www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Question for Deacons or anyone else for that meter.

Why do Deacons bind the Orarion during the anaphora and communion?

What is the symbolic significance of this?

Thank you in advance.

It is purely utilitarian. The deacon is to hold the orarion at all times when worn hanging free, since he needs his hands during the Anaphora and Communion he binds it so his hands are free.

Borislav

I was also told many years ago in seminary that besides the practical reasons that Deacon Lance gave, it is symbolic of the posture of prayer of the angels. In other words the crossing of the wings as represented in the icons of the Cherubim. I am sure there are some other answers that can be offered. Remember there are always practical and symbolic meaning to almost everything we see visually in the Divine Services.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

BTW, some deacons I've seen wear VERY short orars; do all deacons cross them, or do some ignore it?

Ned

Thank you all for your wonderful answers!

When a deacon crosses his orarion at the Lord's Prayer, he appears the same as a subdeacon, except for his cuffs.

This also establishes an order when serving with a bishop. If a deacon is carrying a candle set, he'll take the trikiri (three) and the subdeacon will take the dikiri (two). If the deacon is doing specific deaconal functions, the subdeacon will take the three candles and a server will take the two, etc.

At the Great Entrance (Great Church style), the deacon will carry a vessel and they may want the subdeacon to do the censing (instead of just any server walking backward with a censor). The subdeacon will do whatever the bishop wants him to do (or doesn't want him to do), whereas the deacon's roles are obviously much more liturgically defined. But after the Lord's Prayer (unless one is watching closely and observes cuffs), especially holding the cloth at communion with one on each side of the bishop or priest, they'll look the same.

This is very interesting. Thanks to you all for your posts!

Gordo

Technically a subdeacon's orarion should be less wide and less long than a deacons so that it is very easy to distinguish between subdeacon and deacon even when orarions are bound.

Even more technically the subdeacon stole isn't an orarion but is refered to as a cincture in the Euchologion.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Fr. Feacon Lance,

Does the practice of crossing the cincture for the subdeacon (or in certain cases acolyte) differ between jurisdictions? Is there a Greek practice of crossing or not crossing versus a Slav practice? Just curious...

Gordo

Greeks will bless servers to vest with the subdiaconal cincture even though they are not ordained as such. Slavs are sticklers and only ordained subdeacons may wear the cincture. I was told that subdeacons should not cross the cincture in front but let the ends hang parallel, and this is what I did during my tenure as subdeacon.

Fr. Deacon Lance

The Deacon does not bind the Orarion around himself during the Anaphora.

Fr. Serge

I believe in Russian liturgical practice there are "blessed" subdeacons, that is readers blessed to wear the subdeacon's orarion. It is quite common to find these "blessed" subdeacons in an OCA or Russian hierarch's liturgical entourage, and are generally seminarians or seminary graduates that have not married yet, but intend to marry. They serve no liturgical function outside of the hierarchal liturgical function.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Borislav:

I've never seen a deacon bind the orarion around himself during the Anaphora. I've seen some bind themselves during the Our Father... So as not to distract others (or myself) I bind the orarion during the prayer of the bowing of the head, after I intone, "Bow your heads to the Lord!"

Borislav,

Quite right, I repeated your question without thinking, one does not cross the orarion during the Anaphora. I cross my Orarion before Fr. Deacon John does during the "For thine is the Kingdom..." Some do it earlier during the Our Father, which I personally dislike. It depends on how good a deacon is at binding his orarion and whether or not the priest prays the Prayer of the Bowing of the Heads aloud. If he doesn't there isn't enough time to do it after the doxology of the Prayer of the Bowing of the Heads.

Fr. Deacon Lance

I am sorry, what I was meaning to say is in Preparation for the Anaphora!