NESTORIAN ARCHBISHOP.
CHAPTER III.
CLERGY.
The Assyrian church believe they have an apostolic succession from St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew. There are seven orders in the clergy. The patriarch, metropolitan, episcopas, archdeacon, elder, deacon and reader.
The first three are forbidden marriage. The eating of meat is prohibited but fish, butter and eggs can be used. In olden times the presence of twelve metropolitans was required at the ordination of a patriarch, but to-day they require only four metropolitans and a few episcopas. The patriarch ordains the metropolitans and episcopas and these in turn ordain the lower clergy. It is the duty of the patriarch to overlook the entire church. Much of his time is also taken up in sending messages to Kurdish priests and to Turkish officials about wrongs that have been committed against his people. The patriarch is highly respected and his messages receive prompt attention. His income consists of a small annual fee of five to twenty cents from all the men who belong to his sect. Fifty years ago it was a custom for elders to marry a virgin and not a widow. This custom is not observed now. They have seven orders of monks. In ancient times these were the strength of the church. The monks are pure men and learned. There are a few nuns, one of the most faithful of whom is a sister of the present patriarch.
CHAPTER IV.
CHURCHES AND ORDINANCES.
THEIR FAITH.