Wedding in the Orthodox Church: the rules before the rite for the groom, the bride and the witnesses
Today, many newlyweds do not just go to the registry office and register marriage with each other, but try to conclude this marriage in the church. In Soviet times, when a visit to the church was banned, the units were married. Today, young people really believe in a special wedding ritual in the church.
I'll tell you about my wedding. I will not hide it, we did not know much with my husband then, just came to church and asked what we would need in order to be married. We met a very kind Father, told in detail about the rules of the Orthodox wedding, suggested how and what to do, what to prepare, and how to prepare ourselves and witnesses for this sacrament.
I must say, this preparation is not the easiest, I then thought that the wedding itself with a banquet and a ceremony in the registry office would have been somehow simpler and more carefree than a serious step like a wedding.
We were already registered with the husband in the registry office, so we were asked to bring a marriage certificate in the church, now it is really being asked, as there are many cases that the groom is not married to his civic wife.
The rules of the wedding in the Orthodox Church are different, but the main thing is that the bereaved are baptized in the church.
So, in order to get married in the church, you need to buy wedding rings, we had them in gold, although silver ones are allowed. Further, we will need the Icon of the Savior and the Icon of the Mother of God, wedding candles and a white towel, a towel.
The basis of the main rule before the wedding in Orthodoxy is a sham. Before the wedding, we held fast for seven days, did not eat animal food, did not drink alcohol, read a prayer every day. After seven days, they defended their service in the church, repented, confessed and received communion. The most difficult was the confession before Batiushka, I remember, we even wrote out our sins on paper, and then read it out.
The next day after the communion, a wedding ceremony was appointed.
The rules of the wedding for witnesses, who also need to be Orthodox, are based on the fact that they too must stand fast before the ceremony.
At the ceremony, we came with witnesses, according to the rules, the bride's attire should be modest, it is obligatory to close hands and feet, without deep cuts and dug back, the head is covered with a handkerchief or a veil. The bride's dress should not have dark tones - black, blue, purple.
Today, there are often two festivities - a march to the registry office and a wedding in the church, you will often see a bride in a white wedding dress at a wedding, less often older couples come there.
The ceremony itself is very beautiful, it takes about an hour. Often not one pair is crowned at the same time, but two or more. When we were married, we had two couples.
During the betrothal, the bride stands to the left of the groom, Father reads a prayer, three times must bless the couple and give them wedding candles. Then again he reads a prayer and puts on rings for young spouses. The wedding rings are changed three times from the bridegroom's hand to the bride's hand, as a result, the man's ring remains on the girl's hand, and the ring of the bride is on the groom's hand. Now they can be considered a bride and groom.
Next is the wedding ceremony. Young people are asked if they voluntarily came to the wedding and whether there are any obstacles to this. Then the witnesses take the crowns and hold them over the heads of the bride and groom. Then prayers are read, and a cup of wine is brought out, young people should drink it three times, it symbolizes that now everything will be divided in half. Then they bind their hands with a white towel and spend three times around the altar. After that, they ring the bell, as if announcing the birth of a new family.
In fact, this rite is very beautiful, accompanied by the singing of prayers, and it takes place in a beautiful place - in a church that young people choose themselves.