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Sacrament of wedding. Russian wedding ceremony

Congratulations, dear ones, on your legal marriage. Today the greatest event in your life took place - today you received God's blessing for life together. Today there has been triumph and joy not only in your life, but also in the life of our entire Church. Because through your marriage, eternity has come to earth, eternity has entered the realm of time. Because through your marriage the Kingdom of Heaven has come closer. For it is said that the Kingdom of Heaven has come where there are two - no longer two, but one. That's what marriage is.

There is no closer relationship between two people on earth than a marriage. Marriage is a union that, as it were, fulfills God’s original plan for man as a whole being, in which both masculine and feminine principles are combined. This is the Kingdom of God come in power. Now you are already in this joy of love. The Lord has granted you a meeting. The Lord gave you to each other. He revealed to each of you that imperishable Divine beauty that only each of you can see. And so you, seeing this beauty in each other, were inflamed with love for each other, with the desire to unite your life and your destiny with the destiny of another, to become one being.

But this unity, which today appears as if already accomplished - unity in marriage - is given as a firstfruits so that you can cultivate this unity during your life. Because love is not only about joy and rejoicing about each other. LOVE IS A FEAT. This is what we must not forget. And a feat that will be accomplished by you throughout your life. And here you must remember the advice of the Apostle Paul, which should be written in red letters literally in your mind: Friend friend hardships wear, And So perform law Christov (see Gal 6:2). What's happened hardships? This is our sinfulness, these are our shortcomings, these are the sorrows and illnesses that may occur on your path in life. And if each of you previously cared only about yourself, now you will take care of each other as well as yourself, bearing these burdens. That is, with patience, with great reverence serve each other.

The Lord has given you faith. We prayed that the Lord would strengthen your faith - not only in Him, but in each other. This is the basis of life - to believe in each other, trust each other TO THE END. This is the guarantee that your life will be happy.

Now a new family has formed - one family and another. It is like a small shuttle that is thrown into the water, into the sea of ​​life, to sail on this sea. Along the sea of ​​life... there are a lot of misfortunes, a lot of undercurrents that can be encountered along the way, which seek to crush, destroy this shuttle, destroy family life, destroy happiness and love. We must always remember this. And so each of you is now called to put the center of your life, in the first place, not on yourself, but on the other: the husband - the wife, and the wife - the husband. In first place in your life! And all your attention should now be directed not to yourself, but to another. You now need to cultivate in yourself a feeling of compassion, pity for each other, covering with love each other’s shortcomings and sinful downfalls that may occur in life. Cover with love, forgive mutually, tolerate each other mutually and show obedienceFriendfriend. Such obedience means being able to listen each other, listen to what the other is saying and, listening, empathize. And this is it empathy with another person, this compassion to him, this one support him, and it will be carrying cross each other, mutual carrying the cross.

Let Christ be at the center of your life! As you walked around the lectern - the Gospel, the word of God, the cross - follow the narrow, demanding path, do not make concessions to yourself, live according to the principle - to be strict with yourself, condescending - with others. May God grant you to walk the path of life joyfully, boldly, and not be embarrassed by anything. Because everything happens in life. There are such things when it seems that the family is crushed. Well, it’s impossible to live anymore. Show courage and heroism. Be patient with each other UNTIL THE END! This is very important. Because there are circumstances that can completely change consciousness... that it is impossible to live, but you will show patience and courage. Never draw premature conclusions about what is happening in the family, but show patience and wisdom, tact, sensitivity and understanding of others. This patience brings great, great results! And it happens that the family is about to be crushed, that the family has already collapsed... no! Wisdom and patience with each other can overcome everything. Because there is no greater power than mutual love, it does not stop, Love Not stops (see 1 Cor 13:8). Believe in this love that united you. Let it kindle in your hearts every day of your life! May the Lord bless you with His mercy, His love, and grant you strength and strength. remember, that force God's V infirmities our is being done (cf. 2 Cor 12:9), in our human infirmities. Place all your trust in the Lord - and this trust will bear great fruit. You will feel that you can overcome anything V strengthening you Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Phil 4:13). You called on Him to be with you today, to bless your marriage today. And He came - and blessed, and you felt the celebration and joy of starting this journey.

May God grant that this joy, this feeling of gratitude to the Lord will always accompany you in the future. Keep the mutual human love that united you, and the Lord will grant you happiness until the end of your life. God bless you.

A wedding is the most important event in the life of an Orthodox believer. Young girls think with trepidation about this day when they will be able to put on a beautiful dress, and the priest will lead them and their chosen one to the altar while the choir sings wedding prayer chants beautifully and solemnly. On this important day, all attention is focused on the young, and if married life develops safely and happily, then throughout their lives the memory of this day evokes in them. However, an Orthodox wedding is not just a beautiful and solemn holiday.

This is a very powerful sacrament of the church, when, during the priest’s reading of the wedding prayers, two loving people unite of their own free will to live together in love and harmony, to give birth and raise children in the Orthodox faith. Wedding prayers form the basis of the sacrament of marriage in the church.

Orthodox wedding prayers bless marriage

In wedding prayers, the priest asks God to unite the newlyweds not only visually, he asks him to unite their hearts, to teach the spouse patience, love, condescension towards his wife, and the spouse - wisdom, humility, gentleness, obedience. In the modern world, unfortunately, there is no culture of premarital education for boys and girls; many have before their eyes negative examples of the broken families of their parents, which is why they often lack these qualities.

Therefore, wedding prayers should be listened to very carefully, and, despite the understandable excitement, try to delve into every word. This is very important, because when the priest reads the wedding prayer, he is not praying for someone, he is not performing an external ritual, he is praying for the well-being of your upcoming married life!

Wedding prayers cannot be read to the laity

Today, in icon shops, any layman can freely buy a missal, which contains prayers read by the priest, including wedding prayers. This can tempt many, because among ordinary people it is believed that priestly prayers are special and powerful.

Remember that under no circumstances is it blessed for a layman to read wedding prayers on his own, or, in general, any prayers from the breviary. This can lead to irreparable, severe consequences for your soul. If, out of ignorance, you read the text of the wedding prayer yourself, then be sure to go to church and confess this sin.

Text of Orthodox prayer for a wedding in church

from the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Ephesians (Eph. 5; 20-33):

Always giving thanks for everything to God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, obeying one another in the fear of God. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church, and He is the Savior of the body. But just as the Church submits to Christ, so do wives to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, in order to sanctify her, cleansing her with the washing of water through the word; that he might present her to Himself, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that she might be holy and blameless. Thus should husbands love their wives as their own bodies: he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and warms it, just as the Lord does the Church, because we are members of His body, from His flesh and from His bones. Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is great; I speak in relation to Christ and the Church. So let each of you love his wife as himself; and let the wife be afraid of her husband.

Unfortunately, I got married. But I'm already debunked. And I got married thoughtlessly, either as a tribute to fashion, or succumbing to the persuasion of the groom. The coded words did not benefit my Slavic nature... Then I began to come across curious texts about what actually happens during the recitative reading of wedding prayers...

"RUSSIAN" WEDDING RITE

For a long time I slowly interviewed my friends who had undergone a wedding ceremony in a church on the subject: “Do they remember what was said to them there?” It turned out that most of them were simply either in a semi-trance, or, on the contrary, completely in the clouds, not paying attention to what was happening there. However, we still managed to find a number of couples, among which (oddly enough) it was the women who remembered what was said to them.

The first thing to note is that these couples are not familiar with the Bible. Or rather, they know about its existence, that there are ten commandments, that there was Christ, that he died for all of us, but then was resurrected and ascended to heaven already alive. It’s true that no one has said what he’s doing there in the stratosphere.

But we still remembered some words that the priest says to the bride:
"...be prolific like Sarah"

“But Sarai, Abram’s wife, did not bear him any child. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar.
And Sarai said to Abram, Behold, the Lord hath shut up my womb, that I should not bear; Go in to my maid; perhaps I will have children by her.
This is said about the same Sarah whom Abraham put under the Egyptian pharaoh (if you believe those fables), although she was already over 60 at that time, and, apparently, the pharaoh was a noble gerontophile. By the way, according to versions, he did not lie to the pharaoh when he said that she was his relative. It just didn’t stop her from being his wife as well. Incest is not a sin for saints. Even in Sodom, which they chose for their residence. Apparently not by chance.

And she gave birth when Abraham was already 100 years old, and she herself was a little younger - 90. Her only child.

When clarifying the question of the texts, those “getting married” according to the canon (rank) should correct the brides I interviewed that literally it still looks something like this:
“And you, bride, be exalted like Sarah, rejoice like Rebecca, multiply in offspring like Rachel.”* (“And you, the bride, have been exalted like Sarah, and have rejoiced like Rebecca, and have multiplied like Rachel. Rejoicing over your husband, keeping the limits of the law, God has been so pleased” - confirmation of the literalness can be found on any Christian resource.)

Let's add now about other characters besides Sarah:
“Rachel remained barren and was jealous of Leah’s fertility. Desperate, she, like Sarah before, gave her maid Bilkha as a concubine to her husband; Rachel considered Dana and Naftali born to Bilkha to be her own sons.”

Rachel herself later died during the birth of Benjamin, her second son.

Here are the wishes for the newlyweds - a kind of programming: be exalted like Sarah - who was placed under every right person, be cheerful, like Rebekah, whose one son betrayed the other, multiply like Rachel, who died in her second birth - yes, this is an awesome wish for happiness to the young .

Russian Christianity is nonsense. It’s the same as Russian non-Russianness. In Russian Christianity, only the people themselves differ from Russian - everything else is a completely different environment.

And for those who are thinking about getting married, maybe they should think about whether they want to be like Sarah and Abraham. Or should we still take some more worthy examples to follow?

To what extent the church wedding ceremony is permeated and imbued with imaginary “values”, It is difficult for not only atheists, but even ordinary believers to imagine. Here is the detailed text(if you can stand it and finish reading).

1. Marriage.
Engagement. The priest, being in front of those getting married, “with great voice”, i.e. publicly pronounces the first prayer according to the rite of betrothal: “God..., who blessed (once) Isaac and Rebekah and their seed, now bless your servants (the names of the young ones follow).” It must be said that the young, slender, beautiful, healthy Slavic bride and groom are immediately showered with prayers and, against their will, are compared with Isaac and Revveka.

The second, a short prayer, places another couple for the young – the Christian Church and the Virgin Mary.

The third prayer again appeals to the Jewish god: “God, who helped the patriarch Abraham, who helped his son (youth) Isaac find a faithful wife Rebekah and who finally betrothed them, now betroth this couple... More than to you, God, not to who to contact - after all, you gave power to Joseph in Egypt, you glorified Daniel in Babylon, revealed the truth to Tamar, armed Moses in the Red Sea, you always strengthened the Jews.” And really, who else should we turn to—we, the poor Russians! The priest puts wedding rings on the newlyweds' fingers.

2. Wedding.
This part of the ritual begins with verses (of course, from the text of the Old Testament), the last two of which read: “The Lord will bless you from Zion and you will see beautiful Jerusalem all the days of your life.” “And ye shall see sons of the children of Israel: let there be peace to Israel.” In the litany that follows, one of the petitions calls for the new marriage to be as the marriage once was in the Jewish (evangelical) family at Cana of Galilee. Then again the prayer is said loudly: God..., who once blessed Abraham and opened the bed - Sarah's dream, and thereby created the father of all nations - Isaac, and then gave Isaac to Rebekah, and she, with your blessing, gave birth to glorious sons of the Jews, including Jacob (the future Israel), then he married Jacob with Rachel, who (together with the other wives of Jacob) produced 12 sons, the glorious founders of the 12 tribes of Israel, then he mated Joseph (the son of Jacob) with Asenath and sent them the glorious children Ephraim and Manasseh, then he blessed Zechariah and Elizabeth and gave them a son, John (the Baptist); finally, the great God, from the root of Jesse according to the flesh, gave birth to the Ever-Virgin, and from her gave Jesus to the world, and he, in turn, showed in Cana of Galilee to all nations what they should be like. weddings..., now bless these slaves who are now standing in the church.

Immediately the following prayer is read and again another portion of Jewish prayers is poured out on the heads of the Russians: Bless, God, these young people, as you once blessed Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and his 12 sons, Joseph and Asenath, Moses and Sapphora, Joachim and Anna (parents of the Virgin Mary), Zechariah and Elizabeth... Preserve them, as you once preserved Noah in the ark, Jonah in the belly of a whale, three Jewish youths in the Babylonian oven... Remember them, as you once remembered Enoch, Shem , Elijah and all the other prominent Jews... Then an excerpt is read from the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians and a place from the Gospel of John, from which it becomes clear that the whole moral teaching of the marriage in Cana of Galilee consists only in the fact that when there was suddenly not enough at the wedding wine, they asked Jesus, who was present, to get alcohol, and he, like Satan in Goethe’s “Faust,” turned water into wine, thus marking the beginning of his miracles.

The priest removes the crowns from the heads of the young couple one by one, saying to the groom: “Be exalted, O bridegroom, like Abraham, be blessed, like Isaac, multiply like Jacob...”, and to the bride: “And you, O bride, be exalted, like Sarah, rejoice.” , like Rebecca, multiply like Rachel...” In conclusion, the priest mentions the marriage in Cana of Galilee two more times and the wedding ceremony is completed.

At the wedding " second marriages", i.e. married for the second time, the biblical harlot Rahab, an anonymous publican, is added to the Jews mentioned above.

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Marriage is not a fate that unexpectedly “falls” on a person, but a task that the person himself takes upon himself. The basis of this task is love between two people: love, understood not as a momentary, even the most powerful, emotional experience, but as something immeasurably more durable - love as an act of will, the will to do good to a loved one. Love as responsibility for another person. Marriage is the moment of accepting responsibility for another, chosen and loved person, forever. Already during the naming period, there is a certain responsibility for the partner, but at the very moment of marriage, this responsibility is accepted by the person completely and irrevocably.

From the moment of marriage, we are no longer dealing with a union of two people who are connected by certain common affairs, but with a completely new reality - a community. There are no longer personal losses or personal gains in it, but everything is common. This community arises at the moment of conscious decision making “forever”, but is formed and develops throughout the rest of life. Marriage is taking responsibility for the development of this community.

It is very important to begin and continue married life with the conviction that true love is constant creation and development. The grace of the sacrament of marriage makes spouses capable of such love. A sacramental marriage, like any other sacrament, includes a person in the mystery of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. The sacrament of marriage obliges and gives spouses the ability to liken their love to the love of Christ for the Church - love for Christ, and includes them in this love.

Christ's love for the Church is a sanctifying love. From the very essence of the sacrament of marriage it follows that the love of the spouses also has a sanctifying character. Therefore, everyday worries about daily bread, everyday joys and sorrows, problems and successes, the very act of marriage and raising offspring have a religious character in a Christian marriage.

The family, based on sacramental marriage, is the fundamental element, the “building block” of the Universal Church. She, in the words of the Second Vatican Council, is “the domestic Church in which spouses, created in the image of the living God... following Christ as the beginning of life, in the joys and sacrifices of their vocation, through their faithful love, become witnesses of the mystery of love that the Lord revealed to the world through His death and His Resurrection" (SC 52).

Being part of the great Universal Church, the small domestic Church has a specific task in the Divine economy. Marriage and family are and build the Church of God, and through their witness and activity they are called to transform the world as a community of life and love.

Like other sacraments, marriage is a great sign of faith and its effectiveness will be greater the more the family and marriage are faithful to the grace of God received through the sacrament and cooperate with that grace.

The sacrament of marriage is taught to the betrothed by Christ the Lord Himself at the moment when they pronounce the words of the marital vow before each other, in the face of God and the Church, through which, mutually giving themselves to each other and accepting each other, they enter into a marital covenant. The priest performs the function of a witness who, on behalf of God and the Church, takes the vow and blesses the union of the newlyweds.

A sacramental marriage is characterized by unity, holiness and indissolubility:

Unity: between one man and one woman;

Holiness: The sacrament of marriage binds a person in a special way to the plan of the Creator and Savior for the same person;

Indissolubility: through mutual and mutual election, spouses open themselves to the action of an ever faithful God, who has united them forever in His love.
Preparation for the sacrament of marriage

Three months before marriage, the newlyweds must contact the rector of the parish in which the bride lives to write a pre-nuptial protocol, and provide him with the following documents: passport, baptismal certificate, confirmation of their participation in courses for newlyweds. Announcements must be made from the pulpit for three subsequent Sundays or church holidays, or must be posted on the parish notice board for eight days, during which two church holidays must fall.

Before writing the pre-nuptial protocol, the abbot is obliged to check the bride's knowledge of the basic truths of the faith. The betrothed should know: Hail Mary, I Believe, the six truths of the faith, the ten commandments of God, the five church commandments, the Angel of the Lord, the Holy Rosary, the seven sacraments, the form of baptism, the five conditions of the sacrament of reconciliation, preparing the home for the sacrament of the sick.

Direct preparation for the sacrament of marriage is pre-marital courses, covering basic information about marriage, family and raising children.

During the period of preparation for the sacrament of marriage, the newlyweds must proceed to the sacrament and receive Holy Communion before the first announcement and before the marriage, in order to participate in the sacrament of marriage in a state of sanctifying grace.

A marriage document signed at the registry office, which is an assumption of obligations towards each other, children, society and the state, for Catholics is not equivalent to marriage and does not give them the opportunity to enjoy the rights of spouses. Church law requires Catholics to marry in the prescribed sacramental form.

Baptized people who cohabit outside of church marriage seriously violate the moral order established by God. Until they enter into a mysterious union, they cannot receive absolution and participate in the Eucharist, as well as be godparents and witnesses during the sacrament of anointing.

The sacramental marriage, sealed and completed, is indissoluble.

Therefore, the concept of “divorce” does not exist in the Catholic Church. A marital union can only be terminated by the death of one of the spouses. A divorce granted by a civil court abolishes marriage only from the point of view of civil law, but the marriage covenant, concluded before God and the Church, remains unbroken, for in the sacrament it has become a new Divine creation, which neither civil nor spiritual authority can abolish.
Prayer of the Betrothed

God, You are life and love itself. The universe is filled with traces of Your goodness and love, but You have given man the will and heart capable of loving all that is good and beautiful. Look upon us, bound by bonds of mutual love. We thank You for the fact that we met You and got to know You, for the joy that this acquaintance with You brought us.

May our hearts rest in Your Fatherly hand, so that You will always be our first and greatest love. Let our thoughts and feelings contain only that which is pleasing to You and has its beginning in You. May the memory of Your holy presence among us and our dignity as children of God not leave us.

Make us grow in grace, in Your love and in the fulfillment of Your commandments. Amen.
Parental blessing

Before going to church, the newlyweds sincerely thank their parents for all the blessings, and, kneeling, accept the blessing from them:

My son (my daughter), on your new path in life, may Almighty God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit bless you. Amen.

Parents kiss their son (daughter) and mark his forehead with the sign of the cross.
LITURGY OF THE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE

The sacrament of marriage is usually celebrated during Mass. It can be celebrated outside the Mass, but then the newlyweds must ask to celebrate the Mass in their intentions at another time.

The wedding ceremony takes place after the Liturgy of the Word. It begins with the words of the priest:

S. Beloved N and N, you have listened to the word of God, reminding you of the meaning of human love and marriage. Now, on behalf of the Holy Church, I wish to test your intentions.

N and N, do you have a voluntary and sincere desire to unite with each other in marriage?

Bride and Groom: Yes.

S. Do you intend to remain faithful to each other in health and sickness, in happiness and in misfortune, until the end of your life?

Bride and Groom: Yes.

S. Do you have the intention of lovingly accepting the children God sends you and raising them in the Christian faith?

Bride and Groom: Yes.

These three questions preceding the wedding are intended to ensure in the presence of witnesses about the freedom of choice and the complete freedom of those entering into marriage and about the Christian approach to the indissolubility of the bonds of marriage and to the goals of marriage.

Then all those gathered, standing, sing a hymn to the Holy Spirit, asking the Spirit of Truth and the Sanctifier for gifts and grace in marriage.

The central point in the wedding ceremony are the marital vows. The bride and groom turn to each other and offer each other their right hands. The priest ties them up with a table.

The words of the marital oath are pronounced after the priest by the groom, and then in the same way by the bride:

I, N, TAKE YOU, N, AS A WIFE (HUSBAND) AND I PROMISE YOU TO BE FAITHFUL IN HAPPINESS AND IN UNHAPPINESS, IN HEALTH AND ILLNESS, AND ALSO TO LOVE AND RESPECT YOU ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.

The sacrament of marriage has taken place. The wedding took place before Christ and before the community of the Church. The priest confirms the marriage by saying:

What God has joined together, let no man separate. And I confirm and bless the marital union you have concluded with the authority of the Universal Church in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Everyone answers: Amen.

The priest removes the table from the hands of the newlyweds.

After the marriage, the priest blesses the wedding rings. The husband puts her ring on his wife’s finger, and addressing her by name, says:

N, TAKE THIS RING AS A SIGN OF MY FAITHFULNESS AND LOVE - IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Likewise, the wife puts a ring on her husband’s finger, repeating the same words. The wedding rings that the newlyweds put on their fingers become a visible sign of their marriage.

During the Eucharistic Liturgy, during the preparation of gifts, the newlyweds can bring sacrificial gifts to the altar - bread and wine. Newlyweds receive Communion under two types. The Mass ends with a special blessing for the newlyweds.

If the sacrament of marriage was celebrated outside the Mass, the prayer for the newlyweds is completed by the blessing prayer of the priest and the jointly pronounced Lord's Prayer “Our Father”.

The spouses celebrate their wedding anniversary by attending Mass, receiving Communion, quietly renewing their marital vows, and giving a gift to their spouse. During the festive meal, a candle is lit.

It is customary to solemnly celebrate silver, gold and diamond wedding anniversaries. The celebrants of the day occupy special places during the Mass. The priest gives them a special blessing and solemnly sings the hymn “We Praise You, O God” (“Te Deum”).
Newlyweds' prayer

Our Father, we entrust our life together into Your hands. Stay with us in our sorrows and joys, bless our work and fatigue, bless our rest. Help us to faithfully fulfill the obligations we have undertaken. Teach us true fidelity, deep humility towards each other, and love devoid of selfishness. Grant us patience and wisdom in raising our children. May our family life be filled with love, which will attract other people to You, and may we live every moment of our life together for Your glory. Amen.