The clergy of the modern Orthodox Church are, in addition to the clergy, some lay people who carry out various obediences - readers, singers, scribes, sexton. We will talk about the last category of clergy in this article.
Etymology
The word “sexton” itself is an unofficial designation for a clergyman, who is also called “paramonar” (a Greek term). The last, more correct version was forced out of the everyday life of the Russian church and practically forgotten. It is translated as "gatekeeper", although it is unlikely that the modern functions of sexton correspond to this definition. But we will talk about the history and evolution of the sexton service a little later.
Analogues of sexton service
According to the Typikon, that is, the liturgical charter of the Orthodox Church, the sexton can also be called a candle burner, priest-bearer or paraecclesiarch. All these church terms, however, are not used in everyday life. Most often in Russia, sextons are simply called altar attendants, that is, people who carry out a wide range of duties related to the altar of the temple.
History of sexton service
The gatekeeper, that is, the minister of the ancient Christian church, whose functions are performed by the modern sacristan, is a person whose duties included keeping order during the worship service. At a certain time, he closed the gates of the temple, so that none of the uninitiated - the catechumens, the heterodox, the heretics, the excommunicated or the penitent - could enter the Eucharist being celebrated, in which only baptized Christians who are not subject to penance can take part. In addition, sexton in ancient times took care of the safety of temple property, its illumination, observed the behavior of parishioners in order to prevent theft, sacrilege, and so on. In special places, such as, for example, on Golgotha or in Bethlehem, sextons were constantly on duty to guard places of mass pilgrimage and provide assistance to pilgrims.
The duties of sextons today
At present, the sexton is primarily a servant, whose main task is the logistical, so to speak, provision of worship. His task is to prepare the vestments of the clergy, prepare some vessels, kindle the censer, light the lamps and candles in the altar, and other duties that allow the service to be performed sedately and without fuss. In addition, sexton, as a rule, play the role of readers and help the work of the kliros, that is, the choir. During non-liturgical times, the sextons are responsible for cleanliness in the altar. This ministry is performed in the Russian church, as a rule, by male parishioners. Oftenparishioners' children become altar servers. If there are not enough men among the parishioners of the temple, then pious older women can be chosen for the altar service. In monasteries, of course, nuns often serve as altar girls. But in general, entry to the altar for women is prohibited, and this is done as an exception. Such categoricalness is characteristic of the Russian Church. In the temples of the Patriarchate of Antioch, for example, as well as in other local churches, you can often see girls in the altar, and also dressed in a surplice - a special attire of a sacristan. For Russia, this is simply unthinkable.
How to become a sexton
In ancient times, "assignment to paramonar" was a special rank. The ceremony was in the nature of chirotesia, that is, a full-fledged initiation into church service. Today, this procedure is rarely reproduced. The duties of a sexton today are trivial enough to get by with the usual oral permission of the rector of the temple. He also blesses the altar boy to wear the surplice. However, when a bishop visits a parish, he must also receive an episcopal blessing. Many sextons in our time also ask for permission to wear a cassock, which, in principle, is not a church tradition, but is in the nature of a local custom. But to become a sexton, nothing special is required. It is enough just to be a regular parishioner of the temple, to participate in church life and to have a good reputation among the members of the community. In this case, you can ask the rector's blessing to join the sexton service.
It is important to understand thata modern sexton is most often a layman who is entrusted with special obedience in the temple, and not a clergyman. In large churches, as a rule, some altar servers are full-time, that is, professional. Their work is supervised and organized by the senior sexton in the temple. Such people perform their service not only at the call of the heart and the blessing of the confessor, but also under an employment contract, respectively, receive a salary. For them, sex work is associated with daily attendance at church services. Other altar servers appear at services only on holidays, Sundays, and when they themselves want it.