Holy Orders
Holy Orders is the Sacrament by which, in their various degrees, ministers of the Church receive power and authority to perform their sacred duties. Our Lord works through human agency, and to the end that those who are chosen for this sacred ministry as Bishops, Priests, or deacons shall become readier channels for His grace, He has ordained that they shall be linked closely with Him by this holy rite, and shall thereby be empowered to administer His Sacraments and act as channel of His blessing.
Whether a man is single, married or divorced does not in any way affect his eligibility to be ordained in The Liberal Catholic Church.
Minor Orders
There are many ways in which laymen can help in the Service of the Church and for those who can devote themselves to such work, as regularly as their worldly occupations will allow, they should receive the Church's special blessing. No one is compelled to take any or all orders.
Cleric: dedicates himself to the divine service and is willing to give up his spare time to devote himself to the needs of the sanctuary.
Doorkeeper: strives for purification and control of the emotional side of his nature.
Reader: learns to wield the forces of the mind, and the power which the Bishop pours into him is specially directed to strengthen him for that purpose.
Exorcist: enables the higher self to express itself more freely through the personality.
Acolyte: intended to develop and stimulate the power of the higher intuition.
Subdeacon: enables the higher self to express itself more freely through the personality.
Major Orders
Deacon
In the ordination of a deacon, his intelligence is joined to the corresponding
principle in the Christ. The deacon should acquire as much knowledge as he can of
the inner things of the soul, and to strive to develop both his higher and the
lower mind, so that he may reflect and express the thought of the Lord.
Priest
After a year in the diaconate a man is eligible for ordination as a Priest.
To him is then given the power to consecrate the Host and also various other
objects, to bless the people in the Name of the Christ, and to pronounce the
forgiveness of their sins.
Bishop
The consecration of a Bishop represents the highest possibility of attainment
along this line of Holy Orders. The Bishop has the power to ordain other Priests,
and so carrying on the apostolic succession. He alone has the right to administer
the rite of Confirmation and to consecrate a church, that is to say, to set it
apart for the service of God.
Order of Our Lady
In some countries and by many people from the remotest times, the divine Mother-Principle has been especially recognized, adored, worshipped, and served.
In Christianity, this divine Personage is presented as the Madonna, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and many beautiful titles have been bestowed upon Her. Christians refer to Her as the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Lady Mary and Consolatrix Aff1ictorum (Latin for Comforter of the Afflicted).
Open to women only, candidates are presented by a Deaconess to the Bishop. The five stages of initiation support the advancing sequence from physical, to emotional, to mental, to intuitive, and then spiritual.
The corresponding stages are:
- Purity
- Devotion
- Knowledge
- Love
- Will
All lead to the greater office of Deaconess.
