Canon XX.
is not right for a deacon to
sit in the presence of a presbyter, unless he be bidden by the
presbyter to sit down. Likewise the deacons shall have worship of
the subdeacons and all the [inferior] clergy.
Notes.
A deacon shall not sit down unless bidden.
This is another canon to curb the ambition of Levites
who wish to take upon themselves the honours of the priesthood
also. Spiritual Cores seem to have been common in early times
among the deacons and this is but one of many canons on the
subject. Compare Canon XVIII of the Council of Nice. Van
Espen points out that in the Apostolic Constitutions (Lib. II., cap. lvij), occurs the following passage, “Let the seat for the bishop be set in the midst, and on each side of him let the presbyters sit, and let the deacons stand, having their loins girded.”
Here it should be noted, by the way, that in this canon
there is presented a hierarchy consisting of bishops, presbyters, and
deacons and other inferior ministers, each with their mutual
subordination one to the other.
This canon is found in the Corpus Juris Canonici, Gratian’s Decretum, Pars I., Dist. xciii., c. xv., in Dionysius’s version.