look after the readings and the sub-deacons in the sacristy prepare what is needed for the service of the deacons and look after the lights in church. However, only the priests and deacons perform the ministry of the mystery: the former by fulfilling their priestly role, the latter by ministering to sacred things” (In Epistolas, 132-134).

The Orthodox liturgist Simeon of Thessalonika confirms this in his classic work About  Sacred Ordinations, written between 1418 and 1429:

“Two ordinations are given outside the sanctuary, that of the reader and sub-deacon. There are also others for administrators, deputees, acolytes . . . But the exalted ordinations are imparted inside the sanctuary.”

The ordination of women deacons in the sanctuary ‘right in the heart of the Divine Liturgy’ ranks it among the orders of the higher clergy (Theodorou 1954, p. 583).

• 3.2. The proclamation. “He [the bishop] says the ‘Divine Grace’ with a loud voice, after which the woman to be ordained bows her head.”

This proclamation was only performed for the higher orders, and it had a very rigid form with only three variable elements. This is the actual text:

“Divine Grace which always heals what is infirm and completes what is missing chooses so-and-so [name] as bishop [or priest, deacon] of [name of the location]. Let us therefore pray for him/her that the grace of the Holy Spirit may descend upon him/her.”

The people reply: “Lord, have mercy on us!”

Research has shown that this Byzantine form is very old indeed, going back to at least the 3rd century. It was considered the distinctive characteristic of Christian ordination.

“The ordaining bishop speaks the proclamation with a loud voice. This mystery signifies that the ordainer, who is loved by God, is the herald of the divine choice. It is not he himself who leads the ordinand to ordination by his own grace, but he is moved by God in all ordinations” (Pseudo-Dionysius, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy 5, 5).

“[I never aspired to the priesthood], all the more because many of these ordinations happen through human ambition, not really by the Divine Grace”  (John Chrysostom, 344 – 407, On the priesthood 4,1).

[On the disorderly election of a bishop.] “I would almost believe that political authorities are more ordained than ours over which one proclaims the ‘Divine Grace’ (St. Gregory of Nazianze, 330-389, Oration 18,35).

Some scholars maintained that the proclamation itself was the ordination, at least originally (Botte 1957).  But later studies disproved this. Ordination consisted of two distinct stages of one and the same liturgical action, each equally essential: the election and the ordination proper. The election indicated who was chosen for the ministry. It proclaimed God’s choice of candidate, not unlike a functionary chosen by the Emperor. The imposition of hands was the ceremony through which God’s Spirit actually descended on the ordinand (Sohm 1923, p. 263; Gy 1979).

At ordinations, and particularly at Byzantine ordinations, the ‘Divine Grace’ was only proclaimed for bishops, priests and deacons. The fact that the ordaining bishop proclaimed the ‘Divine Grace’ to announce the divine election of a woman deacon, shows that he ranked her ordination, without any shade of doubt, within the sacrament of major orders, like that of male deacons.

• 3.3. First imposition of hands and epiclesis. “The Bishop imposes his hand on her head, makes the sign of the cross on it three times, and prays: ‘Do now look upon this your handmaid, who is to be ordained [προχειριζομενην] to the diaconate [εις διακονιαν], and grant her your Holy Spirit. Dedicate her to the task of your diaconate [της διακονιας], and pour out into her the rich and abundant giving of your Holy Spirit’.”

In the Eastern tradition, the calling down of the Holy Spirit is technically known as the epiclesis. During the divine liturgy, it is not so much the ‘words of consecration’ but the epiclesis that brings about the transformation of the bread and the wine. Epiclesis, in one form or other, occurs in all the sacraments, for the sacraments come about through the action of the Spirit. At ordination, the Pentecostal Spirit ‘who provides all things’, pours its fullness into the bishop, the priest and the deacon (Zizioulas 1973; Erickson 1992, 108-109; Karidoyanes 1998, 85-86).

Although mention is made of the gifts of the Spirit in the installation prayers of some of the minor orders, it is only bishops, priests and deacons on whom the full epiclesis is called down (Gy 1979, 112-114).

• 3.4. Second imposition of hands and epiclesis. “. . . Meanwhile [during the intercessions] the Archbishop prays as follows keeping his hand on the head of the woman to be ordained: ‘Lord, Master, you do not reject women who dedicate themselves to you and who are willing, in a becoming way, to serve your Holy House, but admit them to the order [ταξίς] of your ministers. Grant the gift of your Holy Spirit also to this your maidservant who wants to dedicate herself to you, and fulfil in her the grace of the diaconate [διακονιας], as you have granted to Phoebe the grace of your diaconate [διακονιας], whom you had called to the work of this ministry’.”

The second ordination prayer, added since the 4^th century, was known as the ekphonese, because the bishop spoke it softly. It was performed only for the major orders. It may have been inspired by the need of the ordaining bishop to make sure that the conditions for ordination had been fulfilled. By speaking the ekphonese prayer over the woman candidate, the bishop again indicated her being raised to the higher order of the diaconate.

• 3.5. Investiture. “The Archbishop puts the stoleof the diaconate round her neck, under her [woman’s] veil, pulling the two extremities of the stole towards the front.”

The bishop himself invests her with the distinctive vestment: to diakonikon horarion [‘ωραριον], the diaconate stole, in a way that agrees with her veil, the maphorion.  As for functionaries in the Greco-Roman Empire, the distinctive insignia indicated rank and power. The Synod of Laodicea in 363 AD excommunicated anyone wearing the diaconate stole without having been ordained.

• 3.6. Holding the chalice. “At the time of the partaking of the sacred mysteries, she [= the newly ordained deacon] shares of the divine body and blood with the [male and female] deacons. When  the newly ordained has taken part of the precious body and blood, the Archbishop hands her the holy vessel. She accepts it and, without distributing it to others, puts it back on the holy table [the altar].”

It should be noted that this is highly significant. The new woman deacon was present in the sanctuary with the other clergy, for the holy doors of the iconostasis were still closed. She was given the host on her hand by the bishop as her male colleagues were. And she drank from the chalice as they did. Now a special rite was added.

It was customary for a newly ordained male deacon to be introduced to his task by making him share in the distribution of holy communion to the laity for, at the public eucharist, it was the male deacons who distributed communion to the faithful. But to show that, in principle, the woman deacon too received the same commission, the bishop handed her the chalice which contained the consecrated bread and wine, and she herself put it back onto the altar.  This meant that she was, in principle, empowered to distribute communion. It amounts to what theologians call a degree of potestas in eucharistiam, authority regarding the eucharist (Thiermeyer 1966; Vaggagini 1974).   According to the Syriac Testamentum Domini (5^th century), women deacons took communion to the sick.

In all essentials, the ordination of women to the diaconate ran parallel to that of men. If women were not appointed/ordained to the full rank of the diaconate, then neither were the men. The public setting, the proclamation, the double imposition of hands and invocation of the Spirit, the investiture with the distinctive stole and presentation with the chalice prove abundantly that women, as much as the men, were ordained to the major order of the diaconate. Most scholars have come to the same conclusion  (Thiermeyer 1966; Congar 1973; Vaggagini 1974; Hünermann 1975; Frohnhofen 1986; Aubert 1987; Ansorge 1990; Theodorou 1992; Hofrichter 1996; Böttigheimer  1996; Lochmann 1996 ; Jensen 1997; Karidoyanes 1998; Reiniger 1999; Zagano 2000; Winkler 2010; and many others).

The Orthodox scholar Bishop Kallistos sums it up. “The order of deaconess seems definitely to have been considered an ‘ordained’ ministry during early centuries in at any rate the Christian East . . . Some Orthodox writers regard deaconesses as having been a ‘lay’ ministry. There are strong reasons for rejecting this view. In the Byzantine rite the liturgical office for the laying-on of hands for the deaconess is exactly parallel to that for the deacon; and so on the principle lex orandi, lex credendi — the Church’s worshipping practice is a sure indication of its faith — it follows that the deaconess receives, as does the deacon, a genuine sacramental ordination: not just a χειροθεσια but a χειροτονια” (Ware 1983).

4. The ordination of Women Deacons in Western Europe

The diaconate of women met much resistance in western Europe. This was mainly due to the prevailing cultural prejudices against women. Roman law barred women from holding any public office. Women could not even give witness in court. Women’s monthly periods were deemed poisonous and unclean. Church officials decreed that women should ‘remember their state’ and not presume to access the sanctuary for fear of pollution. In spite of all this, Italy, France, Germany ordained women deacons from the 5^th to the 12^th century. And perhaps the clearest evidence of this lies in the Latin ordination rite preserved in 5 ancient sacramentaries (Cambrai 164, Ottobonianus 313, Reginae 337, Vienna 1817, Bodley 579, Yorkecgberti) and 9 pontificals (Vienna 701, Hittorp, Cassino 451, Vallicella 5, Vendome 14, Bamberg 53, Gondekar, Lucca 607, Pistoia 141; full texts in Women Deacons – Wijngaards Institute [2008]).

The original ordination prayer read: “Hear, o Lord, our petition and send down on this your maidservant the Spirit of your ordination so that, since you have conferred on her your heavenly office, she may obtain favour with your majesty and may present to others the example of a good life. Through [Christ Our Lord, etc.].”  This formula used  with the appropriate adaptation in gender for both male and female deacons, was accompanied by the imposition of hands and followed by the imposition of the diaconate stole.

The diaconate of women in western Europe presents a mixed story. Next to genuine women deacons, we find the wives of deacons at times referred to as deaconesses. And in later times, the function of deaconess became an honorary title for some nuns. This is also reflected in the subsequent history of the ordination rite for deaconesses. In some areas of Europe parallel forms of women’s diaconate existed for a while. Until the 5^th century, Celtic Christian communities in Britain and Gaul had their conhospitae (Duchesne 1881; Wijngaards 2011). Until the 16^th century, Freilas worked in Basque parishes in the Pyrenees regions of France and Spain (Aran and Salas 1994, pp. 53 – 55).

5. The tasks of the ancient Women Deacons

In the early Christian communities women deacons looked after women. Their first and main responsibility concerned preparing women for baptism and assisting in the baptismal ceremony. This was no trivial task. For during those centuries, baptism played a far greater role than it does in Christian Churches today. Most people were baptised as adults and baptism was seen as the gateway to their new life in Christ. The Fathers of the Church call it the ‘re-birth of the soul’, the ‘entrance into the kingdom of God’, receiving the ‘gift of becoming God’s adopted child’, being taken on board the ‘chariot to heaven’. Catechumens became ‘Christians’ only after the initiation of baptism. Only then were they admitted to the central mysteries of the eucharist.

The baptismal rite has been well researched (Bradshaw 1988; Finn 1992 and 1997;  Ferguson 1993; Johnson 1995 and 1999; Day 1999). The task of the woman deacon included the following:

1. Instructing the female catechumen.
2. Assisting her during the rite of renunciation.
3. Anointing her with the oil of exorcism at the start of the baptismal rite.
4. Leading her into the baptism font and submerging her.
5. Vesting her in a white robe.
6. Conducting the newly baptised Christian to her place in church and help her participate in the eucharist.

A short word about each.

• 5.1. Instruction. This was a long process, beginning with a visit to the catechumen at home and testing her sincerity. The woman deacon would take a serious candidate to the priest who would mark the sign of the cross on her forehead, give her salt on the tongue and bless her by an imposition of hands in an initial rite of exorcism. She would then join a small group of other women to be instructed by the woman deacon. Priests would at times also address such groups of female catechumens, but women deacons were much better able to respond to the special queries and concerns of the women. During Lent the programme intensified. Catechumens were expected to fast, as other Christians. This involved not only abstaining from meat and wine, but also from sex and from attending the public baths, the games, the theatre and the races. They would come to church every day – until Maunday Thursday when they took a bath.
• 5.2. Rite of renunciation. On Holy Saturday night, the Vigil of Easter, the catechumens would enter the baptismal ceremonies through an act of renunciation. The deacon would tell them to take off their outer garments. Wearing just a long shirt, their tunic, the catechumens were made to stand on sackcloth, the symbol of Adam and Eve’s garments of sin. They would trample on it. Then they would be made to face West, the direction of sunset and death. They would now be asked the questions: “Do you renounce Satan?”, “Do you renounce his vanity?”, and so on, to each of which they would reply: “I do”. After this they would turn towards the East, the direction of the rising sun and of Christ’s resurrection. In this position they would recite the Creed, or express their faith by responding “I believe” to questions such as: “Do you believe in God, the Father?”, “Do you believe in God the Son?”, and so on.
• 5.3. Anointment with the oil of catechumens. After the priest had put a first sign of the cross in oil on a female catechumen’s forehead, the woman deaconwould take over. She would strip the catechumen of all her clothes and ornaments. She would untie the woman’s hair. She would then begin to rub the oil of catechumens all over her body.  The anointing was absolutely total. Instructions were clear: “Anoint every part, also in between the fingers of the hands and the toes of the feet, the back and the front, every single limb, from the hairs on the skull to the soles of the feet.” The anointing was an exorcism, healing the limbs from all evil, including the genital areas. It is obvious that the anointing of a woman in this intimate way demanded the service of another woman. And being such a key ceremony within holy baptism itself, it required the service of a woman minister who had been ordained for this function.
• 5.4. Submersion in the baptismal water. Ancient baptismal fontswere like small ponds, with steps leading into the water. The woman deaconwould lead the naked (female) catechumen down the steps, from the west to the east, so that the catechumen faced east. In the middle the font was about waist deep. The woman deacon would also descend into the font.  For men, this was a function which the main baptiser, the priest, would do himself, namely, to immerse the catechumen three times, while speaking a trinitarian formula. In the case of women, the main celebrant being a man could not stand next to the naked catechumen.  So normally, while the woman deacon would submerse her three times under water, the priest would stand behind a screen or a curtain and speak the baptismal formula three times: “I baptise you in the name of the Father …, the Son, … the Holy Spirit.” The Syriac Book of the Fathers states: ‘Female deacons  perform the sacrament of baptism for women because it is not right for the priest to see the nakedness of women. That is why the women deacons anoint the women and baptise them in water.  The priest should stretch his hand through a window or through a veil to sign the candidates, while the deacon should perform both the anointing and the baptism itself’ (Vosté 1940, p. 34). Baptism was team work.
• 5.5. Vesting the neophyte. The woman deaconwould now help the newly baptised woman step up out of the font, walking towards the East. There she would ‘receive her’, in the words of the ancient texts. This meant: dry her with a towel. She would gently rub her limbs dry, seeing to it that the oil that had soaked into the skin would still cling to it, making the neophyte feel healthy and whole and new all over. She would dry and comb her hair, thus completing a spiritual grooming that sealed the new Christian’s admission into the community of faith. Then she would dress her in a white robe, saying: “The handmaid of God [name] is clothed with the garment of righteousness, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”.
• 5.6. Conducting the new Christian to her place in Church. The woman deacon would now take the neophyte to the priest. The priest in turn would welcome her and put sign a cross of the cross on her forehead with holy chrism, a special oil mixed with herb. Meanwhile he would say: “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit!” Then the woman deacon would conduct her into the main aisle of the church where the congregation would be waiting to congratulate her.

Having so directly participated in initiating a woman into the Christian community, the woman deacon would continue to surround her with pastoral care.

• On a Sunday, the woman deacon would stand at the church door and welcome her to the eucharistic service.
• If the woman fell ill, she would visit her in her home and provide any care she would need. ‘[The diaconate of women] is to preserve decency for the female sex, whether in connection with baptism or in connection with the examination of [women undergoing] suffering or pain, or whenever the bodies of women are required to be uncovered, so that they need not be seen by male pastors but only by the woman who serves as a deacon, who is authorised by the priestto minister to the woman at the time of her nudity’ (Epiphanius ca 400, in PG 42, col. 744-45).
• She would take her holy communion (Testamentum Domini ca 450, pp. 142-143).
• If needed, she would administer the last rite: the anointing with the oil of the sick. “She visits and anoints women who are ill” (Syriac Pontifical pp. 201-202). “They anoint the naked bodies of women both at baptism and confirmation, and at extreme unction” (Maronite Synod col. 163-164). St. Gregory of Nyssa(335-394) praised his sister Deacon Macrina who ministered to sick and dying women, saying that: “she anointed her own hands through her mystical services” (Migne Pl 46:992).
• If a sick women got better, after the anointing of the sick, there was another rite, namely that of ‘washing’ the sick person. “You need the ministry of women deaconsfor many reasons. The fact is that women deacons are necessary for those houses of pagans where Christian women are also living. Women deacons can go there and visit those who are ill, serve them in all their needs and, again, bathe those who are beginning to recover from their illness (Didascalia 16 § 5).
• Women deacons also assisted at washing and dressing the bodies of women who had died, for their burial, as the Deacon Lampadia did for Macrina (Migne Pl 46:988-990).

6. The decline of women’s diaconate

The diaconate of women flourished, especially in the Eastern part of the Church until the 9^th century when it gradually declined. One reason was that adult baptisms had become rare, since few new converts joined the Christian communities. So no need for a woman to anoint a naked catechumen all over her body during the baptismal rite. Also, priests had easier access to the homes of the sick, where the anointing of women was restricted to imposing oil on the forehead. Undoubtedly, fear of women’s monthly periods was an additional cause. Theodore Balsamon, a church lawyer in Constantinople, recorded around 1190:

‘Formerly there were recognised orders of deaconesses, and they too had their place in the sanctuary. But the impurity of their menstrual periods dictated their separation from the divine and holy sanctuary’ (Theodore Balsamon col.988).

But, though the ordination of women deacons fell into disuse, it was never formally abolished, neither in the West nor in the East (Regule 1997).

John Wijngaards

Sources

Epiphanius, Panarion in J. P. Migne, PG 42.

Didascalia Apostolorum, in G. Homer, The Didascalia Apostolorum. The Syriac Version Translated (Oxford 1929).

Gregory of Nazianze, Oration 18, 35 in Migne PG 35:1032.

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John Chrysostom, On the priesthood, 4,1 in Migne PG  48, col. 662.

Lists of women deacons, in Wijngaards Institute (2010), start here: http://www.womendeacons.org/women-deacons-we-know-by-name-new/

Maronite Synod of Mount Lebanon in I. D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, Paris 1907.

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Theodore Balsamon, Response to the interrogations of Mark in Migne, PG 138.

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Women Deacons – Ordination Rites in the East, in J.Wijngaards, No Women in Holy Orders (Norwich 2002, pp. 190-205).

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