Minor orders are ranks of church ministry lower than major orders.
The Roman Catholic Church in its Latin Rite traditionally distinguished between the major orders (holy orders) of bishop, priest, deacon and subdeacon, and four minor orders, that of acolyte, exorcist, lector and porter (in descending sequence).
In 1972, the minor orders were renamed "ministries", with those of lector and acolyte being kept throughout the Latin Church. All four minor orders are still conferred on members of some Roman Catholic religious institutes and societies of apostolic life authorized to observe the 1962 form of the Roman Rite.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the three minor orders in use are those of subdeacon, cantor and lector.
Read more about Minor Orders: Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Christianity
Famous quotes containing the words minor and/or orders:
“Great causes are never tried on their merits; but the cause is reduced to particulars to suit the size of the partizans, and the contention is ever hottest on minor matters.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Really, if the lower orders don’t set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)