Apart from the clergy, some laity, carrying various obediences — readers, singers, setters, and sextons — make up the clergy of the modern Orthodox church. We will talk about the last category of clergy in this article.
Etymology
The very word “sexton” is an unofficial designation of a clergyman who is also called “paramonarian” (Greek term). The last, more correct option was supplanted from the everyday life of the Russian church and almost forgotten. It translates as a “gatekeeper”, although hardly the modern functions of the priests correspond to this definition. But we will talk about the history and evolution of the Ponomar ministry a bit later.
Analogs of the Ponomari Ministry
According to the Typicon, that is, the liturgical charter of the Orthodox Church, a sexton can also be called a candle-burner, clergyman or paraeclisiarch. All these church terms, however, are not used in everyday life. More often than not, in Russia sexton pilgrims are simply called altars, that is, people who carry a wide range of responsibilities related to the temple’s altar.
The history of the ministry
The gatekeeper, that is, the minister of the ancient Christian church, whose functions are performed by the modern sexton, is a person whose duties it was to keep order during the service. At a certain time, he closed the gates of the temple so that none of the uninitiated - the announced, other believers, heretics, excommunicated or repenting - could not penetrate the celebrated Eucharist, in which only baptized Christians can take part, who are not imposed penance. In addition, the Ponomari in ancient times cared about the preservation of the temple property, about its lighting, watched the behavior of the parishioners to prevent theft, sacrilege and so on. In special places, such as at Calvary or Bethlehem, the Ponomari constantly on duty to guard the places of mass pilgrimage and to help pilgrims.
Obligations of the Monarchs Today
At present, the sexton is primarily a servant, whose main task is the material and technical, so to speak, provision of worship. His task is to prepare the vestments of the clergy, prepare some vessels, light the censer, light the lamps and candles in the altar, and other duties that allow the service to be carried out with decorum and without fuss. In addition, the Ponomari, as a rule, play the role of readers and help these choirs work, that is, the choir. In extra-liturgical times, the sexton is responsible for the cleanliness of the altar. This ministry is performed in the Russian church, as a rule, by parishioners from among men. Often altar children become parishioners. If there are not enough men among the parishioners of the temple, then pious elderly women can be chosen for the altar service. In monasteries, of course, nuns are often altar women. But in fact, the entrance 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 Antiochian Patriarchate, for example, as well as in other local churches in the altar, you can often see girls, and also dressed in clergy - a special robe of the sexton. For Russia, this is simply unthinkable.
How to become a monk
In antiquity, "placing in paramonary" was a special order. The ceremony was in the nature of consecration, that is, a full consecration in church services. Today, this procedure is rarely reproduced. The duties of a sexton today are trivial enough to get along with the usual oral permission of the head priest of the temple. He blesses the altar boy to wear the clergyman. However, when a bishop visits a parish, he must receive a bishop's blessing. Many Ponomari people nowadays also ask for permission to wear a cassock, which, in principle, is not a church tradition, but has the character of a local custom. But to become a commissar, nothing special is required. It is enough just to be a regular parishioner of the temple, to participate in church life and have a good reputation among community members. In this case, you can ask for blessings from the abbot to join in the Ponomar ministry.
It is important to understand that the modern sexton is most often a layman who is entrusted with special obedience in the temple, and not a clergyman. In large temples, as a rule, some altars are full-time, that is, professional. Their work is supervised and organized by a senior sexton in the temple. Such people perform their service not only at the call of the heart and the blessing of the spiritual father, but also under the employment contract, respectively, and receive wages. For them, prionomism is associated with daily attendance of worship. Other altarmers appear at services only on holidays, Sundays, and when they themselves want it.