On the occasion of the feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr of the Church, Permanent Deacons’ Day is also celebrated every August 10.
In the 3rd century Saint Lawrence was one of the seven deacons of Rome who assisted Pope Sixtus II, who appointed him administrator of the Church’s property and allowed him to distribute aid to the poor and needy.
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In the history of the Church, deacons have always been of great help to priests. Although the deacon has received the sacrament of Orders, he is not properly a priest and, therefore, does not have the powers thereof.
The sacrament of Orders in its three degrees – episcopate, presbyterate and diaconate – is explained in the numerals from 1554 to 1571 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CIC).
The deacon is ordained to the ministry of the word, liturgy and charity. His main function is qualified assistance to the priest in the celebrations and he is not simply an “helper”.
The rest of the functions of the deacons are included in the dogmatic constitution The light of the nations and in canons 757, 835, 910, 943 and 1087 of the Code of Canon Law.
Some of the powers of the deacons are: administering Baptism, preserving and distributing the Eucharist, being ministers of the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and of the Eucharistic blessing, being ordinary minister of Holy Communion, carrying the viaticum to the dying, in the name of The Church assists and blesses the marriage, reads the Holy Scriptures to the faithful, administers sacramentals such as holy water, blessing houses, images and objects, and presides over the funeral rite and burial.
The diaconate considered in itself as a permanent ministry declines in the West after the 5th century, and this first degree of the sacrament of Orders becomes a stage to reach the next degree, that is, the priesthood.
After the Second Vatican Council, the diaconate was reestablished “as a particular degree within the hierarchy.”
The constitution The light of the nations specifies in its paragraph 29 that “with the permission of the Roman Pontiff, this diaconate can be conferred on married men of mature age or also on suitable young people, but for these the law of celibacy must be maintained as obligatory” (EV, 1/360 ).
These must have a three-year preparation to receive sacred orders as established in the Code of Canon Law, numeral 236.
Pope Saint Paul VI, in his apostolic letter The sacred order of the deaconof June 18, 1967, points out that the order of the diaconate “should not be considered as a pure and simple degree of access to the priesthood; rather, it, distinguished for its indelible character and its particular grace, enriches both those who are called to him and can dedicate themselves ‘to the mysteries of Christ and the Church’ in a stable manner” (EV, 2/1369).
Originally published August 10, 2017. It has been updated for republication.
Diego Lopez Marina
I was born in 1991. I have a degree in Communication Sciences. Since 2015 I have worked as a digital journalist. I started my career at the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio. In 2016, I started as an editor at ACI Prensa and I have worked as a web editor since 2018. Starting in 2024, I write the newsletter for social media. I specialize in Catholic news focused on the defense of life and family, international politics, technology, popular culture and the Vatican.