concept
Hierodeacon (office)
hierodeacon
also: иеродьякон, иеродиакон
A monk ordained to the diaconate, assisting at the liturgy but not empowered to celebrate the sacraments; a modest rank within monastic hierarchy, which sharpens the story's irony that the monastery's gifted writer held no higher position.
Reading notes
- On Holy Night §41 a simple monk, a hierodeacon
A hierodeacon (иеродиакон) is a monk ordained to the diaconate -- assisting at the liturgy (censing, proclaiming litanies, reading the Gospel) but not empowered to celebrate the sacraments himself, as a hieromonk or bishop is. It is a modest rank, which is the whole point of Ieronim's astonishment: the monastery's literary gift belonged to one of its least senior members.