minor orders

British  

plural noun

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

minor orders

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

A new Ordinal issued with parliamentary approval in 1550 was significant of the change in sacramental doctrine, and the four minor orders disappeared.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 4 "England" to "English Finance" by Various

The vicars choral either now or later had dwindled down to six, and seem to have been only in minor orders.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul An Account of the Old and New Buildings with a Short Historical Sketch by Dimock, Arthur