Library › Testament of Our Lord
Testament of Our Lord
tr. Cooper and Maclean, 1902
44. Book I, Chapter 44
Of Subdeacons1
Similarly let a subdeacon be appointed2 who is chaste,3 the bishop praying over him. Let the bishop say over him on the first day of the week, in the hearing of all the people, thus:
Thou, O N., minister and hear the Gospel in the fear of God. Cultivate4 holily the knowledge of thy soul; keep pureness; discipline thyself; observe and obey and hear meekly; neglect not prayers and fasts, so that the Lord may give thee rest and make thee worthy of a higher degree.5
And let all the priests say: So be it, so be it, so be it.
Notes
- ὑποδιάκονος transliterated.
- Same word as before.
- Or: modest.
- Or: work out; or: serve (M.: serving, etc.).
- Or: office. Same word as in 1 Tim. iii. 13.