Bring back the Subdeacons, a solution to the Eucharistic Minister problem

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Bring back the Subdeacons, a solution to the Eucharistic Minister problem

Monday, June 23, 2008 by Taylor Marshall | E-mail this post

I often hear grumbling about the sometimes excessive number of extraordinary ministers of the Holy Eucharist huddled around the altars of our Church. Now that the chalice is administered to the faithful and Catholic Christians are prone to receive Holy Communion more often, there is a need for more ministers of Holy Communion. Let me propose the following solution.

We need to re-institute the subdiaconate. The subdiaconate would be similar to the permanent diaconate. Subdeacons would be male and would vest in cassock and surplice or tunicle for special occasions. They would administer Holy Communion when there are not enough priests and deacons. They would not receive Holy Orders (obviously) but these trained men would add dignity to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They would essentially be adult altar servers who have been authorized by the bishop to administer Holy Communion.

This solution would naturally prohibit several abuses and insulate the space around the altar from men in jeans and ladies in miniskirts.

What think ye?

Labels: History, Liturgy