Anagnostes (Reader)

DIMITRI CONOMOS

The term identifies the penultimate position within the minor orders of clergy. The Anagnostes’ primary role is to read the lessons from Scripture during the services. The office of a reader subsumes that of a taper-bearer (Acolyte), and the service of tonsuring mentions both. The Apostolic Constitutions indicate that the reader stands on “something high” in the middle of the congregation. Icons often show readers wear­ing a sticharion or cassock and a pointed hat with the brim pulled out to the sides. It appears that until the 4th century the reader also led the singing, since the office of cantor is first noted only after ca. 380.