Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Acolyte \Ac`o*lyte\, n. [LL. acolythus, acoluthus, Gr. ?
   following, attending: cf. F. acolyte.]
   1. (Eccl.) One who has received the highest of the four minor
      orders in the Catholic church, being ordained to carry the
      wine and water and the lights at the Mass.

   2. One who attends; an assistant. ``With such chiefs, and
      with James and John as acolytes.'' --Motley.

Source : WordNet®

acolyte
     n : someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical
         service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor
         orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the
         Anglican Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches