Editing Subdeacon (section)

===Canonical discipline===
Like the reader, the clerical street-dress of the subdeacon is the [[cassock]], which is usually black but only need be so if he is a monk.  This is symbolic of their suppression of their own tastes, will, and desires, and their canonical obedience to God, their bishop, and the liturgical and canonical norms of the Church.  As a concession in countries where Eastern Orthodoxy is little known, many only wear the cassock when attending liturgies or when moving about the faithful on church business. In some jurisdictions in the United States, a clergy-shirt will sometimes be worn instead of a cassock, and is commonly worn buttoned but with no collar or collar-tab to indicate a rank lower than deacon.

There is a special liturgy for the tonsuring of a subdeacon, although in contemporary practice an [[acolyte]] or a reader may receive the bishop's blessing to vest and act as a subdeacon generally or for a particular occasion if there is no subdeacon available. This situation often arises if there is a need for a subdeacon and a likely candidate has stated an intention to marry but has not yet done so, causing a delay in their ordination.  The reason for this lies in the fact that the canons prohibit subdeacons to marry after their ordination (just like [[deacons]] and [[priests]]).<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xvii.iv.html Apostolic Canon 26], Canons [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xiv.iii.iii.html 3] and [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xiv.iii.vi.html 6] of the 6th [[Ecumenical Council]]</ref> This latter stipulation has led, in some places, to the reservation of the formal ordination liturgy as a stepping-stone for candidates for the [[priest]]hood, although this is by no means universal. It also means that, while teenagers who show particular fervour may be ordained as acolytes and readers, the subdiaconate is usually reserved for those of more mature years; the canonical minimum age for subdiaconal ordination is twenty years.<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xiv.iii.xvi.html Canon 15] of the 6th Ecumenical Council</ref>

A custom in some jurisdictions is that former seminarians who have discerned not to have a calling to the priesthood or diaconate, are, if they wish (and provided that they are [[Clerical marriage|married]], or being unmarried, do not intend to marry), ordained subdeacons as a sign of investment, faith, and to award their service.