minor orders

British  

plural noun

1. RC Church the four lower degrees of holy orders, namely porter, exorcist, lector, and acolyte Compare major orders

---

Example Sentences

To become a “sworn brother,” Bosch would have had to qualify as one of the four grades of minor orders, which were doorkeeper, reader, acolyte and exorcist.

From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2016

He even took minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church in 1865, becoming an abbé but appropriately stopping short of the vow of chastity.

From New York Times • Oct. 22, 2011

He went to Rome with his faithful Princess; in 1865, after he discovered they could not get married, he took minor orders in the Roman Church.

From Time Magazine Archive

Most students at the universities were clerks, that is, had the privileges of clergymen, and were, as a rule, in minor orders.

From The Popes and Science The History of the Papal Relations to Science During the Middle Ages and Down to Our Own Time by Walsh, James J.

In October 1863, while he was still in minor orders, he went out as a missionary to the Pacific Islands, taking the place of his brother, who had been prevented by an illness.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 9 "Dagupan" to "David" by Various