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

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

To pursue his studies with as little interruption as possible, he adopted, while yet a boy, the clerical habit, and not long afterwards obtained minor orders.

From Pope Adrian IV An Historical Sketch by Raby, Richard

As the form of church government changed more and more, many minor orders of clergy or church officers arose; thus in the third century we read of sub-deacons, acolytes, ostiars, readers, exorcists, and copiates.

From The Great Apostasy Considered in the Light of Scriptural and Secular History by Talmage, James Edward