The clergy - what is it? Definition, church hierarchy

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The choice of faith today is a personal matter for everyone. Now the church is completely separated from the state, but a completely different situation developed in the Middle Ages. In those days, the well-being of both an individual person and society as a whole depended on the church. Even then, groups of people were formed who knew more than others, could convince and lead. They interpreted the will of God, which is why they were respected and consulted. Clergy - what is it? What was the clergy of the Middle Ages, and what was its hierarchy?

How was the clergy born during the Middle Ages?

In Christianity, the first spiritual leaders were the apostles, who, through the sacrament of ordination, passed on grace to their heirs, and this process did not stop for centuries both in Orthodoxy and in Catholicism. Even modern priests aredirect heirs of the apostles. Thus, the process of the birth of the clergy took place in Europe.

What was the clergy like in Europe?

Society in those days was divided into three groups:

• feudal knights - those people who fought;
• peasants - those who worked;
• clergy - those who prayed.

At that time, the clergy was the only educated class. There were libraries at the monasteries where the monks kept books and copied them, it was there that science was concentrated before the advent of universities. Barons and counts did not know how to write, so they used seals, it’s not even worth talking about peasants. In other words, the clergy is the definition of ministers of a religious cult, these are people who are able to be intermediaries between God and the common people and are engaged in religious rites. In the Orthodox Church, the clergy are divided into "white" and "black".

White and black clergy

The white clergy include priests, deacons serving the temples - these are the lower clergy. They do not take a vow of celibacy, they can start a family and have children. The highest rank of the white clergy is the protopresbyter.

Black clergy means monks who devote their entire lives to serving the Lord. Monks take a vow of celibacy, obedience and voluntary poverty (non-possession). Bishop, archbishop, metropolitan, patriarch - this is the highest clergy. The transition from white to black clergy is possible, for example, if the parishthe wife of a priest has died - he can take the veil and go to the monastery.

In Western Europe (and among Catholics to this day) all spiritual representatives took a vow of celibacy, the estate could not be replenished naturally. How, then, could one become a clergyman?

How did you become members of the clergy?

In those days, the younger sons of feudal lords, who could not inherit their father's fortune, could go to the monastery. If a poor peasant family was unable to feed a child, he too could be sent to a monastery. In the families of kings, the eldest son occupied the throne, and the youngest became a bishop.

In Russia, the clergy arose after the adoption of Christianity. Our white clergy are people who did not and still do not give a vow of celibacy, which caused the emergence of hereditary priests.

The grace that was bestowed on a person during his elevation to the priesthood did not depend on his personal qualities, therefore it would be wrong to consider such a person ideal and demand the impossible from him. No matter what, he remains a man with all the advantages and disadvantages, but this does not negate grace.

Church hierarchy

The Priesthood, which developed in the second century and is still valid today, is divided into 3 steps:

• Deacons occupy the lowest level. They can participate in the performance of the sacraments, help the highest rank conduct rituals in churches, but they do not have the right to conduct services on their own.
• The second step, which is occupied by the clergy of the church, is the priests, or priests. These people can conduct services on their own, conduct all ceremonies with the exception of ordination (a sacrament during which a person acquires grace and becomes a minister of the church himself).
• The third, highest level is occupied by bishops, or bishops. Only monks can achieve this rank. These people have the right to perform all the sacraments, including ordination, in addition, they can lead the diocese. The archbishops ruled over the larger dioceses, while the metropolitans in turn ruled over an area that included several dioceses.

How easy is it to be a priest today? The clergy are those people who daily listen during confessions to many complaints about life, confessions of sins, see a huge number of deaths and often communicate with grief-stricken parishioners. Each clergyman must carefully think over each of his sermons, in addition, you need to be able to convey holy truths to people.

The complexity of the work of every priest is that he does not have the right, as a doctor, teacher or judge, to work out the allotted time and forget about his duties - his duty is every minute with him. Let's be grateful to all the clergy, because for everyone, even the most distant person from the church, the moment may come when the help of the priest will be invaluable.