How does a wedding ceremony take place in the Orthodox Church?

— Signs and superstitions — Observance of signs during a wedding in the Orthodox Church

There are 7 known church sacraments, during which people are given God's grace. Among them, weddings in the Orthodox Church occupy a special place. After all, it is dedicated to the future spouses receiving God’s grace for their future life together. This means that God gives here not to one person, but to two, thereby symbolizing their unity for living together and jointly raising children born in marriage.

The purpose and essence of the sacrament

A wedding is an important and responsible step for Orthodox believers. You cannot go through the sacrament simply for the sake of fashion or colorful memories of a spectacular ceremony. The ceremony is carried out for churchgoers, that is, people baptized according to the rules of Orthodoxy, who understand the importance of creating a family in Christ.
Important! The dissolution of a married marriage or violation of the accepted vow of fidelity to a spouse is a grave sin.
At the sacred level, husband and wife become one. The priest reads prayers during the ceremony, calls on God, asks him for mercy for the newly created family to become part of Him.

In Orthodoxy there is a concept: family - Small Church. The husband, the head of the family, is a prototype of the priest, of Christ himself. The wife is the Church, betrothed to the Savior.

Why see a wedding in a church?

The sign in this case has an ambiguous interpretation. On the one hand, seeing someone else's happiness is not good. A person who becomes an involuntary witness to the sacrament will remain alone forever. Even if at this moment he has a soulmate, they will soon separate.

Another interpretation has a positive meaning. A person who accidentally attends a wedding is charged with positive energy. Soon he will meet love and also go to the altar. True, the sign will come true only if the couple in love does not cause envy. We need to sincerely wish the young people happiness and long years of marriage.

There are many signs associated with a wedding. Most of them are interpreted in a positive way. Even if the interpretation has a negative meaning, this is not a reason to despair and expect numerous problems. There is always a way to avoid bad omens. In addition, the events that occurred may have a completely logical explanation and foreshadow nothing.

Why is it necessary for a family: the opinion of the church

The church contrasts marriage according to the Orthodox tradition with the unspiritual life of a consumer society. Family in the life of a believer is a stronghold that grants:

mutual support in everyday difficulties;
joint spiritual development;
nurturing each other;
the joy of mutual love blessed by God.

A married spouse is a companion for life. The spiritual strength received in the family is then transferred by a person to social and government activities.

On the way to church

Folk signs for a wedding are of great importance for the event, as the future spouses went to the temple.

Health of the bride and groom

According to popular superstition, only those newlyweds who are healthy on that day can go to a church event. If on the day of the ceremony the bride or groom has aggravated any ailments, then the wedding of a sick spouse may leave him associated with these sores for the rest of his life.

Leaving the house

When the bride leaves her home, her parents, according to popular belief, wash the floors after her so that her daughter does not return home to live. Before going to the church for the wedding ceremony, a lock is placed under the threshold of the house. As the bride and groom cross this threshold, heading to church, the blood parents close this lock with a key, which they throw away. The castle is then given to the newlyweds so that they can keep it for life. Such a lock, locked with a key, preserves family happiness and will make the marriage long and strong.

If, before the wedding ceremony, the newlyweds stand in front of a well and, looking into each other’s eyes, take an oath of eternal fidelity, according to popular belief, such a ritual will not allow anyone to ruin their family life.

Weather

People used to say that rainy weather is always happy, so if it suddenly started raining on the way to church, it was always a sign of a successful marriage.

Excessively hot weather on the day of the event is an unfavorable sign. That is why, in order not to test this sign in practice, young people try to set a date for the ceremony in the spring or autumn months.

Scripture Meaning

For a happy family life, carnal mutual love for each other is not enough. A special connection between husband and wife, the union of two souls appears after the wedding ceremony:

the couple receives the spiritual protection of the church, the family union becomes a part of it;
the Orthodox family is a special hierarchy of the Little Church, where the wife submits to her husband, and the husband to God;
during the ceremony, the Holy Trinity is called upon to help the young couple, and they ask her for a blessing for the new Orthodox marriage;
children born in a married marriage receive a special blessing at birth;
It is believed that if a married couple lives in compliance with Christian laws, God himself takes her in his arms and carefully carries her through her entire life.

Just as in the Big Church they pray to God, so in the Small Church, which the married family becomes, the word of God must constantly sound. True Christian values in the family are obedience, meekness, patience with each other, and humility.

The power of the Lord’s grace is so great that, having received His blessing during the wedding ceremony, the couple then often devotes their aspirations to the Christian life with great zeal, even if previously the young people rarely visited the temple. This is the leadership of Jesus Christ, who became the master of the Orthodox home.

Important! One of the main vows of a married couple is the oath of fidelity to each other for the rest of their lives.

Possible prohibitions

Before you definitely decide on the date of the celebration, you should find out if there are any holidays or fasts on this day. If you believe the signs of a wedding in a church, then the date should be “clean” from all kinds of holidays and fasts. You can find out such information in a special calendar or directly from the priest. It is known for sure that signs during a wedding in the Orthodox Church categorically prohibit carrying out the ceremony on such holidays as:

Christmas time period;
Uspensky Peter;
and on any Easter fasts.

In addition, there is a taboo on Christmastide, Maslenitsa and, of course, memorial days or weeks. Also, priests may refuse to perform the ceremony during Easter, and on the dates:

February 15 is the day of the Presentation;
September 21 is the day when the Blessed Virgin Mary was born;
September 28 is the day when the Cross of the Lord was erected;
Ascension and Trinity (dates are constantly changing);
Protection of the Holy Mother of God.

Important! Please note that a high year is not the best time for married people to also bind themselves before the Lord.

What does it give and mean for spouses?

Orthodox Christians should know that it is the wedding that seals the union of a man and a woman before God. The church does not conduct the ceremony if the couple has not legally registered the relationship. But official registration alone is not enough for a union to be considered legalized by the church: an unmarried couple appears before God as strangers to each other.

The wedding gives a special blessing from heaven to the couple:

to live according to the commandments of Jesus Christ;
for a prosperous family life in spiritual unity;
for the birth of children.

There are often cases when people realize the importance of cementing a union with the church and come to get married a few years after an ordinary marriage , in order not only to observe a beautiful tradition, but to comprehend the deep sacred meaning of the ceremony.

Spiritual preparation

Before performing the ritual, young people must undergo special training:

fast;
attend confession;
take communion;
read prayers, turning to God with a request to grant a vision of your sins, forgive them, teach them how to atone;
You must definitely forgive all your enemies, ill-wishers, and pray for them with Christian humility;
pray for all people who have been voluntarily or unwittingly offended in life, ask God for forgiveness and the opportunity to atone.

Before the wedding, if possible, it is recommended to pay off all debts and make donations to charitable causes. Wedding is a church Sacrament; young people should try to approach it with a clear conscience and a calm heart.

How to choose wedding

The wedding ceremony takes from 45 minutes to an hour, so you need to choose candles that are long, but not too wide so that they are comfortable to hold.
It would be good if the candles had special handles and saucers.

Then the dripping wax will not burn your hands or ruin your clothes. Fabric lace napkins, handkerchiefs and potholders are also used.

The traditional color of candles is white. Golden or pink shades are allowed.

Products can be either simple, without decoration, or decorated.
For decoration, chains, glass beads, lace, ribbons, polymer clay, fabric, etc. are used. Decorative elements should be paired, for example, two hearts, two rings.

You can purchase ready-made products at a church shop, or you can make them yourself from wax or paraffin. Items made with your own hands or purchased outside of the church must first be consecrated. It is better not to buy them secondhand, as there is a high risk of receiving low-quality products.

They do not take other people’s wedding attributes for the sacrament.

, even if the people who offer them have lived their whole lives in a happy marriage. Moreover, the priests say that there is nothing wrong with this, but the candles are a sacrifice in favor of the church, so it is better to buy them in the temple where the ceremony will be held.

What should a couple know?

Additionally, you need to know some of the subtleties of the wedding ceremony and preparation for it:

Before the wedding itself, a young couple should fast for at least three days (more is possible). These days you need not only to limit yourself in food, but also to devote more time to prayer. You should also completely abstain from flat pleasures;
The groom is allowed to attend the wedding in a regular classic suit, but there are much more requirements for the bride’s dress. It should be modest; exposing the back, neckline, or shoulders is not allowed. Modern wedding fashion offers dresses in a variety of colors, but the wedding dress should be modest, preferably in shades of white;
According to Orthodox tradition, the bride does not wear a veil or veil that covers her face. This symbolizes her openness to God and her future husband.

The wedding day must be previously agreed upon with the priest. There are a number of restrictions for carrying out the ceremony. For example, they do not marry on days of fasting, on many church holidays - Christmas, Easter, Epiphany, Ascension.

There are also especially successful days for holding the sacrament, for example, on Krasnaya Gorka or on the day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The priest will tell you the best day for a particular couple to perform the wedding ceremony.

Important! The duration of the wedding ceremony is usually 30-50 minutes.

Before the wedding

The bride and groom go to church separately. You can’t go on this journey together. Parents should bless their children before the trip.
Parents should try to make sure that both the bride and groom, on the way to the temple, step over the threshold, under which a padlock is hidden in advance. When they do this, the lock is locked with a key. The lock is hidden, and the key is thrown away in a remote place so that it never catches the eye of anyone.
Popular beliefs do not allow brides to wear wedding dresses before the ceremony; the groom should not see the dress. When going to church, a girl first sticks her head into the neckline, and then puts her hands into the sleeves; doing the opposite is prohibited.
To protect young people from the evil eye, they need to insert pins into their festive clothes from the wrong side.