THE SUBDIACONATE AS PREPARATION FOR THE (HIGHER) HOLY ORDERS
by Sr.Maria (Deacon), March 2008

[Note: This text is only an extract from a longer essay titled "Liminal Sophia: Thoughts on the Subdiaconate", which will be availabe for members in a church-intern publication.]

While the subdeacon is not a lay member any longer but has 'crossed the border' to the clergy, the office of subdeacon is still a lower Order and can be defined as a preparatory stage to the ('real') Holy Orders of deacon, priest and bishop. Thus, he is neither an ordinary member any longer, nor a 'full' cleric. He is right between those stages, right in the liminal phase or situation and this cannot be stressed enough since it points towards what can be expected when entering (and passing) this stage.

Every true initiation is usually connected with crisis so it can be assumed that especially an initiation in such a "liminal stage" as the subdiaconate will be accompanied by a kind of turning point - particularly doubts and scepticism may arise. Rightfully, Charles W. Leadbeater (in his Science of the Sacraments, Chapter 4) names as the main function of the subdiaconate to give to the initiand "greater strength and steadfastness of purpose, to the end that with singleness of heart they may dedicate their lives to Christ in His holy Church."

The subdiaconate shall prepare the candidate for the Holy Orders and therefore he needs to confront and overcome every doubt and fear that is trying to prevent him from going this sacred path. Needless to say that it is consequently also a probationary stage. While the decision to become a cleric in the Gnostic church, that is to become a subdeacon, might (and should) have been made whole-heartedly and out of an inner conviction, it is during the subdiaconate that the deacon-to-be will prove to the church and himself that it was really a decision out of experiencing the "vocation." Or he will give in to the crisis (however she may look like) and refrain from becoming a deacon. Entering the deaconate is crossing a border and there is no way back - that is why the subdiaconate is so important and can't be dismissed in a church that is truly convinced of the esoteric powers conferred by the initiations into the Holy Orders. It is also the reason why the duration of the subdiaconate is different from one person to the other. You can only work correctly with the powers and options given to you in the ordination to the diaconate when you are completely prepared. Even this preparation (so what is needed exactly) differs from person to person since we are all individuals and the offices in the Gnostic church are not just empty vessels that can be fitted unto every person in the same way but they are actually transformative devices and work on and with everybody in a highly individual manner. So just as the Gnostic baptism and Chrism are necessary steps before becoming a cleric, the subdiaconate is the unavoidable and required step before entering the (higher) Holy Orders.

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