Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Reader (liturgy)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
{{Short description|Anagnostes who reads liturgy aloud.}} [[File:Church of St. Anthony the Great September 22, 2019. Reader-09.jpg|thumb|Reader in the Divine Liturgy]] In some [[Christian denominations]], a '''reader''' or '''lector''' is the person responsible for reading aloud excerpts of [[scripture]] at a [[Christian liturgy|liturgy]]. In early Christian times the reader was of particular value due to the rarity of [[literacy]]. == Catholic Church{{anchor|CatholicLector}} == In the [[Latin liturgical rites]] of the [[Catholic Church]], the term ''[[lector]]'' or ''reader''<ref>The term "lector" is used in preference to that of "reader" in the official English text of the [[General Instruction of the Roman Missal]] ("reader" is found in no. 352 of this document, but not elsewhere), but "reader" is used in the English version of the [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20100930_verbum-domini_en.html Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation ''Verbum Domini''], which capitalizes "Reader" to indicate an "instituted" reader or lector.</ref> means someone who in a particular [[Catholic liturgy|liturgy]] is assigned to read a [[Bible|Biblical]] text other than the [[Gospel]] (reading the Gospel at [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] is reserved specifically to the [[deacon]] or, in his absence, to the [[priest]]). But it also has the more specific meaning of a person who has been [[Minister (Catholic Church)#Instituted ministries|"instituted" as a lector or reader]], and is such even when not assigned to read in a specific liturgy. The office was formerly classed as one of the four [[minor orders]] in the [[Latin Church]]. However, since 1 January 1973, the [[Ecclesiastical letter#Letters of the popes in modern times|apostolic letter]] ''Ministeria quaedam'' decreed instead that:<ref>{{cite web |title=Pope Paul VI - Ministeria Quaedam |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/ministeria-quaedam-9006 |work=ewtn.com}}</ref> # What up to now were called minor orders are henceforth to be called ''ministries''. # Ministries may be assigned to lay Christians; hence they are no longer to be considered as reserved to candidates for the sacrament of orders. # Two ministries, adapted to present-day needs, are to be preserved in the whole Latin Church, namely, those of reader and [[acolyte]]. The functions heretofore assigned to the [[subdeacon]] are entrusted to the reader and the acolyte. # The reader is appointed for a function proper to him, that of reading the word of God in the liturgical assembly. Accordingly, he is to proclaim the readings from sacred Scripture, except for the gospel in the Mass and other sacred celebrations; he is to recite the [[psalm]] between the readings when there is no psalmist; he is to present the intentions for the general intercessions in the absence of a deacon or cantor; he is to direct the singing and the participation by the faithful; he is to instruct the faithful for the worthy reception of the sacraments. He may also, insofar as may be necessary, take care of preparing other faithful who are appointed on a temporary basis to read the Scriptures in liturgical celebrations. That he may more fittingly and perfectly fulfill these functions, he is to meditate assiduously on sacred Scripture. :Aware of the office he has undertaken, the reader is to make every effort and employ suitable means to acquire that increasingly warm and living love and knowledge of Scripture that will make him a more perfect disciple of the Lord. [[Canon (canon law)|Canon]] 1035 of the [[1983 Code of Canon Law|1983 ''Code of Canon Law'']] requires candidates for [[deacon|diaconal]] ordination to have received and have exercised for an appropriate time the ministries of lector and acolyte and prescribes that institution in the second of these ministries must precede by at least six months ordination as a deacon.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P3Q.HTM |title=Code of Canon Law: text - IntraText CT |work=intratext.com}}</ref> Instituted lectors, either men or women (since the 2021 [[motu proprio]] ''[[Spiritus Domini (Pope Francis)|spiritus domini]]''),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-changes-catholic-church-law-women-explicitly-allowed-lectors-altar-servers|title=Francis changes Catholic Church law: women explicitly allowed as lectors, altar servers|date=January 11, 2021|website=National Catholic Reporter}}</ref> are obliged, when proclaiming the readings at Mass, to wear an [[alb]] or an "other suitable attire that has been legitimately approved by the Conference of Bishops".<ref>General Instruction of the Order of Mass, 339</ref> such as [[cassock]] and [[surplice]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-6 |title=Chapter VI: The Requisites for the Celebration of Mass |work=usccb.org}}</ref> Others who perform the function of lector, "may go to the ambo in ordinary attire, but this should be in keeping with the customs of the different regions."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicliturgy.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/documentText/Index/2/SubIndex/11/ContentIndex/133/Start/126 |title=Chapter III: Offices and Ministries in the Celebration of the Liturgy of the Word within Mass |work=catholicliturgy.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217095327/http://www.catholicliturgy.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/documentText/Index/2/SubIndex/11/ContentIndex/133/Start/126 |archive-date=17 December 2018 }}</ref> The ''[[General Instruction of the Roman Missal]]'' speaks as follows of those who, without being lectors in the specific sense, carry out their functions at Mass: "In the absence of an instituted lector, other lay people may be deputed to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture, people who are truly suited to carrying out this function and carefully prepared, so that by their hearing the readings from the sacred texts the faithful may conceive in their hearts a sweet and living affection for Sacred Scripture."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-3 |title=101 |website=usccb.org |access-date=2024-01-10}}</ref> In its sections the same document lists the lector's specific duties at Mass.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-4 |title=194-198 |website=usccb.org |access-date=2024-01-10}}</ref> [[Traditionalist Catholic]] organizations such as the [[Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter]], the [[Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest]] and the [[Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney]] are authorized to use the pre-1973 rite for their members who receive the office of lector.<ref>"Only in [[Institute of consecrated life|Institutes of Consecrated Life]] and [[Society of apostolic life|Societies of Apostolic Life]] which are under the [[Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei]], and in those which use the [[Catholic liturgy|liturgical]] books of the ''[[Preconciliar rites after the Second Vatican Council|forma extraordinaria]]'', is the use of the ''[[Roman Pontifical|Pontificale Romanum]]'' of 1962 for the conferral of minor and major orders permitted" ([https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_commissions/ecclsdei/documents/rc_com_ecclsdei_doc_20110430_istr-universae-ecclesiae_en.html Instruction on the Application of ''Summorum Pontificum'', 30 April 2011], 31).</ref> == Eastern liturgical rites == {{Further|Eastern Rite (disambiguation){{!}}Eastern liturgical rites}} [[Image:Reader ordination.jpg|thumb|The tonsuring of readers in a seminary by a Russian Orthodox bishop. The readers being ordained are wearing the short phelon (in white).]] In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and in the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] of [[Byzantine Rite|Byzantine tradition]], the reader (in [[Greek language|Greek]], {{lang|grc|Ἀναγνώστης}} {{lang|grc-Latn|Anagnostis}}; in [[Church Slavonic language|Church Slavonic]], {{lang|cu|чтец}} {{lang|cu-Latn|chtets}}) is the second highest of the minor orders of clergy. This order is higher than the [[Ostiarius|doorkeeper]] (now largely obsolete) and lower than the [[subdeacon]]. Immediately before ordination as a reader, the candidate is [[tonsure]]d as a sign of his submission and obedience upon entry into the clerical state. It is a separate act from ordination. The tonsure is performed only once, immediately prior to the actual ordination of a reader, which the ordination rite refers to as "the first degree of priesthood". However, it is not the means whereby a person becomes a reader. Readers, like subdeacons, are ordained by ''Cheirothesia''—literally, "to place hands"—whereas ''[[Christian laying on of hands|Cheirotonia]]''—"to stretch out the hands"—is practised at the ordination of the higher clergy: bishops, priests and deacons.<ref name="Ordination">{{cite web |url=https://www.goarch.org/-/the-sacramental-life-of-the-orthodox-church |title=The Sacramental Life of the Orthodox Church - Liturgy & Worship - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America |website=www.goarch.org |access-date=2024-01-10}}</ref> [[File:Lukijaksivihkiminen.jpg|thumb|The ordination of a reader in Finland]] After being tonsured, the reader is [[vestment|vested]] in a short [[phelonion|phelon]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://old.svots.edu/Three-Hierarchs-Chapel/2004-1005-patterson/pages/1200_JPG.htm |title=Patterson / 1200.JPG |access-date=2006-01-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414202613/http://old.svots.edu/Three-Hierarchs-Chapel/2004-1005-patterson/pages/1200_JPG.htm |archive-date=2012-04-14 }}</ref> which he wears while reading the Epistle for the first time. This short phelon is then removed (and never worn thereafter) and replaced with a [[sticharion|stikhar]], which the reader wears thereafter whenever he performs his liturgical duties. This practice is not universal, however, and many bishops and priests will allow a reader to perform his function dressed only in a cassock or (if a [[monk]]) a [[Cassock|riassa]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kosovo.net/289.jpg |title=Image |website=kosovo.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409232955/http://kosovo.net/289.jpg |access-date=2024-01-10|archive-date=9 April 2015 }}</ref> Sometimes, a bishop will decree what vesting practice he wishes to be followed within his own [[diocese]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://holy-trinity.org/liturgics/tikhon.lit1.html |title=HTC: Liturgical Order #1 |work=holy-trinity.org}}</ref> [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[icon]]s often show readers and church singers wearing a stikhar-like garment (more loose and flowing than the modern stikhar) and a pointed hat with the brim pulled out to the sides.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://images.oca.org/icons/lg/greatlent/sundayorthodoxy.jpg |title=Icon Directory, lower left corner |website=www.oca.org |access-date=2024-01-10}}</ref> In [[Eastern Thrace]], during the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] period and prior to the tragedy of 1922, some lay people were selected through symbolic [[tonsure]] and [[Cheirothesia]] to receive the ecclesiastical blessing and rank of {{Interlanguage link multi|''Anagnostis''|el|3=Αναγνώστης}}. ==Anglicanism== {{main|Lay Reader}} Minor orders were discontinued in the reformed [[Church of England]]. The modern office of reader was introduced in 1866 and is distinct from the traditional minor order of reader. It is the office of a licensed lay minister and, for this reason, a person holding the office is referred to as a "lay reader" in many parts of the Anglican Communion. After a period of theological training (often, in the case of the Church of England, three years of evening classes), a lay person is licensed to preach and lead public worship. A reader is not a member of the clergy and cannot preside at the [[Eucharist]], officiate at [[wedding|marriages]], [[absolution|absolve]] or [[blessing|bless]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.readers.cofe.anglican.org |title=Anglican Readers' website - Home Page |work=anglican.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526153726/https://www.readers.cofe.anglican.org |archive-date=26 May 2019 }}</ref> A reader is licensed to lead non-sacramental worship (including, in some cases, [[funeral]]s), may assist in the leadership of eucharistic worship and may preach. [[Anglican]] readers in some countries often wear a blue [[tippet]] with [[choir dress]].<ref name="auto"/> ==Methodism== In the [[United Methodist Church]] in the United States, similar to the Anglican office, a certified lay minister is a servant, who is called and equipped to conduct public worship, care for the congregation, assist in program leadership, develop new and existing faith communities, preach the Word, lead small groups, or establish community outreach ministries as part of a ministry team with the supervision and support of an ordained minister.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/leadership-resources/clm-faqs#anchor1|title=CLM FAQs|work=umc.org}}</ref> The role of certified lay minister is intended for missional leadership in churches or other ministry settings as part of a team ministry under the supervision of clergy, and they are ''assigned'' to a local church by the district superintendent, unlike clergy who are ''appointed'' by a bishop.<ref name="auto1"/> ==See also== *[[Baal keriah]] *[[Cantor (church)|Cantor]] *[[Holy orders]] ==Endnotes== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} ==External links== *[https://russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/pictures/12seattle_8.jpg Photo: Tonsure of a Reader] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100125023420/http://www.orthodoxpsalm.org/resources/Halvorsen.html ''Church Reading: A Vital Ministry''] by Deacon Sergius Halvorsen (Orthodox) {{Authority control}} [[Category:Minor orders]] [[Category:Ecclesiastical titles]] [[Category:Eastern Orthodox liturgy]] [[Category:Anglican liturgy]] [[Category:Eastern Christian ecclesiastical offices]] [[Category:Catholic ecclesiastical titles]]
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page
(
help
)
:
Template:Anchor
(
edit
)
Template:Authority control
(
edit
)
Template:Cite web
(
edit
)
Template:Further
(
edit
)
Template:Interlanguage link multi
(
edit
)
Template:Lang
(
edit
)
Template:Main
(
edit
)
Template:Reflist
(
edit
)
Template:Short description
(
edit
)