#deaconess

[orthopunkfox]

No Girls Allowed: Why the All-Male Priesthood is Archaic and Stupid

I find the arguments of women/female ordination increasingly tiring. The theological arguments are incredibly shallow, revolving mostly around "Jesus chose only male apostles and the Church has always upheld the tradition." Even if I believe that Christ only chose male apostles "we've always done it this way" is hardly a sound piece of theology on which to build an entire clerical order.

But did Jesus choose only men? Let's look at the passage from the Gospel of Saint John which is commonly cited as Christ establishing the priesthood (or episcopate):

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Saint John doesn't tell us specifically who was there (except that Thomas wasn't). He doesn't even specify that only the 12 were there. We do know however that Mary Madeleine had just spoken with Jesus that morning and had run back to the upper room to tell the disciples about the encounter. In fact, this passage begins with "on the evening of that day" because the passage immediately preceding details Saint Mary Magdalene's encounter with Christ and her returning to the upper room to tell them about it. Saint John doesn't give us the full account of the conversation but it's reasonable to assume that she didn't say "I have seen the Lord!" and the rest of the disciples responded "Really? Well good for you, Hey we're hungry. Can you run by Herod Burger and get us some food?" and then while she was gone, Jesus appeared. Or (even more far fetched) "Now Jesus knew that Mary Magdalene was there, but waited until she left so that He would only breathe on biological males to ensure an all-male priesthood."

It's therefore reasonable to assume that if all of Jesus's disciples were there hiding from the Jews, Mary Magdalene was there also since she had conversed with the disciples earlier that day. Therefore she was part of the receiving of the Holy Spirit. And when you have the title given to her of Equal to the Apostles as Saint Mary Magdalene is called in Holy Orthodoxy (along with at least 7 other women), the claim that Jesus chose only all male apostles becomes weaker.

And of course all of these theological arguments take place inside an assumed gender and biological binary, which we know does not exist. In fact, we don't know if all of the supposed male apostles in the room that day were 100% biologically male. Is it possible that some priest some time in history was intersex? Are intersex people allowed to be priests so long as they have a penis? Who's job is it to check? Where is it written "the candidate for ordination shall remove his pants before the bishop, and, upon verification that he is in possession of a penis, be allowed to the sacred order of priests." What if they have male chromosomes but not all-male anatomy? We're going to start seeing posters in parishes that read "Real Priests Have a Bulge!"

Of course I'm being a bit sarcastic here, but only to make a point on how ridiculous these arguments are! I have known many priests in my life, men and women and other, and have learned from and been cared for by all of them. In fact the only ones that ever made me uncomfortable were the men. Point of fact, Orthodox theologian and religious scholar David Bentley Hart remarked in an interview I saw recently that women by far statistically make better priests then men, and went on to half jokingly remark that he is at the point in his life where he is beginning to believe that the priesthood should be limited only to women.

So if the theological argument is so shallow and women are perfectly able to fulfill the duties of priestly vocation, why then do these arguments persist? The honest answer is "we've done it this way for 2000 years [allegedly]. Why stop now?" And indeed most mainline churches have no idea at all what to do with women. Even mainline Orthodoxy who reveres the Theotokos so fervently is still shaken by the ordination of a deaconess, an office which has existed for centuries yet has fallen out of practice in recent history and the negative reaction to its reinstatement in places where it's needed further reveal the reality of "we've always done it this way" being the true bone of contention.

In summary, hiding behind a facade of piety and theological tradition so that you can limit the priesthood to one specific set of genitalia is silly.

Photo: Deaconess Angelic Molen embraces a parishioner after her ordination to the diaconate at St. Nektarios Mission Parish near Harare, Zimbabwe. She was ordained by Metropolitan Serafim on Holy Thursday May 2nd after a unanimous vote by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa to restore the order of deaconess to assist in the needs of Orthodox Christians in Africa.

[g63heavenonearth]

Allegheny Cemetery 112223-26

[andijaart]

+++🙏🏻God Bless🕊️+++

Martyr Tatiana of Rome, Virgin, Deaconess

MEMORIAL DAY JANUARY 25

Following the Most Pure Lamb and the Shepherd, spiritual lamb Tatiana, you were not afraid of the mental wolves, but, armed with the sign of the cross, you finally overthrew them and entered the Heavenly fence, where you remember us, the martyr of Christ the Wise.

💫 International Orthodox Art Corporation Andcross

May the blessing of the Lord be upon you!

[catholic-saint-tournament]

Saint radegund: starved herself so much she was always dying and claimed to heal people in the church that she made in like. 550. Also wrote some slander about her heathen husband. The Most Nun of All Time

OOOOOOH this is the first saint I've gotten in the box I haven't recognized!!! I looked her up and HOW COOL is she. Potentially made a deaconess, no less!!! WOW. Definitely going in the bracket!

[scotianostra]

25th December 1665 saw the birthof songwriter a nd poet Lady Grizell Baillie.

Lady Grizel, also spelled Grisel at times, was born at Redbraes Castle in Berwickshire, the eldest daughter of Covenanter Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth. At age 12, she smuggled letters from her father to the imprisoned patriot Robert Baillie of Jerviswood. Sir Hume publicly defended Baillie, and after Baillie’s execution, Sir Hume’s castle was confiscated, forcing Sir Hume into hiding in a vault beneath Polwarth Church in Edinburgh. The family later fled to Holland, finally returning to Scotland to participate in the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. In 1692, Grizel Hume married Robert Baillie’s son George, and in 1696, Sir Hume was made Lord Chancellor of Scotland.   Lady Grizel’s verses bear mournful witness to suffering. Only two of Lady Grizel’s songs survive: “The ewe-butchin’s bonnie,” which may have been inspired by her father’s ordeal, and “Werena my Heart’s licht I wad dee,” which appeared in the Scottish folk song collection Orpheus Caledonius (1725) and in volume 4 of Tea Table Miscellany (1724-37).   The Household Book of Lady Grisell Baillie 1692-1733 (1911) offers a detailed portrait of domestic expenditures and daily life at a Scottish country house. Lady Grizel Baillie is buried on the grounds of Mellerstain House, her home in the final decades of her life. The handheld wooden lantern the young Lady Grizel took on nightly visits to her father is now in the collections of the National Museums of Scotland.

Werena My Heart Licht I Wad Dee

By Lady Grizel Baillie

There was ance a may, and she lo’ed na men;

She biggit her bonnie bow’r doun i’ yon glen;

But now she cries, Dool and a well-a-day!

Come doun the green gait and come here away!

When bonnie young Johnnie cam’ owre the sea

He said he saw naething sae lovely as me;

He hecht me baith rings and monie braw things;

And werena my heart licht, I wad dee.

He had a wee tittie that lo’ed na me,

Because I was twice as bonnie as she;

She raised sic a pother ‘twixt him and his mother,

That werena my heart licht, I wad dee.

The day it was set, and the bridal to be

The wife took a dwam and lay doun to dee;

She maned, and she graned, out o’ dolour and pain,

Till he vowed that he ne’er wad see me again.

His kin was for ane o’ a higher degree,

Said, what had he do wi’ the likes o’ me?

Albeit I was bonnie, I wasna for Johnnie:

And werena my heart licht, I wad dee.

They said I had neither cow nor calf,

Nor dribbles o’ drink rins through the draff,

Nor pickles o’meal rins through the mill-e’e;

An werena my heart licht, I wad dee.

His tittie she was baith wily and slee,

She spied me as I cam’ owre the lea,

And then she ran in and made a loud din;

Believe your ain een an ye trow na me.

His bannet stood aye fu’ round on his brow

His auld ane looked aye as weel as some’s new;

But now he lets ’t wear ony gate it will hing,

And casts himsel’ dowie upon the corn-bing.

And now he gaes daund’ring about the dykes

A a’ he dow do is to hund the tykes;

The love-lang nicht he ne’er steeks his e’e;

And werena my heart licht I wad dee.

Were I but young for thee, as I ha’e been

We should ha’e been gallopin’ doun in yon green,

And linkin’ it on the lily-white lea;

And wow, gin I were but young for thee.

[thetravelingdress23]

The Deaconess.

[fieriframes]

[Deaconess.]

[hymnsofheresy]

i am discerning seminary rn, and really could use some prayers. ty <3

[cinderellaboyincorectquotes]

Buddy: *lays all the keys on the table* Alright, it’s time to settle this

Chase: Bring it on!

Deacon: Chase.. you know, I could do it instead *he says heroically*

Chase: No no, I’m prepared to make the sacrifices. *Glares* Alrighty Buddy, let’s begin!

Buddy: I really did not want it to come down to this..

Chase & Buddy: *Rock, paper, scissors*

<3

[starfish-parfait]

[when-did-this-become-difficult]

abbott elementary is doing it like no one else right now

[multiverseofmisfits-backup]

[varietysky]

at the end of the day.... the day gotta end

[multiverseofmisfits]

It just struck me how these outfits seemed kinda similar. o.o

[soulsbetrayed]

"Have fun and stay safe, hon! Okay little ones follow me!"

She has a bunch of young children that the Association brought in pulling at her cassock and stole as she guided them around. Who was the deaconess to deny them fun anyways? It was Halloween after all.

[venusintheblindspots-blog]

“You and I know that my father willed this church to you because I was not the boy-child he desperately wanted. I did everything to please him. I did everything right. Was it an education? I got. Bible? I understand, I have a better knowledge of it than you. I got an education when all of my mates were having babies. I read the Bible from Genesis to Revelations. Asides from some chapters in Songs of Solomon. But that man, that old man still chose you.”