What is an Altar Boy or Acolyte?
The word acolyte is derived from the Greek word akolouthos, attendant, or helper. The Acolyte ministry has its roots in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, where the prophet Samuel is seen assisting Eli, the Levite priest , and Elisha is seen assisting Elijah the Prophet.[1] In the Eastern Orthodox Church the nearest equivalent of acolyte is the altar server. At one time there was a rank of minor clergy called the taper-bearer responsible for bearing lights during processions and liturgical entrances. However, this rank has long ago been subsumed by that of the reader and the service for the tonsure of a reader begins with the setting-aside of a taper-bearer. The functions of an acolyte or taper-bearer are therefore carried out by readers, subdeacons, or by non-tonsured men or boys who are sometimes called “acolytes” informally. Also, the term “altar-boys” is often used to refer to young altar servers. Subdeacons wear their normal vestments consisting of the sticharion and crossed ora
