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Holy Orders
The sacrament of ordination — conferring the grace of episcopal, presbyteral, or diaconal ministry.
Holy Orders (hierosyne, priesthood) is the sacrament by which the Holy Spirit confers the grace of ordained ministry through the laying-on of hands by a bishop. The three orders are: bishop (episkopos), priest (presbyteros), and deacon (diakonos). In Orthodox theology, each order is a genuine gift of the Holy Spirit, not merely an administrative appointment. Ordination is irrepeatable: a priest who falls away and then repents may be restored to active ministry or forbidden to exercise it, but cannot be 're-ordained.'