peace."[1] From which it will be seen that the Byzantine Church absolves with a deprecatory form.
Holy Order ((
Greek characters)) is conferred by laying on the right hand only. The forms are: for the deacon, "The grace of God, that always strengthens the weak, and fills the empty, appoints the most religious subdeacon N. to be deacon. Let us then pray for him, that the grace of the Holy Ghost may come to him."[2] The ordaining bishop goes on with a long prayer full of allusions to the diaconate, St. Stephen, &c., still holding his hand on the subject's head. He then vests the new deacon and gives him an horarion and a ripidion. The ordination of a priest takes place in the same way, with the obvious difference in the form ("the most religious deacon N. to be priest") and in the allusions of the prayer. The priest also receives his vestments and instruments.[3] The bishop is ordained with a slightly longer form, which, however, includes the same words: "appoints the most religious elect N. to be Metropolitan of the most holy Metropolis N. Let us then pray for him, &c." And there follows the ordination prayer, after which he receives the omophorion.[4] Only the Patriarch or his deputy may ordain bishops. Priests and bishops concelebrate at once with the ordainer. The Orthodox believe that the grace of holy orders, like that of confirmation, may be entirely lost through heresy or schism. This fact, besides our doubtful baptism, would make our orders invalid. And there are cases in which they have reordained not only Latin priests, but even Uniates who had received holy orders according to exactly the same form as the Orthodox.[5] But the Russians have declared that they recognize our orders as well as our baptism, and that they will neither rebaptize nor ordain Latins.[6] Nor do any of the Orthodox really straightforwardly say that all our orders are
- ↑ Euch. (ed. cit.), pp. 221-223.
- ↑ The whole service in the Euch. 160-163.
- ↑ Euch. 163-166.
- ↑ Ibid. 166-168, 169-176, 176-181. While he is being ordained bishop the subject stands and kneels on the Aetos (p. 407).
- ↑ In 1840 Makarios, Uniate Metropolitan of Diarbekir, left the Catholic Church and joined the Orthodox. He was rebaptized, reconfirmed, and received all the orders again (E. d'Or. ii. p. 132).
- ↑ E. d'Or. vii. p. 93.
