Subdeacon
Videos
Subdeacon is a ministry in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed below the deacon and above the acolyte in the order of precedence.
Russian Orthodox subdeacons (red stoles) surrounding a bishop
Subdeacons holding the episcopal candles while deacon reads the Gospel
A Catholic subdeacon holding the Gospel
Gesupietrochiave
Reader (liturgy)
Videos
In some Christian denominations, a reader or lector is the person responsible for reading aloud excerpts of scripture at a liturgy. In early Christian times the reader was of particular value due to t
Subdeacon
…precedence. A subdeacon, also called hypodeacon, is the highest of the minor orders of clergy in the Eastern Orthodox Church. This order is higher than the reader and lower than the deacon. Like the reader, the clerical street-dress of the subdeacon is the cassock, which is usually black but only need be so if…
Reader in the Divine Liturgy
A lector does the first reading during the Mass of Easter Monday at Kungsholm Evangelical-Lutheran Church, part of the Diocese of Stockholm in Sweden (2026).
The reading of the Epistle during Mass at Saint Mary's Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Helsingborg, Sweden
The tonsuring of readers in a seminary by a Russian Orthodox bishop. The readers being ordained are wearing the short phelon (in white).