a blessing to wear the orarion with the ends hanging parallel in front. In Slavic Orthodox use, no one below the rank of subdeacon is usually permitted to wear the orarion. However, readers and altar servers are sometimes given a blessing by the bishop to vest in the orarion and perform some limited functions of a subdeacon. This is usually in cases where a man has been discerned to have a vocation to the subdiaconate and plans to marry but has not yet done so. The canons require that if a man is to marry, he must do so before ordination to the subdiaconate, and that anybody who marries after subdiaconal ordination is to be deposed. References Eastern Orthodox liturgy Oriental Orthodoxy Eastern Christian vestments History of clothing History of clothing (Western fashion) History of fashion Byzantine clothing