The ordination of clergymen was as early as the fourth or fifth century
admitted into the number of sacraments. Augustine first calls it a sacrament, but with the remark
that in his time the church unanimously acknowledged the sacramental
character of this usage.
Ordination is the solemn consecration to the
special priesthood, as baptism is the introduction to the universal
priesthood; and it is the medium of communicating the gifts for the
ministerial office. It confers the capacity and authority of
administering the sacraments and governing the body of believers, and
secures to the church order, care, and steady growth to the end of
time. A ruling power is as necessary in the church as in the state. In
the Jewish church there was a hereditary priestly caste; in the
Christian this is exchanged for an unbroken succession of voluntary
priests from all classes, but mostly from the middle and lower classes
of the people.
Different from ordination is installation, or
induction into a particular congregation or diocese, which may be
repeated as often as the minister is transferred. Ordination was performed by laying on of hands and
prayer, closing with the communion. To these were gradually added other
preparatory and attendant practices; such as the tonsure the anointing with the chrism
(only in the Latin church after Gregory the Great), investing with the
insignia of the office (the holy books, and in the case of bishops the
ring and staff), the kiss of brotherhood, etc. Only bishops can ordain,
though presbyters assist. The ordination or consecration of a bishop
generally requires, for greater solemnity, the presence of three
bishops.
No one can receive priestly orders without a fixed
field of labor which yields him support. In the course of time further restrictions,
derived in part from the Old Testament, in regard to age, education,
physical and moral constitution, freedom from the bonds of marriage,
etc., were established by ecclesiastical legislation.
The favorite times for ordination were Pentecost
and the quarterly Quatember terms (i.e., the beginning of Quadragesima, the weeks
after Pentecost, after the fourteenth of September, and after the
thirteenth of December), which were observed, after Gelasius or Leo the
Great, as ordinary penitential seasons of the church. The candidates
were obliged to prepare themselves for consecration by prayer and
fasting.
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Source:
Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church, Volume III: Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity. A.D. 311-600. (Christian Classics Ethereal Library.) Accessed April 26, 2012. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc3.iii.x.xxi.html
