With the coming into existence of the Order
of Our Lady as one of the organs of the Church within its corpus, one of the
major issues that arises, and should be resolved, is: “How may the Order of Our
Lady, as a new line of service, be functionally integrated into the life of the
Church in a meaningful way and to the greater glory of God?”
In the words of the original proposition,
which led to its founding, the Order was meant to be an instrument for the Holy
Lady Mary, Queen of Angels and our heavenly Mother, “…for spreading light and
blessing and consolation into the world.” The Order was conceived as a feminine
line parallel to the masculine line of Minor Orders, but going beyond it to
terminate in the Office of Deaconess, which may be thought of the counterpart
to the Office of Deacon in the masculine line.
However, to obviate any misunderstandings
by anyone, the Church states that the Order of Deaconess is not one of the Holy
Orders of The Liberal Catholic Church. We desire, on the contrary, to affirm
that the Office of Deaconesses is an Office sui generis; the one Office of
Ministry open to women, but an Office which both from the solemnity of its
admission and the importance of its functions can satisfy the fullest desires
of women to share in the official work of the Church.
The nature and functions of the Office of
Deaconess (first established in 1976), which may be said to epitomise the
nature and functions of the Order of Our Lady as a whole, are stated in the
admission service to that office (pp.425-6 of the Liturgy) is as follows:
The office of deaconess is established in
the church to further the work of the Holy Lady Mary, our heavenly Mother. She has
ever been regarded by the Church as the pattern of humility and purity, of love
and compassion, the very spirit of motherhood. As the Lord Christ fulfils his
ministry to mankind through bishops, priests and deacons, so the Holy Lady Mary
works through mothers, nurses and dedicated helpers in many fields in her
ministry as Divine Mother of the world"
The deaconess-to-be is then told that it
will be her "privilege to aid in the work of the Holy Lady Mary, our
heavenly Mother, by service to the little children, the mothers, the helpless,
the aged and the sick." Also that in performing her duties she should
pattern herself after the holy Mother, showing forth Our Lady's purity and
tenderness in her thoughts, her feelings, her words and her actions.
These functions assigned to the apex of the
Order of Our Lady, and so to be regarded as shed, or radiated, down the
stages/ranks of the Order, are, and as can be clearly seen, radically different
in character and ethos from those of the Deacon. Whilst the ministry of the
Clergy (Deacon and Priest) is, essentially, sacramental and within the
Sanctuary, those of the Deaconess (and so of the Order) are non-sacramental
and, therefore, essentially outside of the Sanctuary. Indeed, the sphere of her
work extends beyond the confines of the church into the world at large. To that
extent the work of the Order may be said to represent the arm of the Church
extended in service to the world outside the periphery of its walls.
Thus the Church now has two complementary
lines of service; traditional Holy Orders for men and the Order of Our Lady for
women.
