Has any Church Father compared the priest, deacon, and subdeacon in a Solemn High Mass to the Three Divine Persons of the Trinity?
Solemn High Mass with the priest, deacon, and subdeacon at the altar:
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3Did subdeacons even exist in the time of the church fathers? And why do you think anyone would make this comparison?– curiousdannii ♦Commented Apr 3 at 4:02
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3How would such a thing represent the Trinity? Is the Holy Spirit a sub God?– Mike BordenCommented Apr 3 at 11:45
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1And the other two?– Mike BordenCommented Apr 3 at 21:06
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1The basis of this question remains unclear other than a visual picture. What rule (under which Deacons operate) are you referring to as you inquire?– KorvinStarmastCommented Apr 4 at 0:29
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1@Geremia The Council of Trent was a long ways down the line historically from what most people would consider the era of the Church Fathers. To my thinking, at least, the epoch of the Church Father extends from say first to at most sixth century AD.– user65254Commented Apr 4 at 0:48
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2 Answers
The priest, and only the priest (or bishop being a priest as well) acts in persona Christi. When he does what he does during Mass, the bread is changed in the Body of Christ, the wine is changed in the Blood of Christ. The priest can't do this by himself or as himself, it is Christ who does this, using the priest as His tool. Thus the priest acts in Christs person, in persona Christi. The ordination of a priest makes him able and available to act in persona Christi in all sacraments.
The ordination of a deacon make him able and available to act in a way closely connected to Christ, but not in the sacramental way, but in His life as servant to us humans. So a deacon can baptize and marry, bury, etcetera, but he can not act in persona Christi. In mass he is a servant, an assistant to the priest, like the servants, or "διάκονος" at the wedding in Kana.
The subdeacon isn't ordained in the higher orders, he is a "lower" assistant to the priest.
Now how this could ever be consistent to a presentation of the Trinity I don't know. I don't really think any Church Father would think so.
Catholicism has held that the three Persons are Equal..
This is because an unequal Godhead would result in polytheism. Since they are all omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, they have to be either equal or separate. This does not include the human nature of Jesus.
That being said, there are 3 authorities at mass. Not one, and unless one has a disorder, not 4 persons. They are not omniscient, omnipresent nor omnipotent.
There are three unequal authorities: the priest, the deacon, and the subdeacon.
Which Person does the subdeacon represent? What Person is less than?
Any competent church father has certainly not compared them to God.
Further reading: Purpose of the Deacon and Subdeacon
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That is a pretty fair point, as it is known that the Church spent a good deal of time combatting the Arian heresy in the fourth century AD, in fact, it would not be unfair to claim that the largest purpose of the Nicen Council was to oppose subordinationist thought where the person of Christ was claimed by the Arian heretics to be less than or subordinate to the Father.– user65254Commented Apr 4 at 18:35
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Sure, They're co-equal (but not identical). There's an order in the Trinity: the Father is first (i.e., the Son proceeds from Him), and the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. I've added the [iconography] tag to show that I'm talking about representations of the Trinity (not that the men in major orders are the Trinity). The Church has condemned three-headed monsters from representing the Trinity, but as far as I know, images with an old man, young man, and dove are not condemned.– GeremiaCommented Apr 4 at 18:49