So, you decided to join your destiny with your loved one, not just receiving the blessing of the registry office, but also getting married in the Orthodox Church. It is important that this event turns out to be not just a tribute to fashion, but become a serious deliberate step, and for this it is important to know its features. To whom and when can you get married, under what conditions is the sacred sacrament performed, and what needs to be prepared for this?
The site editors learned all the details of this amazing and powerful ceremony.
Who can and cannot get married
The first requirement for those who are married is to be baptized in the Orthodox Church. If the groom or the bride are not churched in the Orthodox Church or the situation with baptism is not clear, it is important to come to church at least a month before the expected wedding date and discuss the nuances with the priest. Sometimes it is allowed to marry young people, even if someone in a pair is not Orthodox, but! - provided that the children born in this marriage will be baptized in Orthodoxy.
The second requirement is the marriageable age of the young: the bride must be 16 years old, the groom -18. True, the priest will certainly make an exception for a younger bride, if she is expecting a child (or, as they say in Ukraine, she will be "if needed"). The Church is interested in children being born in a married marriage.
It is curious that the couple will get married, even if the future spouses have not received the blessings of their parents. In this case, everything is decided by the blessing of the clergyman.
IMPORTANT. You can not marry atheists and unbaptized, blood and spiritual relatives (for example, godfather and goddaughter), as well as marrying for the fourth time. The wedding ceremony can be performed only three times. And then on condition that the person is widowed or the previous married marriage is dissolved according to church rules.
When you can and cannot get married
It is important that you can get married on the day of the marriage in the registry office (but it is very difficult to endure physically), and even if your legal marriage has been for many years.
By the way, if one of the couple has misunderstandings with documents and other problems, do not be afraid to contact the priest - they will definitely go to meet you in the church.
Do not marry:
During the posts:
Rozhdestvensky - lasts November 28 - January 6;
Great - seven weeks before Orthodox Easter;
Petrov - depends on the date of Easter, lasts from 8 to 42 days;
Uspensky - lasts from 14 to 27 August.
Consider this nuance when planning a wedding (fasting involves abstinence both in food, drinking alcohol, loud festivities, and in carnal intimacy);
... will be denied a wedding on significant days:
September 11 - Beheading of John the Baptist;
September 27 - Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord;
january 7-19 - Christmastide;
on Shrovetide;
for Bright week (week after Easter);
If someone from a couple planning to get married is married to another person who has not been dissolved in the manner prescribed by the church;
They do not get crowned in church every day, but 4 days a week on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. On the days of the four fasts, during which church marriages are not concluded;
If the blessing of the clergyman is not given for marriage and wedding.
IMPORTANT.There is also one piquant moment: according to church laws, you cannot appear in the church on “critical days”. Well, it makes sense to count and choose the right time for the ceremony.
How to prepare for the wedding
It is important to choose a church and a priest who will conduct the ceremony. It is advisable to give preference to the temple that you go to since childhood, or the one in which you feel comfortable and calm.
You need to agree on the date of the wedding ahead of time - several weeks in advance. It is also important to discuss in time: how long the ceremony will last, what to bring with you to the temple, whether it is possible to shoot the ceremony in the temple on camera or do a photo session, how much the ceremony will cost (it is paid).
IMPORTANT.The priest may offer you additional church services, such as ringing bells, singing a church choir.
How to choose guarantors
Guarantors are wedding witnesses who hold crowns during the ceremony. It is customary to choose them from relatives (friends), baptized, unmarried or legally married people (divorced or in a civil marriage is not allowed to choose by the church). Guarantors perform the same duties as godparents: they help the young in life with advice, spiritually lead the family.
IMPORTANT.In the event that it was not possible to agree with the witnesses, the wedding can be held without them.
How to choose an outfit for a wedding
An important rule: young people should have baptismal crosses. The bride is supposed to wear not a short dress (below the knees), without a deep neckline and too open shoulders (you can put a stole over your shoulders). A veil is allowed, but massive headdresses or hats are not, since the bride will be put on a church crown.
The groom is supposed to be in a suit, but ... not in sports or too bright, extravagant, and for women - guests of the ceremony, it is advisable to be in a dress or in a skirt below the knee, married - with a covered head.
IMPORTANT.A bride should not come to church with very bright make-up, and besides, you should not kiss the cross and the icon with painted lips. By the way, the people believe that a wedding dress cannot be given or sold: it is kept like a baptismal shirt, a canopy and candles.
What you need to prepare for the wedding
Two scarves (they are wrapped around wedding candles).
IMPORTANT.A wedding towel is kept, as are wedding candles, which can be lit to cleanse the house on difficult days or when someone in the family is sick.
How to behave during a wedding ceremony
The priest will tell you how the ceremony will take place. The wedding takes place at the entrance to the church, the bride stands to the left of the groom, both stand on the towel and hold candles lit until the end of the sacrament. During the ceremony, the young are blessed by a priest - after a special prayer, he must change the wedding rings three times from the hand of the young to the hand of the bride.
Then the confessor asks the question: “Is the wedding done of good will? Are there any obstacles? " After the young people answer and pray, the young become spouses before God. They kiss church crowns and drink church wine in three sips.
At the end of the ceremony, the priest leads the spouses around the analogion, then to the Royal Doors, the young one kisses the icon of Christ, the young one - the icon of the Mother of God. After - the guests can congratulate the young!
A wedding in the Orthodox Church is one of the seven main sacraments and believers try to observe the rules for it as carefully as possible. The wedding, along with baptism, chrismation, repentance, communion, priesthood, and blessing of the uncle, constitute the center of spiritual life and embody the fullness of man's entry into church life. All that the bride and groom needs to know before such a responsible step as a wedding, you can read in our detailed article. It will also be of interest to those who have already performed the sacrament, but want to learn more about it.
The meaning of a wedding in the Orthodox Church
According to the Christian worldview, two people unite in a union sanctified by God and become one flesh. That is why divorce, so common today in the Christian environment, is considered an unnatural phenomenon, as if a mother decided not to live with her child. Sometimes such a rupture is associated with amputation of a limb or organ - a painful process that makes a person inferior.
The Lord created Adam and Eve and blessed them to multiply and produce the earth. Adam recognized his spiritual and physical relationship with his wife right away: first of all, when he saw Eve, he called her his flesh and blood, because he loved her:
“And the man said, Behold, this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she will be called wife, for she was taken from her husband ”(Gen. 2:23).
Therefore, before taking this step, people should be aware of the seriousness that they promise God by this act.
Young love, as well as long-awaited love, is characterized by haste and vision of your partner in "pink" tones. The virtues that any person has - since everyone was created in the image of God and inherited perfect features from Him - is perceived by a loving person exaggerated and it seems to him that the object of love is perfect. At the same time, his shortcomings - which everyone also has, since we all have undergone original sin and its consequences in the form of illness, death and passions - seem to be smoothed out and do not lend themselves to rational analysis.
Therefore, in the church, where the young people came to talk with the priest about the upcoming event, one can meet an unexpected reaction of the church minister. So, if the priest observes the charter of the holy fathers and honors traditions, then he will advise lovers to wait at least a year until the wedding, during which you can get to know a person better in different circumstances and experience your feelings in practice.
At the same time, this year is not blessed to live an intimate life. In the case when the young came after the established relationship and confronted the priest with a fact, he explains to them that early sexual intercourse before legal marriage leads to adverse consequences for further relationships and their strength.
After an explanatory conversation, if the young people realized their guilt, the priest invites them to fast for three days, then confess their sins and take communion. On the eve of the wedding, the newlyweds must necessarily commune in order to experience this day as the most important in life - the day when two destinies become one destiny, two souls - one soul and two bodies - one body.
How to prepare for the wedding?
First you need to choose a day, a place for the wedding and notify the priest in advance. It should be remembered that not every day of the year in the Orthodox Church it is allowed to conduct this sacrament.
The sacrament of the wedding is not performed on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since these days precede the fasts that believers observe on Wednesday and Friday. Also, the sacrament is not performed on Saturday, since Sunday (and the church day begins at 20:00 the day before) is Little Easter, a consecrated day.
Also, you cannot get married on the days of the fasts established by the Ecumenical Councils - these are 4 fasts a year with a total duration of 5-6 months with different frequency.
As a rule, the age-old tradition of weddings on Krasnaya Gorka has been established in the Orthodox Church of Russia - this is the name of the holiday on the first Sunday after Easter. This day is called Antipaskha in the church calendar and marks the beginning of the period of nationwide wedding festivities, which took place en masse in Russia at all times.
The sacrament is also not held on the eve of single fasting days - for example, September 11, on the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist; on special days of joy and celebration after Great and Christmas Lent - on Christmastide and Bright Week; before and during the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
After choosing the day, it is necessary to start preparing, which, first of all, does not include external preparation of individual items, inviting guests and a plan of events for the celebration - but the internal state of the newlyweds, which consists in preparing for the sacrament of Confession, etc. Both the one and the other sacrament necessarily precede such an important event. After all, the Lord calls the Kingdom of Heaven a wedding feast, and Communion at such a feast on the day of the wedding is the communion of the love of God and strengthening for the entire further joint path through life.
The priest appoints the time of the wedding immediately after the liturgy, which is held every morning. Ideally, if the newlyweds succeed in defending the Liturgy and taking communion on it directly on the eve of the celebration. After all, it is much more important to spend your energy on a contribution to the sacrament than to save them for evening festivities (which it is advisable to avoid and leave guests as early as possible for privacy).
What do you need for a church wedding?
The rules for preparing for a wedding in the Orthodox Church are mainly in the inner awareness and responsibility for this step. In the understanding that there is no turning back and all the difficulties of character, grinding in, disagreements - can now not be a reason for dissolving the union that God has sanctified.
This is a serious step, but many today take it lightly, not counting on the strength and strength of feelings. Unfortunately, such people do not understand that after the break of the married union, it will be more difficult to make the next family harmonious and what is available should be protected.
And already in the second place, it is necessary to prepare an outfit, documents, items for the sacrament and other things necessary on this day.
What you need for a wedding in the Orthodox Church, list:
- Marriage registration certificate. According to the rules established by the Holy Synod, marriages not registered with the registry office cannot be married. Such conditions are dictated primarily by the seriousness of the intentions of the newlyweds, because after the revolution and the collapse of the Russian Empire, the church lost the authority to influence the rights and obligations of the parties, the function of regulating legal relations is now performed by the registry office.
- Icons of the Savior and the Mother of God. What icons are needed for a wedding? Any images and salaries will do, but the main thing is that they can be picked up without any problems. This pious tradition used to mean the blessing of parents for marriage and was inherited - from the side of the bride, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, and from the side of the groom, the icon of the Savior. The blessing of the parents had a sacred value and was sacredly observed.
- Gold wedding rings. Previously, a woman's wedding ring was silver, reminding that in a Christian family a woman is an assistant to her husband and submits to her loving spouse. The husband had a gold ring, which corresponded to the symbolism of the royal metal - like Christ, the husband is obliged to love his wife, who symbolizes the Church. It is the husband who will be responsible for his family before God at the Judgment.
- Wedding candles. These can be purchased locally at the temple. They are a symbol of the grace of the Holy Spirit, who invisibly comes and sanctifies.
- White circuit board. This can be either an ordinary purchased white towel, or a canvas manually embroidered by the bride (which was often practiced earlier). Can also be purchased locally at the Temple. He is laid on the floor and raised at a certain point in the ordinance process. Plat symbolizes the purity of the thoughts and aspirations of the wedding couple.
- Some temples have a fixed sacrament offering. The cost must be paid before the sacrament, so as not to forget about it after. If there is no fixed fee, then you can leave a voluntary donation after the wedding. It should be remembered that the state does not supply church workers with salaries and their living depends on our donations.
- Decent appearance of the wedding couple. The girl (woman) should have a headdress (a scarf or a more magnificent wedding veil), closed shoulders, the outfit should be modest, covering the knees and not having a deep neckline. A man should be wearing trousers. Shorts, breeches, and other shorts that expose legs are not allowed for men in the temple. It is better to choose the color of the dress for the bride in light, pastel colors. Traditionally, a pure chaste girl emphasizes her innocence with a completely white dress and fresh flowers in her hands. It is better to choose shoes for the bride that are comfortable, with flat soles to defend the service without any problems.
After the church has lost its legitimate civilian power to regulate legal matters, witnesses are not required and rather in the nature of a godly tradition. The witnesses were the sureties of the spouses, they knew them well. They invited experienced witnesses who had their own families of witnesses who could give useful advice in difficult situations.
What rules for weddings in the Orthodox Church do you need to know?
How to prepare for a wedding in the Orthodox Church - the priest, whom the newlyweds chose to conduct their sacrament, will explain in an accessible way. But the general rules remain the same.
A marriage registered by the registry office is a graceless, but not illegal cohabitation. This form is respected by the church and is allowed in the event that a church marriage cannot be completed. And it cannot be done in several cases:
- when a civil marriage has been registered more than three times - according to church canons, you cannot marry more than three times;
- when one or both spouses do not belong to the Orthodox Church, are not baptized or are not brought voluntarily;
- when there was no actual dissolution of marriage with the previous spouse: for civil registration, a divorce certificate is required, for church registration - the blessing of the bishop to enter into a new marriage;
- when the bride and groom are blood or spiritual relatives - including if they are godparents of one person;
- the rules for the age of those getting married in the Orthodox Church are limited to the upper threshold of 60 years for a woman and 70 for a man, the lower threshold: 16 years for a girl and 18 for a guy.
During the preparation for the wedding, all controversial points in matters of worldview should be discussed so that the sacrament can be performed with a pure heart.
How long does a church wedding take place - 40-60 minutes.
What to do with wedding candles and other attributes after the wedding?
From such family heirlooms, you can arrange a small collection. For this purpose, a separate box is set up, where attributes are put after a wedding, baptism and other memorable family events. The box can be shown to children, illuminating in front of them the details of a significant day, refreshing their own memory and plunging memories into happy events. Various souvenirs brought from the pilgrimage can also be placed there.
Wedding candles can be lit during prayer to ask for something important for the family from God, for special gratitude to Him, or at other times.
All of these things are reminders of important milestones in the development of the family and are part of the emotional life of family members. Moreover, by themselves, they do not carry sacred value. If for some reason the relics are not needed, they can be disposed of in a special way. Since the objects participated in the holy rite, it is better to burn them - on your own or to transfer them to the church with a request to dispose of the consecrated candles and objects that participated in the sacrament.
Seeing the symbols of the wedding in front of them, spouses can, through memories, look for ways in mutual understanding, when difficult moments arise, through tangible evidence of their union, which they made before God, the spouses remember the importance of the family hearth and gain new strength to go through life together. hand.
The rules for weddings in the Orthodox Church consist, first of all, of a moral foundation, which consists in purity of intentions, the absence of selfish and dishonorable goals and a firm determination to unite with a loved one together. The purpose of such a union is to receive from the Lord the gift of like-mindedness for the Christian life and raising children. More about the wedding can be found in the book.
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Then the Epistle to the Ephesians of the holy Apostle Paul is read (), where the marriage union is likened to the union of Christ and the Church, for which the Savior who loved her gave Himself up. The husband's love for his wife is a semblance of Christ's love for the Church, and the wife's loving-humble obedience to her husband is a semblance of the Church's relationship to Christ.This is mutual love until self-denial, the willingness to sacrifice himself in the image of Christ, who gave himself to be crucified for sinful people, and in the image true followers of Him, who through suffering and martyrdom have confirmed their faithfulness and love for the Lord.
The last saying of the apostle: let the wife fear her husband - calls not to the fear of the weak before the strong, not to the fear of a slave in relation to the master, but to the fear of saddening a loving person, disrupting the unity of souls and bodies. The same fear of losing love, and therefore the presence of God in family life, should be experienced by a husband whose head is Christ. In another epistle, the Apostle Paul says: The wife has no power over her body, but the husband; likewise, the husband has no power over his own body, but the wife. Do not shy away from each other, unless by agreement, for a while, for exercise in fasting and prayer, and then again be together, so that Satan does not tempt you with your intemperance ().
Husband and wife are members of the Church and, being particles of the fullness of the Church, are equal to each other, obeying the Lord Jesus Christ.
After the Apostle, the Gospel of John is read (). It preaches the good news of God's blessing of the conjugal union and its sanctification. The miracle of the transformation of water into wine by the Savior typified the action of the grace of the sacrament, by which earthly conjugal love rises to heavenly love, which unites souls in the Lord. The saint says about the moral change necessary for this, “The marriage is honest and the bed is immaculate, for Christ blessed them in Cana at marriage, eating food in the flesh and turning the water into wine, showing this first miracle so that you, the soul, would change” (Great canon, in Russian translation, troparion 4, ode 9).
After reading the Gospel, a short petition for newlyweds and a prayer of the priest are pronounced on behalf of the Church, in which we pray to the Lord that He will preserve those who are united in peace and like-mindedness, so that their marriage will be honest, their bed will not be foul, their cohabitation will be blameless, so that he may live until old age, while fulfilling His commandments from a pure heart.
The priest proclaims: "And vouch for us, Vladyka, with boldness, uncondemnedly sweep away, call upon Thee, the Heavenly God the Father, and speak ...". And the newlyweds, together with all those present, sing the prayer "Our Father", the foundation and crown of all prayers, commanded to us by the Savior Himself.
In the lips of those who are married, she expresses her determination to serve the Lord with her small church, so that through them on earth, His will be fulfilled and reigned in their family life. As a sign of submission and devotion to the Lord, they bow their heads under the crowns.
After the Lord's prayer, the priest glorifies the Kingdom, the power and glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and, teaching the world, commands us to bow our heads before God, as before the King and Lord, and at the same time before our Father. Then a cup of red wine is brought, or rather, a cup of communion, and the priest blesses it for mutual communion between husband and wife. Wine at the wedding is served as a sign of joy and gaiety, recalling the miraculous transformation of water into wine, accomplished by Jesus Christ in Cana of Galilee.
The priest gives the young couple three times to drink wine from the common cup - first to the husband, as the head of the family, then to the wife. Usually they drink wine in three small sips: first the husband, then the wife.
Having taught the common cup, the priest joins the husband's right hand with the wife's right hand, covers their hands with the epitrachilia and puts his hand over it.This means that through the priest's hand the husband receives a wife from the Church itself, which unites them in Christ forever. The priest leads the newlyweds around the lectern three times.
At the first circumambulation, the troparion "Isaiah, rejoice ..." is sung, in which the sacrament of the incarnation of the Son of God Emmanuel from the Unmarried Mary is glorified.
At the second circumambulation, the troparion of the “Holy Martyr” is sung. Crowned with crowns, as conquerors of earthly passions, they represent the image of the spiritual marriage of a believing soul with the Lord.
Finally, in the third troparion, which is sung during the last round of the analogion, Christ is glorified as the joy and glory of the newlyweds, their hope in all the circumstances of life: “Glory to Thee, Christ God, the praise of the apostles, the joy of martyrs, their preaching. Trinity Consubstantial ”.
This circular walk means the eternal procession that began on this day for this couple. Their marriage will be an eternal procession hand in hand, a continuation and manifestation of the sacrament performed today. Remembering the common cross laid on them today, “bearing each other's burdens,” they will always be filled with the gracious joy of this day. At the end of the solemn procession, the priest removes the crowns from the spouses, greeting them with words full of patriarchal simplicity and therefore especially solemn:
"Exalted, bridegroom, like Abraham, and blessed like Isaac, and multiplying like Jacob, walk in peace and do God's commandments in righteousness."
"And you, bride, have exalted like Sarah, and rejoiced like Rebekah, and multiplied like Rachel, rejoicing in your husband, keeping the limits of the law, because God is so pleased."
Then, in two subsequent prayers, the priest asks the Lord, who blessed the marriage in Cana of Galilee, to accept the crowns of newlyweds as undefiled and blameless in His Kingdom. In the second prayer, read by the priest, with bowing of the heads of the newlyweds, these petitions are sealed with the name of the Most Holy Trinity and a priestly blessing. At the end of her, the newlyweds with a chaste kiss testify to holy and pure love for each other.
Further, according to custom, the newlyweds are brought to the royal doors, where the groom kisses the icon of the Savior, and the bride - the image of the Mother of God; then they change places and are applied accordingly: the groom - to the icon of the Mother of God, and the bride - to the icon of the Savior. Here, the priest gives them a kissing cross and presents them with two icons: the groom - the image of the Savior, the bride - the image of the Most Holy Theotokos.
What should be a wedding meal
The Sacrament of marriage is celebrated solemnly and joyfully. From a multitude of people: relatives, friends and acquaintances - from the sparkle of candles, from church singing somehow involuntarily it becomes festive and cheerful in the soul.
After the wedding, the young, parents, witnesses, guests continue the holiday at the table.
But how indecently some of the invitees sometimes behave. They often revel here, utter shameless speeches, sing immodest songs, and dance wildly. Such behavior would be shameful even for a pagan, “ignorant of God and His Christ,” and not only for us Christians. The Holy Church warns against such behavior. Canon 53 of the Laodicean Council says: "It is not fitting for marriages to walk (that is, even to relatives of the bride and groom and guests) to ride or dance, but modestly have supper and dinner, as befits Christians." The wedding feast should be modest and quiet, should be averse to all intemperance and indecency. Such a quiet and modest feast will be blessed by the Lord Himself, who sanctified the marriage in Cana of Galilee with His presence and the performance of the first miracle.
What Can Hinder Christian Marriage
Often, those preparing for the wedding first register a civil marriage at the registry office. The Orthodox Church considers civil marriage to be deprived of grace, but as a fact it recognizes and does not consider it illegal fornication. Nevertheless, the conditions for entering into a marriage under civil law and according to church canons differ. However, not every civil marriage can be consecrated in the church.
The Church does not allow marriage more than three times. According to civil law, the fourth and fifth marriages are allowed, which the Church does not bless.
A marriage is not blessed if one of the spouses (and even more so both) declares himself an atheist and says that he came to the wedding only at the insistence of his spouse or parents.
A wedding is not allowed if at least one of the spouses is unbaptized and is not going to be baptized before the wedding.
The wedding is impossible if one of the future spouses is actually married to another person. First, you need to dissolve the civil marriage, and if the marriage was a church marriage, be sure to take the bishop's permission to dissolve it and bless him to enter into a new marriage.
Another obstacle to marriage is the consanguinity of the bride and groom and the spiritual kinship acquired through baptismal acceptance.
When the wedding is not performed
According to the canonical rules, it is not allowed to have a wedding during all four fasts, on cheese week, Easter week, from the Nativity of Christ to the Epiphany (Christmastide). According to a pious custom, it is not customary to marry on Saturday, as well as on the eve of the twelve, great and temple holidays, so that the pre-holiday evening does not pass in noisy fun and entertainment. In addition, in the Russian Orthodox Church, marriage is not performed on Tuesdays and Thursdays (on the eve of fast days - Wednesday and Friday), on the eve and on the days of the Beheading of John the Baptist (August 29 / September 11) and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14/27). Exceptions to these rules can be made if need be only by the ruling bishop.
Cm. .
In the life of all believers, weddings play a very important role. This event is very important, it has a deep religious meaning. A wedding, like a baptism, takes place once in the life of each person, this is a very responsible and serious step.
There is a popular belief that God created marriage in paradise. Jesus Christ confirmed and sanctified this process, the process of marriage. This was done while Jesus was at Cannes of Galilee for a wedding. The wedding ceremony began to appear only at the beginning of the tenth century.
Among modern people, weddings have become popular and fashionable. When a married couple gets married, from that moment they become spouses before God. During the wedding, the blessing from the Lord for a happy marriage and the birth of children comes to the couple. Not all couples get married on their wedding day. They can do this after a few years of family life, when they are confident in each other.
Newlyweds should be very well prepared before performing this intimate wedding ceremony. It is not always fashionable to receive advice about this rite from your parents or from grandparents. They know little about this rite, because in their time it was not customary to hold a wedding.
If the bride and groom have a desire, then they can talk with the priest. During the conversation, the newlyweds can ask about the meaning of such a church rite as a wedding, what things need to be taken to the church for the ceremony. Also, the priest gives his blessing to photograph this event.
Church rules say that the bride and groom must fast for at least three days, and after that they must go through confession and communion. For believers, fasting is not only abstinence from food, but also from sexual relations. It is very good if a person during the period of fasting leads a lifestyle detached from noisy and stormy events, devoting the bulk of his time to prayers.
What to take with you to church
- Official marriage certificate issued by the registry office. Many temples do not require this document, as they believe that true marriage is in heaven. Church workers simply rely on the honesty of lovers. According to tradition, before the wedding, the lovers need to officially register their marriage.
- Neck crosses. These should be crosses with which the bride and groom were once baptized. The wedding is held only if the newlyweds are baptized and have the Orthodox Christian faith (if the wedding is held in an Orthodox church). The same goes for witnesses. The crosses should be around the neck, they should not be given to anyone and should not be removed. If for some reason the bride or groom is not baptized, but decided to get married, then before the wedding ceremony, you first need to go through the baptismal ceremony.
- Wedding rings that the newlyweds exchanged in the registry office. Wedding rings are used in the wedding process. The priest once again puts them on the fingers of the newlyweds, but after he has consecrated them.
- Four small linen handkerchiefs, a white towel or towel. The white towel symbolizes the purity of the marriage. The newlyweds step on it during the wedding, and the priest also bandages the hands of the newlyweds with the same towel, thus uniting two in one fate. Two wedding cuts are wrapped in two linen kerchiefs, and two more kerchiefs are used so that witnesses can hold church crowns over the crowned people.
- Wedding candles. They symbolize God's grace, are a sign of chastity and pure love. Wedding candles can be bought at the icon store or directly in the temple. They are different from ordinary church candles. Wedding candles are large in size and are often decorated with different figures, flowers, patterns. Newlyweds choose wedding candles to their taste, the most important thing is that they are sacred. When choosing, you need to pay attention to the candles that come with a special scarf so that wax does not drip onto the groom's suit or on the bride's dress.
- Two icons. One icon is for the bride, the other is for the groom. The groom is the future head of the family, the icon of Christ the Savior is used for him, and the bride is the keeper of the hearth, the icon of the Mother of God is used for her.
What Newlyweds Should Know
A wedding dress is different from a wedding dress, it is not the same thing. A wedding dress should be modest, not very frank and defiant. For a wedding ceremony, a bold length, a deep neckline, very bright colors such as green, red, high cuts are unacceptable in relation to a dress. It is best to choose a dress in white and classic tailoring. This can ensure that people in the temple do not cast sidelong glances at you, and also ensures that the priest will undertake the ceremony. If there is something in the dress that is unacceptable for a church ceremony, then this part must be covered with a scarf that is monochromatic with the dress, or you can throw on a bolero.
Regarding the bride's hairstyle - it should be simple, without any special decorations. Light styling works best. The veil should be secured as high as possible so that the hair is underneath. If there is no veil in the dress, then you need to take some light scarf or kerchief with you to church so that you can cover the bride's head.
Many couples want to capture such an important event in their life on camera. Basically, filming is allowed in all temples. But nevertheless, you need to talk about this in advance with the priest, so that later there will be no unforeseen situations. The church has a specific lighting, so it is best to ask for help from professionals so that they can take photos and video of the ceremony.
Traditionally, there should be witnesses at the wedding (usually they are called boyfriend and girlfriend). When choosing witnesses, a very important argument is that the girl should be single, the guy should also be single. At the wedding ceremony, witnesses are instructed to hold crowns over the heads of the young.
What witnesses need to know
Witnesses must necessarily be Orthodox people. It is highly desirable that they also be church people and would take the wedding ceremony very seriously. At marriage, witnesses have the same duties as godparents during the baptism ceremony. In the future, witnesses should take care that the young develop spiritually.
How is the wedding process
The wedding ceremony is held in two stages. The first stage is the engagement, and the second stage is the wedding. Before the ceremony, you need to give the clergyman rings, which he brings out on a tray during the ceremony. He lights candles, goes up to the newlyweds and gives them rings in their hands. Further, the young do the procedure of triple exchange of rings. The bride and groom move the wedding rings three times on the tray served and then each puts on his own. This symbolizes the fact that people give themselves to each other for a lifetime.
In the process of the wedding ceremony, the priest blesses the newlyweds with crowns and blesses them, the Gospel is read. The newlyweds are presented with a cup of wine, from which they have to drink three sips. After all this, the bride and groom become one.
Next, the priest takes his hands the right hands of the bride and groom and joins them, while he goes around with the newlyweds three times around the analogion. This means that the marriage of these people will be an eternal reunion of hearts and souls.
The newlyweds are then taken to the royal doors. The newlyweds kiss the images, the bride kisses the image of the Mother of God, and the groom - the image of the Savior. After that, the newlyweds change places and kiss the cross that the priest gives them. Newlyweds can hang these icons in their own home above the bed where they sleep.
Signs that are associated with the wedding ceremony
- On the day of the wedding, you need to put a lock under the threshold in the morning, after the young family crosses the threshold, the lock is locked with a key, and the key is thrown away. The castle itself should be preserved for all years of family life. This tradition promises newlyweds a long and happy family life.
- When the sacrament of the wedding takes place, the newlyweds do not need to look each other in the eyes, as this can later lead to betrayal.
- White towels, which were laid under the feet of the newlyweds, do not need to be given to anyone. These towels should be kept at home after the ceremony.
- If in the process of the ceremony the wedding candles burn smoothly and evenly, then this is a symbol of the fact that the young will have a happy and measured life, in the event that the candles crackle while burning, it means that the life of the newlyweds will be restless and filled with quarrels and scandals ...
- After the end of the wedding ceremony, the candles must be preserved throughout the life of the house. Do not throw them away under any circumstances!
When the ceremony is over, the newlyweds should thank the church. They do this with fresh bread, which is wrapped in a linen towel.
The wedding ceremony appeared more than two thousand years ago with the birth of Christianity. In the past, the bride and groom had to notify their priest in advance to hold it. After which he reported the message to the parishioners, and if there were no objections, then the young were allowed to the wedding. Today, such consent is not required, the desire of the couple is enough, but the traditions of the ritual itself are carefully honored and fulfilled from century to century. The Svadbagolik.ru portal will tell you how to prepare for the wedding and what happens during the ceremony.
How is the wedding procedure
In accordance with how the wedding in the church takes place, the whole further spiritual life of the couple is formed.
The very sacrament of church marriage begins with betrothal. After the completion of the special service, the bride and groom stand on opposite sides of the altar, on the right and left, respectively. The witnesses, the man on the right, the woman on the left, line up in the same way. Then the priest blesses the young people three times and presents them with two special wedding candles, which symbolize the happy meeting of the couple. If the wedding for one of the spouses is not the first time, then the candles do not participate in the ceremony.
After that, the priest utters the necessary words, blesses the groom with the sign of the cross and puts a wedding ring on the ring finger of his right hand. Then he does the same with the bride. Note that the words of the priest at the wedding are strictly regulated and determined by the church canon.
The engagement ritual ends with the young couple exchanging rings three times as a sign of unanimity and love. Until the moment of betrothal, the rings themselves are on the altar, on its right side, then the deacon brings them out on a special tray.
Following the engagement is the wedding itself. In the Orthodox Church, it takes place in part the same way as a Catholic wedding, but with greater severity and regulation. The priest takes the crown in his hands as a sign of Eternal Life (hence the name of the rite), crosses overshadows the groom with it and lets him kiss the image of the Savior, attached to the front of the crown. In exactly the same way, the bride is blessed, only she needs to venerate the image of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The wedding process then requires the young to stand on a large white or pink shawl spread on the floor, which signifies the purity of married life. Being on it, they confirm before those present and God the voluntariness of their intention to create a married couple.
At the end of the wedding, the bride and groom are presented with a cup of red wine, symbolizing the common fate of the couple with all their joys and sorrows. The priest reads a prayer over her, baptizes it three times and passes it on to the young. They take turns drinking all the wine in three doses, after which their right hands are joined and covered with epitrachilia. According to the laws of a wedding in the Orthodox Church, after that, the priest leads the young three times around the lectern as a symbol of a new married life.
At the end of the solemn procession, the crowns are removed from the bride and groom, and the priest greets the new married couple who have entered into an alliance before the face of God. Each of the newlyweds kisses the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God at the Royal Doors (doors that lead to the altar). Finally, the ceremony is considered complete, the newly-made couple receives two icons as a gift and receives public congratulations on the beginning of a new life.
What does the priest say during the wedding?
The wedding regulations in the Orthodox tradition presuppose a set of obligatory words of the priest addressed to the young. In accordance with the procedures during the wedding, each of them in the Orthodox Church has its own message:
How long does the preparation take and the wedding ceremony itself in the church?
The duration of the preparatory period depends only on the newlyweds themselves. During this time, they will have to purchase everything they need for the wedding, get acquainted with the priest who will conduct the ceremony and tell how to celebrate the wedding and choose an outfit.
The rites of engagement and weddings themselves in the church last as long as it takes to complete all of the above procedures step by step. Typically, this happens within forty minutes to one hour.
According to the requirements of some priests, couples are obliged to fully defend the service in the morning and receive communion. Only then are they allowed to be engaged to the engagement and wedding. In this case, the procedure can take up to five hours. How to celebrate the wedding ritual, and whether it is worth doing it at all, the newlyweds already decide on their own, there are no clear rules on this matter.
A wedding in the Orthodox tradition is a very responsible ceremony, which has its own clear rules and drama. The portal site is sure that after going through it, you make an alliance before God and give rise to a happy family.
