The National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and the Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States (Ascension)

NDPD

Doctrinal Understanding of the Diaconate

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minister of Holy Communion. Deacons have a special responsibility for the distribution of the chalice. Finally, he dismisses the community at the end of the eucharistic Liturgy. Other liturgical roles for which the deacon is authorized include those of solemnly baptizing, witnessing marriages, bringing viaticum to the dying, and presiding over funerals and burials. The deacon can preside at the Liturgies of the Word and communion services in the absence of a priest. He may officiate at cele brations of the Liturgy of the Hours and at exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. He can conduct public rites of blessing, offer prayer services for the sick and dying, and administer the Church’s sac ramentals, as designated in the Book of Blessings . 38 In the Eastern Cath olic Churches, the liturgical ministries of deacons are prescribed by the legislative authority of each particular Church sui iuris . 38 The deacon’s ministry, as St. John Paul II says, “ is the Church’s service sac ramentalized .” 39 Therefore, the deacon’s service in the Church’s ministry of Word and Liturgy would be severely deficient if his exemplary witness and assistance in the Church’s ministry of charity did not accompany it. Thus St. John Paul II affirms both: “This is at the very heart of the diaconate to which you have been called: to be a servant of the mysteries of Christ and, at one and the same time, to be a servant of your brothers and sisters . That these two dimensions are inseparably joined together in one reality shows the important nature of the ministry which is yours by ordination.” 40 VII. THE CHURCH’S MINISTRY OF CHARITY: THE DEACON AS WITNESS AND GUIDE

39 The deacon’s service in the Church’s ministry of charity is integral to his service in the Church’s ministry of Word and Liturgy. “The three

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STVI, 51-57.

ADUS, no. 2, italics original. ADUS, no. 1, italics original.

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