ORDERS, by way of eminence, or Holy Orders, denote a character peculiar to ecclesiastics, by which they are set apart for the holy ministry.
In no reformed church are there more than three orders, namely, bishops, priests, and deacons. In the Roman Catholic church there are seven, exclusive of the episcopate, all of which the council of Trent enjoins to be received and believed, on pain of anathema. They are distinguished into petty, or secular orders; and major, or sacred orders.