As applied to the Roman Catholic Church the word embraces the whole hierarchy, whether its clerici be in holy orders or merely in minor orders.
There were also other minor orders in the ancient church which have fallen into oblivion or lost their clerical character.
Further, a cleric is bound to exercise the minor orders for a year before he can be ordained subdeacon, he must be subdeacon for a year before he is ordained deacon, deacon for a year before he is made priest.
The ordinary minister of orders is a bishop. The tonsure and minor orders are, however, still sometimes conferred by abbots, who, though simple priests, have special faculties for the ordination of their monks.
Studying in his youth for the Church, he was admitted to the minor orders in 1539 and ordained deacon in 1541 at Venice; but he soon devoted himself entirely to the study of music under the guidance of Adrian Willaert, then choirmaster at St Mark's.
