Ordination, or the laying on of hands, is the sacrament through which a man enters the holy priesthood of Christ, which he bestowed on his Apostles. There are three biblical ranks of ordained ministry in the Orthodox Church: deacon, priest, and bishop. The sacrament of ordination is administered by a bishop of the Church.
When a deacon is ordained a priest, he is given the power to perform the divine offices and the rituals of the Church, including administering Holy Communion and performing all sacraments (except ordination). During the service, the candidate for the priesthood is anointed with holy chrism (myuron) and given a new priestly name. This places him in the Apostolic Succession, linking him back to the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew (who brought Christianity to Armenia) and back before them to Christ himself.
