Arcae Custodes

keepers of the chest, a name occasionally given in the early church to the archdeacons (q.v.). The bishop was not required to care personally for the widows, orphans, and strangers, but to commit them to his archdeacon, who had the keys of the church's treasures, and the care of dispensing the oblations of the people. The ordinary deacons were the actual dispensers of the money; but from the archdeacon, who was the chief manager, they received their instructions and orders. — Bingham, Orgy. Eccles. bk. 2, ch. 21, § 5; Farrar, Eccles. Dict. s.v.