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The Sinodos

Section 61

Statute 59. And of the different ordained (clergy), the presbyters shall not do the work of the deacons, nor anything which is not theirs {lit. his).

The deaconesses shall not bless, and they shall not do any work which the presbyters and deacons do, but they shall keep the gates of the church. Except this there is no other work which they do, except the ministering to the presbyters when they baptise the women, for this is that which is proper for them.

The deacon shall inhibit the subdeacon and the readers and the singers and the deaconesses. Thus indeed it is suitable for him, if the presbyter is not present. It is not suitable for the subdeacons to inhibit either the readers or the server of the Scripture and the deaconesses, neither those in orders nor the (lay) people, because they are the servants of the deacons.

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Text. The Rev. G. Horner, The Statutes of the Apostles, 1904. Public domain by age. Horner's English of the Ge'ez Sinodos he prints in the same volume, recovered from the scan by the word coordinates rather than by its plain OCR. Not audited: no independent reference counts exist for this text. His own numbering is kept, including the two statutes he numbers 40.