The Power of Prayer
With the help of prayer, a person tries to overcome his weaknesses and receive strength from God to fight sinful thoughts and deeds. Prayer sometimes does miracles, healing people, making them stronger. Sincere faith in prayer increases its power and capabilities, the main thing is to say it with your soul and heart.
Prayer was recognized by the Lord Jesus Christ and the holy apostles as the main thing in human life. At all times, church teachers and Holy Fathers considered turning to God as the basis of everything holy and pious.
A Christian who respects and loves his God cannot do without turning to him through prayer. If the desire to turn to a Higher Power cools, this means that a person is possessed by a dark force that leads him astray.
Why is it possible to attend church, but not to participate in the Sacraments?
According to established tradition, it is customary that no blood be shed in the church where the Bloodless Sacrifice is performed. Since modern hygiene products reliably protect women, they are allowed to visit the temple, taking precautions. Women who are reverent of the Holy Place will not dare to approach the Holy Gifts and participate in other Sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Wedding, Confession, Unction).
Exceptions to the rule:
- Long-term illness associated with bleeding;
- Deadly danger.
If a woman’s menstrual cycle is disrupted, and due to illness and illness, days of uncleanness continue for a long time, then, with the blessing of her spiritual father or priest, she can receive communion as a sick person.
In case of a threat to life, the Sacrament of the Eucharist, Anointing and Baptism (if the person is not baptized) is permitted in any condition.
Prohibitions in different religions
The Holy Scripture says that every person can offer a prayer to the Lord. Due to the fact that they have “days of impurity” - menstruation, there are still disagreements regarding the performance of prayers during this period.
The Christian faith is loyal to the issue of exalting prayer by a woman during menstruation. This is a natural process that occurs in an adult, mature female body, beyond her control and indicating that she can give new life.
By turning to the Lord at home, she does not violate the commandments described in the Old Testament and does not desecrate holy places with her presence.
The Islamic religion is more strict about the prayers of women during menstruation. During this time, Muslim women are prohibited from:
- perform namaz;
- fast;
- visit Holy Places - mosques;
- circumambulate the Kaaba;
- touch the Holy book in Islam - the Koran;
- have intimacy with your husband;
- During menstruation, a girl cannot express her desire to divorce her husband.
Russian Church of the early period
The Russian Orthodox Church has always been characterized by strict laws regarding women's critical days and all types of discharges. The question is not even raised here: is it possible to go to church while menstruating? The answer is clear and not subject to discussion - no!
Moreover, according to Nifont of Novgorod, if labor begins right in the church and a child is born there, then the entire church is considered desecrated. It is sealed for 3 days and reconsecrated by reading a special prayer, which can be found by reading the “Question of Kirik.”
All those present in the temple were considered unclean and could leave it only after the cleansing prayer of the Trebnik.
If a Christian came to church “clean”, and then had bleeding, she urgently had to leave the church, otherwise she would face a six-month penance.
The cleansing prayers of the Trebnik are still read in churches immediately after the birth of a baby.
This issue causes a lot of controversy. The problem of touching an “unclean” woman in pre-Christian times is understandable. Why today, when a child is born in a sacred marriage and is a gift from God, his birth makes the mother and everyone who touches her defiled?
Tales in the Old Testament
The Old Testament is characterized by strictly established rules when a woman can make an appeal to the Lord. Female bleeding was believed to be a disease that was unclean and defiled. During menstruation, a girl was prohibited from:
- visit the temple;
- venerate the Holy Crucifixion of Christ with your lips;
- confess and celebrate communion.
The explanation for such strict rules can be found in the fact that in those days there were no necessary hygiene products, and a woman could accidentally stain the floor of the shrine with blood.
The New Testament is kind to menstruating women. It says that a girl can visit the temple even during her critical days, if this is done with pure motives and an open soul. At home, a girl can read the sacred words at any time.
How to ask a priest about prayer during your period
For Orthodox Christians, the priest is the closest mediator between the Savior and the believers. His role is “ordained” by God. The priest is his faithful servant, so it is wrong to be ashamed to ask “uncomfortable” questions.
The believer himself takes primary care of his soul. Therefore, it is important to ask the priest to explain all questions that raise questions, including whether it is possible to pray at home during menstruation.
There are no awkward or embarrassing topics for conversation; you can ask the priest at any time. The main thing is to behave delicately, humbly, observing basic rules of decency. You can calmly ask a question, after listening to the answer, be sure to follow the instructions.
Temple visit and menstruation
The Orthodox Church has not come to a consensus on whether the Holy Prayer can be performed by a woman during her period, including at home. In the New Testament, as in the Old, there is no direct prohibition of this action.
Some clergy associate this with the fact that the Holy Books specifically say not to shed human blood in Holy Places. And menstruation itself presupposes this process, which means that a woman desecrates a shrine during this period.
Most clergy not only allow women to pray at home, but also to visit the temple. God does not divide people into men or women; for him everyone is equal. And if nature has decreed that every woman undergoes a kind of ritual of cleansing the body once a month, then it is simply impossible to prohibit her from praying at this time.
The only exceptions are the following actions, which are prohibited for a woman during menstrual bleeding:
- participation in baptism, communion, wedding;
- During this period, a woman’s touching shrines - crucifixes, icons - is not approved.
Why can't you go to church while on your period?
Estimated reading time: 5 min.
Reader question:
Why can't you go to church while on your period?
Answer:
How should an Orthodox Christian woman behave during menstruation? Can a woman be considered “unclean” these days? Can a woman in this state come to church, venerate shrines, and begin the Sacraments?
The answer is given by the decision of the Bishops' Conference of the Russian Orthodox Church, held in February 2015. “The canons prohibit communion in a state of female impurity (2nd canon of St. Dionysius of Alexandria, 7th canon of Timothy of Alexandria). An exception may be made in case of mortal danger, as well as when bleeding continues for a long time due to a chronic or acute illness,” says the document “On the Participation of the Faithful in the Eucharist.” Thus, the main limitation that the period of menstruation imposes on an Orthodox woman is the inability to begin Communion. Everything else - coming to church, venerating icons and relics, drinking holy water, eating prosphora - is possible.
Why can't you take communion? The fact is that, according to church tradition, when bleeding, no one should receive communion at all, including men.
Read more about this here: Is it possible to receive communion during menstruation?
Some priests are more radical on this issue and give arguments why you can’t go to church with your period. Thus, the “Handbook of a Clergyman,” written more than 100 years ago, is still popular. Its author, Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov, in particular, writes that “church rules” prohibit women during menstruation not only from receiving communion, but also from coming to church.
To understand the essence of the issue and why different opinions arise on this matter, let us turn to history. The Old Testament book of Leviticus writes about ritual restrictions for women during menstruation (Lev. 15:19-33). According to this book, not only the woman herself during the period of monthly purification is considered unclean, but also any person who touches her (Leviticus 15:24). Moreover, such a view was quite common in the ancient world. Pagan cults also included similar prohibitions related to concerns about “ritual purity.”
The preaching of Jesus Christ changed the Old Testament ideas about piety. The Savior said that only evil thoughts and sins defile us (Mark 7:15). Thus, the categories of “purity” and “impurity” acquired not a physical, but a spiritual meaning. In addition, Christ talked with a Samaritan woman, which was considered “desecrating” among the Jews of that time, healed a bleeding woman and even praised her faith (Matthew 2:20-22).
We asked priests Maxim Brazhnikov and Viktor Nikishov to comment on the question of why you can’t go to church while on your period.
“In Christianity there is no concept of “ritual impurity” that separates a person from God. Sins separate man from God,” explains Priest Maxim Brazhnikov, press secretary of the Orsk diocese, rector of the Kazan parish in the city of Orsk. “And there is nothing sinful about menstruation, so the pressure on women in connection with this topic is unfounded. There are many versions regarding the origin of this prejudice, and one of the common ones is that in ancient times there were no reliable hygiene means, so women were asked not to come to the temple during the monthly cleansing, so as not to shed blood (there is a rule prohibiting shedding blood in the temple, because there A Bloodless Sacrifice is performed). This period should not be given undue importance. On the other hand, there are canonical rules that say that women in such a state should not begin Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ (except in cases of mortal danger). But there is no reason for a ban on coming to church and venerating shrines.”
“Already in the days of early Christianity, people understood that the Lord changed his attitude towards “uncleanness”, without condemning the bleeding one who touched Him,” emphasizes Priest Viktor Nikishov, head of the department for work with youth of the Mogilev diocese, cleric of the Transfiguration Cathedral in the city of Mogilev. — Later, Christians had a question about being in the Temple during “cleansing women’s days.” And in the middle of the 3rd century, the answer to it was given by the Hieromartyr Clement of Rome in his essay “Apostolic Constitutions”:
“If anyone observes and performs Jewish rites regarding the ejaculation of semen, the flow of semen, legal intercourse, let them tell us whether they stop praying, or touching the Bible, or partaking of the Eucharist in those hours and days when they are exposed to something like this? If they say that they stop, then it is obvious that they do not have in themselves the Holy Spirit, Who always abides with believers... In fact, if you, a woman, think that during the seven days when you have your period, you do not have in you Holy Spirit; then it follows that if you die suddenly, you will leave without the Holy Spirit and boldness and hope in God. But the Holy Spirit, of course, is inherent in you... For neither legal copulation, nor childbirth, nor the flow of blood, nor the flow of semen in a dream can defile the nature of man or separate the Holy Spirit from him; only wickedness and lawless activity separate him from [the Spirit].
So, woman, if, as you say, during the days of menstruation you do not have the Holy Spirit in you, then you must be filled with an unclean spirit. For when you don’t pray and don’t read the Bible, you unwittingly call him to you...
Therefore, woman, refrain from empty speech and always remember the One who created you, and pray to him... without observing anything - neither natural cleansing, nor legal copulation, nor childbirth, nor miscarriages, nor bodily defects. These observations are empty and meaningless inventions of stupid people.
...Marriage is honorable and honest, and the birth of children is pure... and natural cleansing is not abominable before God, Who wisely arranged for it to happen to women... But even according to the Gospel, when the bleeding woman touched the saving edge of the Lord’s robe in order to get well, the Lord did not reproach her but he said, “Your faith has saved you.”
In the 6th century, St. Gregory the Dvoeslov answers this question: “A woman should not be prohibited from entering church during her menstruation, for she cannot be blamed for what is given by nature, and from which a woman suffers against her will. After all, we know that a woman suffering from bleeding came up to the Lord from behind and touched the hem of His garment, and immediately the illness left her. Why, if she, while bleeding, could touch the Lord’s garment and receive healing, a woman during her period cannot enter the Lord’s church?”
In the same vein, our contemporary Patriarch of Serbia Pavel (1914-2009) answers this question, who wrote the article “Can a woman come to church for prayer, kiss icons and receive communion when she is “unclean” (during menstruation)”? His Holiness the Patriarch writes: “The monthly cleansing of a woman does not make her ritually, prayerfully unclean. This uncleanness is only physical, bodily, as well as discharge from other organs. In addition, since modern hygienic means can effectively prevent the accidental flow of blood from making the temple unclean... we believe that from this side there is no doubt that a woman during her monthly cleansing, with the necessary caution and taking hygienic measures, can come to church , kiss icons, take antidor and blessed water, as well as participate in singing. She would not have been able to receive communion in this state, or if she was unbaptized, she would not have been able to be baptized. But in a mortal illness he can both receive communion and be baptized.” Based on what has been said, we understand that a woman can come to the Temple at any time.”
Editorial staff of the magazine "Foma"
Society's Beliefs
People do not turn to the Lord in prayer as often as they would like. Modern society cannot prohibit or allow prayer, including for women during their critical days. A person reads a prayer out of his need, seeking a way to the Lord and asking for blessings or forgiveness.
Nowadays, the worldly people rely on themselves, not taking into account the fact that prayer not only eases the soul, but also illuminates the path to new solutions to life situations. No one can prohibit a woman from reading prayer at home during her period.
Prayer cannot be sinful, and a woman cannot independently cancel her critical days in order to perform it. If you want, be sure to pray, and it doesn’t matter what day it is, time of day, etc. God hears everyone.
The difference between home prayer for women of the Orthodox and Muslim faiths
A person’s religion or denomination varies, but women ask the same questions. For example, many are interested in whether it is possible to pray during menstruation at home according to the rules of Islam.
Women's nature is the same, but the attitude towards the topic is different. The appearance of a believing Muslim woman is seriously different from that of a Christian woman, and her religious and cultural customs are even more so.
The rules for Muslim women are more categorical than for Christian women. The discipline here is stricter. In Islam, praying (reciting namaz) during menstruation at home is prohibited.
Relaxations are allowed if there is an extreme need. When, for example, a Muslim woman works as a teacher of spiritual disciplines, then prayer will be inevitable. In addition, there are strict time regulations regarding this topic in Islam. There are many subtle points related to prayers that require careful consideration.
The categorical answer for Muslim women will be - no, neither at home nor in the mosque. There is no strict prohibition for Christian women. You can pray provided that the Orthodox woman observes hygiene standards and feels good at this time.
One of the reasons why it is permissible for a believer to pray during menstruation only at home is poor health. The prohibition is explained by concern. Women know how physical activity affects them during this time, even going to church.
In the Old Testament there are lines where it is described that you cannot pray during menstruation, this is not the right time. This is explained by uncleanliness. In ancient times, women did not wear underwear or sanitary pads, and they could dirty the temple. Nowadays this is irrelevant. There is also a version that menstruation indicates the sinful fall of Adam and Eve.
According to the New Testament: is it possible to attend church during menstruation?
In subsequent centuries, views changed, but were not unambiguous. For example, the Apostle Paul said that everything created by God is light and beautiful. A woman is also His creation, and the menstrual cycle is not her fault, but just a natural phenomenon, therefore there should be no ban on visiting church during menstruation.
To support his words, he cited a parable about a parishioner who had been ill for a long time. She was bleeding, and there was no way for the doctors to help her. Having learned about the Son of God passing by, she went to meet him halfway with a prayer, touching his clothes lightly and with trepidation with her pale hand. The Lord healed her, saying with approval that it was the sick woman’s faith that helped her. So, the bleeding woman was not pushed away by Jesus Christ himself, which means that visiting the temple is possible for her.
Due to numerous requests from readers, we have prepared an “Orthodox Calendar” application for smartphones. Every morning you will receive information about the current day: holidays, fasts, days of remembrance, prayers, parables. Download for free: Orthodox Calendar 2022 (available on Android)
Dionysius of Alexandria was not against a woman visiting the temple on critical days, but her actions should be limited:
- Just pray and be baptized.
- Prohibition of communion.
- Prohibition on touching holy relics.
Background
Photo: Flickr.com
To the question: “What should a woman do during menstruation?” Saint Dionysius, Bishop The Alexandrian in the 3rd century replied that the pious would not dare to approach the Holy Gifts, because when receiving communion one must be pure in body and soul. As an example, he uses the bleeding woman, who did not dare to touch the body of Christ, but only the hem of His garment (Matthew 9:20-22). However, the saint emphasizes that prayer is always allowed.
Timothy, bishop, answers the same question 100 years later. Alexandrian. If a woman has started her menstrual period, then until she is cleansed, she cannot receive communion. Saint John the Faster, who lived in the 6th century, prescribed penance if a menstruating woman began to receive Communion. The Monk Nicodemus the Holy Mountain adhered to the same opinion.
