Rules of the Egyptian Fathers
The holy fathers of the early church, such as Methodius of Olympus, Origen, and the Martyr Justin, treated the issue of purity as a concept of sin. Unclean, according to their concepts, means sinful, this applied to women during menstruation.
Origen considered not only menstruation, but also sexual intercourse to be unclean. He ignored Jesus' words that when two people copulate they become one body. (Matthew 19:5). His stoicism and asceticism were not confirmed in the New Testament.
The Antiochian doctrine of the third century put the teachings of the Levites under prohibition. The Didascalia, on the contrary, denounces Christian women who abandoned the Holy Spirit during menstruation, separating the body from church services. The church fathers of that time considered the same bleeding patient to be the basis for their exhortation.
Clementius of Rome gave an answer to the problem - is it possible to go to church during menstruation, arguing that if a person who stops attending the Liturgy or receiving communion has left the Holy Spirit.
A Christian woman who has not crossed the threshold of the temple during menstruation, who has not touched the Bible, can die without the Holy Spirit, and what then? Saint Clement in the “Apostolic Constitutions” argued that neither the birth of a child, nor critical days, nor wet dreams defile a person and cannot separate him from the Holy Spirit.
Important! Clementius of Rome condemned Christian women for empty speech, but considered childbirth, bleeding, and bodily defects to be natural things. He called prohibitions the invention of stupid people.
Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov also stood on the side of women, arguing that natural, God-created processes in the human body cannot become the reason for the ban on attending church services, confessing, or receiving communion.
Further, the issue of female impurity during menstruation was raised at the Gangra Council. The priests meeting in 341 condemned the Eustathians, who considered not only menstruation unclean, but also sexual intercourse, forbidding priests to marry. In their false teaching, the difference between the sexes was destroyed, or rather, a woman was equal to a man in clothing and behavior.
In the sixth century, Gregory the Great, the Pope of Rome, took the side of the faithful parishioners.
The Pope wrote to St. Augustine of Canterbury, who raised the issue of menstrual days and impurity, that Christian women are not to blame for these days; she should not be prohibited from confessing or receiving communion.
Important! According to Gregory the Great, women who abstain from Communion out of reverence are worthy of praise, but those who accepted it during menstruation out of great love for Christ are not condemned.
The teachings of Gregory the Great lasted until the seventeenth century, when Christian women were again prohibited from entering the church while menstruating.
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, re-consecrated by reading a special prayer, which can be found by reading “Questioning 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?
Only after 40 days is a Christian woman allowed into the temple, subject to complete “purity”. A ritual of churching or introduction is performed over her.
The modern explanation for this phenomenon is the fatigue of the woman in labor; she supposedly needs to come to her senses. How then can we explain that seriously ill people are recommended to visit church more often, take communion, and be cleansed by the blood of Jesus?
Ministers of the present time understand that the laws of the Trebnik do not always find their confirmation in the Bible and the Holy Scriptures of the Church Fathers.
Marriage, childbearing and impurity are somehow difficult to connect together.
1997 made adjustments on this issue. The Holy Synod of Antioch, His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV, made a decision to change the texts of the Breviary regarding the sanctity of marriage and the purity of Christian women who gave birth to a child in a union sanctified by the church.
The 2000 Crete Conference recommends that when churching or introducing a young mother, bless her and not talk about impurity.
Important! When introducing a mother, the church blesses the child’s birthday if the mother is physically strong.
After Crete, Orthodox churches received urgent recommendations to convey to all parishioners that their desire to attend church, confess and take communion is welcomed, regardless of their critical days.
Saint John Chrysostom was critical of the adherents of the canons who claim that visiting the temple on critical days is unacceptable.
Dionysius of Alexandria advocated observance of the canons, however, life has shown that not all laws are observed by modern churches.
The canons should not govern the Church, for they were written for temple services.
Questions about critical days wear the mask of piety based on pre-Christian teachings.
Modern Patriarch Paul of Serbia also does not consider a woman during her period to be spiritually unclean or sinful. He claims that during menstruation a Christian woman can confess and receive communion.
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.”
Important! Jesus Himself cleansed women and men with His blood. Christ became the Flesh of all Orthodox Christians. He trampled upon bodily death, giving people spiritual life, independent of the state of the body.
Prohibition theories
Adherents of “ritual purity” give their reasons why a woman during her period is not worthy to visit the temple:
- From the Middle Ages until the 18th century, menstruating women were not allowed to visit shrines. It was also forbidden to enter the temple during menstruation.
- The Russian Orthodox Church has put forward strict demands since the 12th century. Women were forbidden to give birth in the house, so as not to desecrate the living space with their own secretions. A bathhouse was used for this. The first visitor after childbirth was a priest who read a special prayer, “cleansing” the woman in labor from filth. For 80 days (at the birth of a girl) and 40 (if a boy was born), the woman in labor did not have the right to attend church, receive communion, or baptize her children. Only the clergyman could determine how many days the ban would last and when one could receive communion.
- According to the statements of Timothy of Alexandria, the ban on communion was associated with the physical ailment of women during and after menstruation. At this time they were supposed to be at home, reading prayers.
- According to the Canons of Hippolytus, women in labor and midwives were not allowed to attend church during menstruation and after childbirth. They could only stand at the gate during the service until the restriction period expired.
- The sayings of Dionysius of Alexandria limited time in the temple to certain days, thereby pointing to the spiritual and bodily “uncleanness” of menstruating women. That is why a woman could not be a godmother or confess during her period.
- The Gospel of James says that the Virgin Mary lived in the temple until she was 12 years old (until the onset of menstruation) so as not to desecrate the holy place with menstrual blood.
- Levitical laws prohibited touching a menstruating woman out of concern for the health of unborn children, thereby limiting sexual intercourse. According to Moses, Tertullian, Lactantius, and Origen, who were the founders of Christian theology, intercourse is justified only for the purpose of conceiving a new life.
Proto-Gospel of James and the New Testament
At the very dawn of the New Testament, the Blessed Virgin Mary herself submits to the requirements of “ritual purity.” According to , an apocryphal text from the 2nd century that was the source of several of the church's feasts of the Virgin Mary, the Blessed Virgin was between the ages of two and twelve when she was betrothed to Joseph and sent to live in his house.[16]
When Jesus Christ began to preach, a completely new message sounded in the villages of Judea, calling into question the deeply rooted principles of piety - both of the Pharisaic and of the ancient world as a whole. He declared that only evil intentions that come from the heart defile us (Mark 7:15). Our Savior thus placed the categories of "purity" and "impurity" exclusively in the realm of conscience [17] - the realm of free will in relation to sin and virtue, freeing the faithful from the ancient fear of pollution from the uncontrollable phenomena of the material world. He Himself does not hesitate to talk with the Samaritan woman, and this was also considered by the Jews to be somewhat desecrating. [18] Moreover, the Lord does not rebuke the bleeding woman because she touched His garment in the hope of being healed: He heals her and praises her faith (Matthew 2:20-22). Why does Christ reveal the woman to the crowd? St. John Chrysostom responds that the Lord “reveals her faith to everyone, so that others will not be afraid to imitate her.”[19]
Current situation
First:
The hygiene revolution took over; in the past centuries there were neither showers nor underwear.
Bloody meths have no place in the temple. Plus, excuse me, the smell. In the fourth century, Rev. Macarius of Egypt translated the words of the prophet Isaiah as follows : “And all your righteousness is like the rags of a woman in her menses.”
With the advent of hygiene products, women now have no reason to worry that something might leak out of them when entering a temple.
Now in the New Testament Church animal sacrifices are not performed, but the bloodless sacrifice of the Eucharist is performed. Therefore, the shedding of any blood in churches is also prohibited. If, for example, a person has a nosebleed, then he must leave the temple until the bleeding stops. It’s the same with a priest, if the priest cuts himself in the altar or his nose starts bleeding, he must stop the bleeding and then continue the service.
Second:
As for "Uncleanness".
If in the Old Testament, during female uncleanness, every woman was considered to be in uncleanness and the entrance to the temple was closed. These were special restrictions of God to the Old Testament people in order to educate the people and keep them within moral boundaries, teaching people like children through physical laws the spiritual laws of morality and purity.
Then in the New Testament, God gives man the perfect law of Love, abolishing the ancient rules.
What God has cleansed, do not consider unclean, said the Lord to the Apostle Peter (Acts 10.15)
Communion during menstruation: canons of the Old Testament
Is it possible to receive communion during menstruation? The Old Testament says unequivocally: “No!”
In those days, a woman could not enter the temple at all during the period of purification. And this was connected not only with hygienic features, but also with a spiritual component.
It was believed that menstruation is, firstly, a reminder of damaged human nature, and secondly, it is an unborn child , that is, a “dead body”, which also desecrated the shrine.
In addition, anyone who touched a woman during her menstrual period also became “unclean.”
This is interesting! Even about the Virgin Mary in the Protoevangelium of James it is said that she lived in the temple until she was 12 years old, and then, after her betrothal, she was sent to live with Joseph so that the “sanctuary of the Lord” could not be desecrated.
Read the popular article in the category: Impressive weight loss with Turboslim Alfa. Reviews and results of those who have lost weight.
Prayers of the Breviary
The special prayer of the Trebnik of the Russian Orthodox Church, which even today is read on the first day after the birth of a child, asks God to “cleanse the mother from filth...” and continues, “and forgive this servant of yours, named, and the whole house in which the child was born, and who touched to her, and to all who are found here...”[69] I would like to ask why we ask forgiveness for the whole house, for the mother and everyone who touched her? On the one hand, I know that the Levitical laws contained the concept of defilement through touch. Therefore, I know why Old Testament believers considered it a sin to touch “unclean” things. And I know that the pagans were afraid of bleeding both during childbirth and during menstruation, because they believed that this attracted demons. However, I can't tell you why today the faithful ask for forgiveness for touching a woman or being a woman who gave birth to a child, because I just don't know.
Another series of prayers is read 40 days later, when the mother is allowed to come to the temple for the rite of churching. On this occasion, the priest prays for the mother as follows:
“Cleanse from all sin and from all defilement... so that without condemnation you may be worthy to partake of your holy mysteries... wash away bodily defilement and spiritual defilement for the duration of fourty days: do it in a manner worthy of communion of your holy body and blood...” [70]
Today it is often said that a woman does not go to church for forty days after giving birth to a child due to physical fatigue. However, the text quoted does not speak about her ability to participate in liturgical life, but about her dignity. The birth (not conception) of her child, according to these prayers, became the cause of her physical and mental “uncleanness” (defilement). This is similar to Dionysius of Alexandria’s reasoning about menstruation: it makes a woman not entirely pure “both in soul and body.”
What the Book of Rules of the Orthodox Church says about communion during menstruation
The Book of Rules has more precise instructions regarding communion during menstruation.
It says: “A woman who is in purification should not receive communion until she is cleansed.”
However, this provision is only a reference to the authoritative opinions of the holy fathers: Dionysius, Athanasius and Timothy of Alexandria. In particular, at St. Dionysius was told that it is unlikely that a pious woman herself would dare to accept a shrine on such days.
In the Russian Orthodox Church of the 12th century, the rules were much stricter and the restrictions were very precise. Thus, if a woman began to menstruate while she was in the temple, she immediately had to leave it.
Otherwise, she received penance for a 6-month fast with daily prostrations (50 per day).
Is it possible to go to church while on your period? Is it allowed to go?
Almost every woman knows that during menstruation one should not come to a sacred place - this strict rule is passed down from generation to generation, from mouth to mouth. Some strictly observe this prohibition, while others are indignant and express their indignation, reflecting on why such a church law was formed.
Still others, without taking this into account, visit the temple regardless of the condition of their body. So is it permissible to visit a sacred place during menstrual flow? Where did this rule come from and why? We will try to figure this out.
What the New Testament says about going to church with your period
The words of the Apostle Paul, found in the New Testament, assure us that everything God creates is beautiful. The processes that the human body is endowed with are completely natural. Menstruation is an important sign of a healthy woman's body.
It plays a significant role, which influences the pointlessness of the ban on visiting the church during this period. St. George Dvoeslov was also a supporter of this. According to him, a woman with her processes is the embodiment of natural design, so there is no point in prohibiting her from going to temple during the period of menstrual flow.
The main thing has always been and is the soul, the spiritual state.
Menstruation is no longer considered unclean; it is recognized as a process that God created . In turn, the New Testament refers to the consumption of foods during meals that are prohibited by the Torah as uncleanness, which is unacceptable for the Jewish people. Pork is also considered unclean food.
Another issue that the first Christian women faced was the permissibility of communion during menstruation. Their behavior depended on their choices. Some, taking into account traditions and canons, did not touch anything sacred, while others were of the opinion that only sin could separate them from the love of the Lord.
Also in the New Testament you can find a story about how a woman during her menstrual bleeding touched God’s clothing and was healed. But the Lord did not reject it, but with acceptance said that everything that nature created was given by God, and therefore is natural.
The attitude of the early church and the holy fathers of that time to the issue of menstruation
When the new belief emerged, this period was characterized by a lack of clear concepts in both Christianity and Judaism. The apostles no longer discussed the issue of ritual impurity. Some of them (Methodius of Olympus, Origen, the Martyr Justin) continued to believe that uncleanness is a sin. This also applied to women during menstrual bleeding.
Origen expressed his opinion about the impurity of not only menstrual flow, but also carnal pleasures. They ignored the words of the Lord that two, when they copulate, are transformed into one body (Matt. 19:5). However, his beliefs were not confirmed by the New Testament.
Saint Clement in his Apostolic Constitutions advocated that menstruation should not affect anything. He recognized the birth of a child, bleeding and bodily defects as absolutely natural things. In his opinion, various prohibitions were invented by stupid people.
Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov also supported this position.
Later, this topic became the subject of discussion at the Gangra Council. As a result, all processes that occur in the body of women were recognized as natural.
In the sixth century, Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome, joined this position.
In his letter to St. Augustine of Canterbury, who raised the topic of menstruation, he indicated that these processes are not the fault of women, therefore Christian women have the right to perform various church rituals.
This teaching remained relevant until the seventeenth century, until it was again replaced by a ban on visiting the temple on the days of menstrual bleeding.
The Russian Church of the early period - what they think about going to church with menstruation
The Russian Orthodox Church quite often put forward strict rules that related to menstruation in women or other types of discharge. The question of whether it was possible to go to church on the days of bleeding did not even arise. There was a categorical negative answer to this.
In addition, as Niphon of Novgorod emphasized, the church accepted the status of “defiled” if a child began to be born in the temple. In this case, the church is subject to sealing for three days, re-consecration and reading of a special prayer, which can be found by reading the “Question of Kirik”.
The people who were present in the temple at that moment and observed this process became unclean. In order to remove this status from oneself, it was necessary to undergo purification with the help of the prayer of the Trebnik.
If a woman entered the church without menstruation, and she began to have menstruation while she was present in a sacred place, she should leave there as soon as possible. If she did not leave the temple, then a six-month penance awaited her.
Nowadays, the cleansing prayers of the Trebnik can also be heard in churches as a sign that a child has been born.
The New Testament—A New View of Purity
The coming of Jesus radically changes the concept of sacrifice for sin and the importance of purity.
Christ clearly says that He is Life (John 14:5-6), the past has all passed away.
The Savior Himself touches the young man’s deathbed, resurrecting the widow’s son. (Luke 7:11-13)
The woman, suffering from bleeding for 12 years, knowing about the prohibition of the Old Testament, herself touched the hem of His garment. At the same time, many people touched her, because there were always many people around Christ.
Jesus immediately felt the healing power come out of him, called the once sick woman, but did not throw stones at her, but told her to act more boldly.
(Matthew 9:20-21)
Important! Nowhere in the New Testament is it written about the uncleanness of bleeding.
The Apostle Paul, sending a letter to the Romans, chapter 14, says that he himself does not have anything unclean. People invent “uncleanliness” for themselves and then believe in it.
First Epistle to Timothy, chapter 4, the apostle writes that everything must be accepted, giving thanks to God, who created everything well.
Menstruation is a process created by God; it cannot be considered unclean, much less separate someone from the protection and grace of God.
In the New Testament, the apostles, speaking about uncleanness, mean eating foods prohibited by the Torah, which is unacceptable for Jews. Pork was considered an unclean food.
The first Christian women also faced the problem of whether it was possible to receive communion during menstruation; they had to make the decision themselves. Someone, following traditions and canons, did not touch anything sacred. Others believed that nothing could separate them from God's love except sin.
Many believing virgins confessed and received communion during menstruation, finding no prohibition in the words and sermons of Jesus.
The attitude of the Orthodox Church to:
- Telegony
- Suicides
- Identification numbers
What Concerns the Sacrament of Communion
According to the general opinion and agreement of the holy fathers, for the sake of reverence, it is better for a woman who is in bodily uncleanness to abstain from Communion, just as the Gospel woman who is in uncleanness did not touch Christ himself, but only His clothes. Again, this is a question of RECOMMENDATIONS, not rules.
Even in the breviary, when the priest reads a prayer to a woman on the 40th day for “CLEANSING,” he pronounces words of permission and blessing for the woman to AGAIN begin the Sacrament of Communion! , but not as a blessing to go into the temple, since a woman can come to the temple these days anyway.
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.
Is it possible to confess and receive communion during menstruation?
In the 21st century, asking a question on this topic, you can get different answers from priests.
Some say that women on critical days can go to church, light candles and pray, take a blessing, but they cannot touch shrines - the Cross, icons, relics of the Holy Saints of God. You cannot take part in the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church - baptism, wedding, confirmation, communion, confession, blessing of oil (unction), priesthood.
Others say that you can do all of the above. You need to be guided in this matter by your conscience, and also follow the rules that are accepted in your church where you go to worship.
If a woman is planning to go to a monastery, to holy places, and plans to take part in the Sacraments, she needs to consult with her confessor or parish priest and take a blessing for the trip. The issue of critical days should also be resolved during the conversation.
Communion and Baptism
The first rite symbolizes the unity of a simple person with the Son of God, who, before the suffering that was to come to him, as his own flesh and blood, shared bread and wine with his disciples. Communion is a beautiful sacrament, which is strictly prohibited during menstruation. The only thing is that if a woman is seriously suffering from an illness associated with severe bleeding, which happens with tumors, fibroids, etc., then she is allowed, but she must be physically as clean as possible given her serious condition.
Those suffering must definitely warn the priest about their situation. The first prayer will always be for health. Before her, the sick confess and receive communion.
If the onset of menstruation unexpectedly occurs earlier than usual, then it is better to postpone a planned event, such as baptism. If this happened to the mother, she is not allowed into the temple, but the baby is still baptized.
Patriarch of Serbia Paul on female impurity
Patriarch Paul, reflecting on female impurity, talked about Dionysius of Alexandria, who argued that a woman does not have the right to receive communion or touch the holy relics of the Savior, but is always obliged to pray and be baptized.
According to Dionysius, a woman does not have the right to confession until she is completely cleansed. There is also an opinion that you cannot enter the temple for exactly 40 days from the moment of childbirth or miscarriage.
But Father Pavel’s personal answer was different. It draws on the parable of the bleeding woman. If the Savior himself did not consider women with blood unclean, then why should there be prohibitions in our time,” the father reasoned.
What is the reason for the ban on visiting the temple?
In addition to the ban on visiting the temple, the Orthodox Church believed that a woman during menstruation should not:
- take communion;
- get married;
- baptize a child;
- confess;
- touch icons;
- to be baptized unbaptized;
- take antidor (prosphora) and holy water;
- participate in singing;
In addition, you cannot enter the temple for 40 days after giving birth.
To explain why you can’t go to church during your period and a few days after giving birth, you need to turn to the Old Testament. It says that a dead body, certain (venereal) diseases, and discharge from the genitals of women and men are considered “unclean.”
Most modern priests do not limit a woman’s stay in the temple during her period. They convince parishioners that natural processes in the body should not influence their beliefs.
