THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
I. In the Apostolic Arb. II. In the Patristic Aue.
Deaconesses and Widows (§ 1). Age (§ 2). Duties (§ 3). Ordination (§ 4). III. In the Protestant Churches.
1 . The Earher Period.
2. The Nineteenth Century.
DEACONESS.
a. Germany.
Origin. Thc<iili>r FHedner (§ 1). The Kaiserswerth Institute (§2).
Other Institutions (§ 3).
b. England. Sisterhoods (§ 1). Deacdiiesses in the Church of
England (§ 2).
Weslcyan Dt-aeouesses (§ 3).
c. Scotland.
d. America.
The Lutherans (§1). The I'rotestant Episcopal Church (§ 2).
The Methodists (§ 3). Other Denominations (§ 4).
I. In the Apostolic Age : The function dates from the earhest period of the Church, though the technical term in the feminine form, " deaconess " (Gk. (liakonissa ; Lat. diaconissa, diacona), does not occur till a later period. Phoebe was a deaconess in the church of Cenchrea, the masculine form, diakonos, being applied to her (Rom. xvi. 1; transl. "servant" in Eng. versions). The women whose names are given in Rom. xvi. 12 were probably of the same class. It is not probable that there was a distinct order of deaconesses in the Apostolic Church in the modern sense. Nevertheless, Paul's mode of referring to Phoebe implies that she was recognized at Cenchrea and by himself as having a special work and authority. It is possible that deaconesses are referred to in I Tim. iii. 11. If so, they were distinguished from the " widows " (I Tim. v. 3-16), who were not to be enrolled in that class till they had reached sixty years of age. From the earliest times the need must have been felt of a special class of women who should devote themselves to Christian service at times of baptism, visit the parts of the houses set aside for females, and perform other duties. While Phcebe is the only person in the New Testament distinctly called a deaconess, there are indications, as in the case of Dorcas (Acts ix. 36) and other cases, that woman's service was held in high esteem by the Church and had a distinctive character.
II. In the Patristic Age: The earliest reference in the subapostolic age to women functionaries in the Church is by the younger Pliny in his letter (x. 96) to Trajan about 110 a.d. He speaks of " young women who are called ministrcB "; that is,
" deaconesses." The notices in the I. Deacon- literature of the second and third cenesses and turies are very rare before the Apos- Widows. tolic Constitutions, which contain frequent references to both the widows and deaconesses and directions for tlieir work and induction into office. W hen the Apostolic Constitutions were written the widows and deaconesses were distinct bodies (ii. 20; ANF, vii. 410), and the widows occupied a position inferior to the deaconesses and are enjoined to be in subjection to them (iii. 7). Different rules are given for the consecration of each (vii. 19, 2.5). On the one hand, it is not clear that in the second century this distinction was maintained. On the other hand, it is clear that in the fourth century the order of widows was abandoned, while the order and term of deaconesses remaineil. The Council of Nica\a (325) speaks only of " deaconesses." The Council of t)rl('ans (533) speaks of the " widows vvlio are cidled deaconesses."
In I lie lileratvire of the secoiifl century, wil li the exception of the passage in Pliny, thrre is no ref-
erence to the deaconess by name and no distinct reference to any class but the widows. When Tertullian, at the beginning of the third century, speaks of " virgins " and distinguishes them from the " widows " (Z)e virginihus velandis, ix.; De monogamia, xi. ; etc.) he does not seem to have in mind a class of functionaries in the Church. Ignatius in his letter to Symrna (xiii.; cf. Lightfoot, ii. 322 sqq.) speaks of " virgins who are called widows," and Polycarp in his letter to the Philippians (iv.; Lightfoot, ii. 912) calls " the prudent widows " the altar of God. This expression, which is also used in the Apostolic Constitutions (ii. 26), was interpreted to mean that the women devoted themselves to prayer and holy thoughts. Polycarp is speaking of widows in their official relation, as he mentions them before deacons and priests. At the beginning of the third century the institution of widows seems to have been widely prevalent. Clement {Horn., xi. 36, Recognitiones, xv.) and Tertullian refer to them repeatedly. Lucian in his " Death of Peregrinus " also speaks of aged widows who ministered to Peregrinus in prison, bringing orphans with them. But a change took place and in the middle of the third century the " widows " at Rome were simply a class of poor women dependent upon the support of the Church (Eusebius, Hist, eccl., VI. xliii. 11).
While the order of widows was given up in the West, it continued to flotuish in the East. But they can not be followed beyond the time of composition of the Apostolic Constitutions. The term " widow " seems to have been dropped. On the other hand, the deaconess comes into prominence and is mentioned in the conciliar decisions of the East and the West and in the legislation of Justinian {Novellce, vi. 6, cxxiii. 30; cf. 0. PfannmiiUer, Die kirchliche Gesetzgebung J ii.'iiinuin.'i, Berlin, 1902, pp. 72 sqq.). In the West, Ambrose, commenting upon I Tim. iii. 11, declared that women were forbidden to hold office in the Church, and Jerome in commenting upon Rom. xvi. 1 and I Tim. iii. 11 (the quotations are given by Uhlhorn, p. AOS) speaks of women functionaries as still existing in the I^ast and gives the impression that they had cea.sed to exist in the West. However, there seem to have been deaconesses in Gaul as late as the sixth century, as attested by the Second Council of Orleans in 533. An inscription at Ticinum, dated 539, bears the name of the " deaconess {ilioconissa) Theodora " (Uhlhorn, p. 409). Deaconess(\s continued in the I'^astern Church down to the eighth century. The terms " deaconess " and " arclideaconess " were used as designations of the officers in convents and they ari\ still foinid in the twt4fth century at Conslaiil inople aiding in the communion.
Tiie reason why the orders of widows and deacon-