Widows and deaconesses in the hierarchy of the Early Church

This article deals with the issue of institutionalisation of women’s ministries in the Early Church using a broad source base. The earliest organisation of women in Eastern and Western Christian communities was the order of widows which included elderly and only once married women who kept chastity....

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Main Author: Andrey Posternak
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: St. Tikhon's Orthodox University 2021-12-01
Series:Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви
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Online Access:https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7415
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author Andrey Posternak
author_facet Andrey Posternak
author_sort Andrey Posternak
collection DOAJ
description This article deals with the issue of institutionalisation of women’s ministries in the Early Church using a broad source base. The earliest organisation of women in Eastern and Western Christian communities was the order of widows which included elderly and only once married women who kept chastity. They did not receive special ordination, prayed for other women of the community, instructed them in the faith, visited sick women, received fi nancial support from the Church, and therefore occupied a lower degree in the clergy. From the 3rd — 4th centuries, the ministry of deaconesses was spreading widely in the Church, like the ministry of widows, which was due to the interaction of the male clergy and women in the Church. It is not known how the ministry of deaconesses came to replace the ministry of widows, but since the functions of both women’s institutions diff ered slightly, this issue should be considered insignifi cant. In the early Byzantine period (5th — 6th centuries), the status of deaconesses was equated to that of a subdeacons, highest for a woman who devoted herself to God. Deaconesses received ordination from the bishop, wore the diaconal orarion, but were excluded from the male clergy and did not perform any clerical functions like the dea conal ones.
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publisher St. Tikhon's Orthodox University
record_format Article
series Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви
spelling doaj-art-8d68340277404f28a3e6fe3dfdddcedc2025-08-20T02:09:41ZrusSt. Tikhon's Orthodox UniversityВестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви1991-64342409-48112021-12-0198981127http://dx.doi.org/10.15382/sturII202198.11-278Widows and deaconesses in the hierarchy of the Early ChurchAndrey Posternak0St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities; 6/1 Likhov pereulok, Moscow 127051, Russian FederationThis article deals with the issue of institutionalisation of women’s ministries in the Early Church using a broad source base. The earliest organisation of women in Eastern and Western Christian communities was the order of widows which included elderly and only once married women who kept chastity. They did not receive special ordination, prayed for other women of the community, instructed them in the faith, visited sick women, received fi nancial support from the Church, and therefore occupied a lower degree in the clergy. From the 3rd — 4th centuries, the ministry of deaconesses was spreading widely in the Church, like the ministry of widows, which was due to the interaction of the male clergy and women in the Church. It is not known how the ministry of deaconesses came to replace the ministry of widows, but since the functions of both women’s institutions diff ered slightly, this issue should be considered insignifi cant. In the early Byzantine period (5th — 6th centuries), the status of deaconesses was equated to that of a subdeacons, highest for a woman who devoted herself to God. Deaconesses received ordination from the bishop, wore the diaconal orarion, but were excluded from the male clergy and did not perform any clerical functions like the dea conal ones.https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7415deaconesses widows early church women’s ministry church hierarchy church institutionsдиакониссы вдовы древняя церковь женское служение церковная иерархия церковные институты
spellingShingle Andrey Posternak
Widows and deaconesses in the hierarchy of the Early Church
Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия ИИ. История, история Русской Православной Церкви
deaconesses
widows
early church
women’s ministry
church hierarchy
church institutions
диакониссы
вдовы
древняя церковь
женское служение
церковная иерархия
церковные институты
title Widows and deaconesses in the hierarchy of the Early Church
title_full Widows and deaconesses in the hierarchy of the Early Church
title_fullStr Widows and deaconesses in the hierarchy of the Early Church
title_full_unstemmed Widows and deaconesses in the hierarchy of the Early Church
title_short Widows and deaconesses in the hierarchy of the Early Church
title_sort widows and deaconesses in the hierarchy of the early church
topic deaconesses
widows
early church
women’s ministry
church hierarchy
church institutions
диакониссы
вдовы
древняя церковь
женское служение
церковная иерархия
церковные институты
url https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7415
work_keys_str_mv AT andreyposternak widowsanddeaconessesinthehierarchyoftheearlychurch