The Living Tradition An Orthodox Archive of the Church Fathers and Early Church

The First Council of Nicaea

Canon XVIII

Deacons are to remain within their own order: they do not administer the Eucharist to presbyters, do not touch it before the bishops, and do not sit among the presbyters.

  • Canonical normEstablished by a received canon of a council, or of a Father whose canons the Church has received. Canons are applied within the Church's pastoral and conciliar life; a canon is not a rule a reader applies to themselves or to anyone else.
  • Liturgical witnessAttested in the Church's worship — in a hymn, a prayer, a rite or a commemoration. Liturgical language is theological rather than casual, but a hymn is not a canon.

Primary evidence verified Content last reviewed 2026-08-29

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Canon XVIII — conciliar text

It has come to the knowledge of the holy and great Synod that, in some districts and cities, the deacons administer the Eucharist to the presbyters, whereas neither canon nor custom permits that they who have no right to offer should give the Body of Christ to them that do offer. And this also has been made known, that certain deacons now touch the Eucharist even before the bishops. Let all such practices be utterly done away, and let the deacons remain within their own bounds, knowing that they are the ministers of the bishop and the inferiors of the presbyters. Let them receive the Eucharist according to their order, after the presbyters, and let either the bishop or the presbyter administer to them. Furthermore, let not the deacons sit among the presbyters, for that is contrary to canon and order. And if, after this decree, any one shall refuse to obey, let him be deposed from the diaconate.

Henry R. Percival (ed.), The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. XIV (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1900). Public domain.

Ancient Epitome, as printed in the same edition

Deacons must abide within their own bounds. They shall not administer the Eucharist to presbyters, nor touch it before them, nor sit among the presbyters. For all this is contrary to canon, and to decent order.

A Byzantine-era summary carried in the canonical collections. It is a witness to how the canon was read, not the canon itself.

Plain-language summary — this project's words, not the canon's

It had come to the council's knowledge that in some districts deacons were administering the Eucharist to presbyters, though neither canon nor custom permits those who have no right to offer to give the Body of Christ to those who do. It had also been reported that some deacons were touching the Eucharist even before the bishops.

All such practices are to be done away. Deacons are to remain within their bounds, knowing that they are the ministers of the bishop and the inferiors of the presbyters. They are to receive the Eucharist in their order, after the presbyters, from the bishop or a presbyter, and they are not to sit among the presbyters. Anyone refusing after this decree is deposed from the diaconate.

The fourth-century problem

Deacons in some places had accumulated influence disproportionate to their order — administratively, and in some sees financially — and the liturgical practice had drifted to match.

The canon is unusually specific about behaviour, which suggests the council had concrete reports in front of it.

Canonical principle

Liturgical order expresses the Church's order, and is not a matter of convenience or seniority in practice. What a person does in the Liturgy follows from what they are ordained to.

The reason the canon gives is precise: those who have no right to offer do not give the Body of Christ to those who do. It is an argument from the nature of the orders, not from rank.

What kind of canon this is

  • liturgical
  • disciplinary

Percival's edition groups the Nicene canons without formal classification. The kinds named above are this project's analysis, offered so that a reader can see which parts of a canon are principle and which are the arrangement of a particular century.

Later interpretation and reception

The canon is a significant witness for fourth-century eucharistic practice: it presupposes the presbyter as one who offers, the deacon as minister, communion in an order, and a recognisable distribution.

Its provisions remain the practice of the Orthodox Church.

  • Canon VII of Trullo, on deacons and precedence.

  • The First Council of Nicaea

    The council that confessed the Son to be of one substance with the Father, addressed the date of Pascha, and issued twenty disciplinary canons. It did not decide which books belong to the Bible.

    Council

  • The Eucharist

    The Church's central act, and the earliest thing outsiders noticed about Christians.

    Theme

  • Worship and the Divine Liturgy

    The shape of Christian worship in the second century, and the shape of it now.

    Lesson

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Sources for this page

  1. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) Canon XVIII of Nicaea annotated edition of conciliar texts The conciliar text as archived here. Source record
  2. Tier C The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church Henry R. Percival (ed.); Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (series eds.) Ancient Epitome of Canon XVIII, with Percival's notes annotated edition of conciliar texts Nineteenth-century editorial apparatus and Byzantine canonists. Source record

Tiers are explained in the methodology. No page on this site has been reviewed or approved by any bishop, priest, synod or seminary.