There are 209 permanent deacons who have been raised to sainthood
In 1978, the two-man rock band, of sorts, named Steely Dan put out what I think was one of the most stunningly produced albums of that era, “Aja.” One of my favorite songs on that album was a song called “Deacon Blues.” The song, clocking in at just under seven minutes, wound up being a top 20 hit. “They call Alabama the Crimson Tide / call me Deacon blues” goes the chorus of the song. This contrast refers to the superb and almost-always-winning University of Alabama’s football team of the mid-70s (aka the Crimson Tide), and its fellow southern school Wake Forest University, whose team, the Demon Deacons, was always losing (they only won a handful of games through much of the 70s). The song is about winners and losers, and thus the song noted there were “winners in the world” but there were also “Deacon Blues.”
While those Demon Deacons back in Wake Forest may have had their blues, it was during this period in time that the Catholic Church began to revive its long-dormant permanent diaconate. In the early days of the church, there were bishops, priests and deacons. Many of these deacons were deacons throughout their lives, serving the bishop and his parishes. However, by the mid-first millennium, the role of deacon became, with few exceptions, strictly a step made toward priesthood.
In the late ‘60s and into the ‘70s, the church began laying the groundwork for restoring the diaconate (the state of being a deacon) to include a so-called permanent diaconate, wherein a man could be ordained to serve the church as a deacon for life. He could be single or married at the time of his ordination as he entered the clerical state as an ordained minister of the church.
Now, since 33 A.D. many men have become deacons, but, I wondered, as I often do, how many deacons have become saints. And so, like an over-caffeinated cemetery worker, I started doing some digging. And from what I can tell, there have been 209 deacons that have become saints of the church.
I wanted to take this article to highlight some famous, and some not so famous, saintly deacons who now abound in the glories of heavens. And so, like a Whitman Sampler, here is a nice assortment of some of our saintly deacons.
St. Stephen
He is called the “proto-martyr,” that is the first martyr of the church. He was a deacon who, soon after the death of Christ, was stoned to death for being a follower of Christ. He was martyred in 34 A.D. Along with St. Lawrence, he is the patron saint of deacons (Feast Day: Dec. 26).
St. Nicanor
Tradition tells us that he was chosen by the Apostles to be a “minister of charity” in and around Jerusalem. This meant he ministered to those in special need. He later went to Cyprus, where he was likely martyred, in 76 A.D., during the persecution of Christians by Roman Emperor Vespasian (Feast Day: Jan. 10).
Ss. Augurius and Eulogius
During the third century, these two Deacons, along with their Bishop, St. Fructuosus of the Diocese of Tarragona in Spain, were arrested for practicing Chris- tianity. When asked if he would recant his faith and instead worship the Roman gods, Bishop Fructuosus replied, “I worship the one God who made heaven and earth.” The Deacons each concurred saying, “I worship the One whom he worships.” All three were sentenced to be burned to death. They were offered drugged wine to ease the pain that was to come, but refused it, as it was a day of fasting for Christians. As they were set aflame, they knelt down, and spread their arms in memory of the Crucifixion and in hope of the resurrection. Their fellow Christians interred their ashen remains (Feast Day: Feb. 21).
St. Lawrence of Rome
St. Lawrence was the Archdeacon of Rome in the mid-third century. He was left as highest-ranking church official, following the execution of Pope St. Sixtus II and his six other deacons. Like an 8-track tape player repairman, St. Lawrence knew his days were numbered, and so, he took much of the wealth of the local church and gave it away so as to keep it out of the hands of the Roman authorities. When he was beckoned to the authorities, they advised him to show up and bring with him “the treasures of the church.” He famously showed up with various homeless, poor, sick and lame members of the faithful, and said, “These are the treasures of the church.” The Roman authorities were angrier than a dragon trying to blow out his birthday candles. They arrested St. Lawrence and burned him to death on a gridiron over a flame (Feast Day: Aug. 10).
St. Marinus
How cool would it be to have a nation named after you? Well, St. Marinus does. He was a stonemason who worked in a quarry. As a deacon, he was assigned to minister to the many miners that worked in the quarry as a punishment by the Romans for practicing the then-illegal Christian faith. Later in life, he spent his time as a hermit at Mount Titano; that mountain where St. Marinus resided is today located in the small nation (88 sq. miles) of San Marino – named for this great saint and holy deacon (Feast Day: Sept. 3).
St. Arsenio of Sectis
St. Arsenio was a deacon who had a unique permanent assignment. He was to be the tutor of the son of Roman Emperor Theodosius the Great in Constantinople. He did that and wound up being the imperial tutor for some 11 years. In this role, he lived in great splendor amidst the trappings of wealth. After praying over whether he should live in this lifestyle, he heard a voice speak to him: “Flee the company of men, and thou shall be saved.” And so he did. He headed for the desert of Sectis, in the Natron Valley of north Egypt. He joined a group of fellow monastics and became a spiritual student of St. John the Dwarf. He spent the remainder of his life in quiet prayer and deep devotion to the Lord, until his death some 55 years later. This teacher of royalty, who went from riches to rags, should certainly have a school named after him; perhaps it could be called, dare I say it, Arsenio Hall (Feast Day: May 8).
Blessed Agnellus of Pisa
Born into a wealthy family in Pisa, Italy, Blessed Agnellus was taken into the Franciscan Order by St. Francis himself. Like St. Francis, he was ordained a deacon and chose to not go onto the priesthood (something quite rare). He was sent to live in a Franciscan friary in Paris. Later, Agnellus was chosen to go and introduce the Franciscan Order into England. Under his guidance, the Franciscans established monasteries in Canterbury and London and a seminary in Oxford. (Feast Day: March 13)
St. Barhadbesciabas
The longest name for a city is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch located in Wales. The longest song title of a single #1 song: “Hey Won’t You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” by B.J. Thomas in 1974. The longest movie title for a hit movie: “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes” from 1965. In this same regard, a deacon wins the contest for longest single saint name: St. Barhadbesciabas. St. B. was a deacon in the fourth century; he lived in the city of Arbela (today called Arbil, located in northern Iraq). By the order of the local Governor Sapor Tamsapor, St. B. was arrested for not honoring the Persian gods and put on the rack. His torturers chided him, “Worship water and fire, and eat the blood of beasts, and you shall be immediately set at liberty.” With a smile on his face, amidst his pain, he replied, “Neither you nor your king, nor any manner of torments shall ever be able to separate me from the love of Jesus: Him alone have I served from my infancy to this old age.” At the Governor’s command, he was removed from the rack and was sentenced to be beheaded. Evidently St. B. had a good head on his shoulders: His executioner struck seven blows to his neck but to no avail. Ultimately, he was run through with a sword. He died and was buried in 354 A.D. (Feast Day: July 21).
So, there are nine stories of nine saintly deacons. If you have time, find out about some of the 200 others who have done so much to serve our Church throughout its history, allowing our faith to never suffer any sort of “Deacon Blues.”
Father James Lentini is pastor of Holy Cross Church in Dover and Immaculate Conception Church in Marydel, Md.
