Civil marriage – Orthodox magazine “Thomas”

Why does the Church believe that civil marriage is fornication?

People far from faith are surprised: can a stamp in a passport affect relationships? But you need to understand that the Church, giving a person choice and freedom, cannot and should not give up rules and traditions to please everyone who is dissatisfied. Read more

Cohabitation is fornication and sin

Cases when a man and a woman live with each other without any obligations and have children, regardless of the duration of the relationship and love between them, the Church classifies as fornication and sin, and those who cohabitate as fornicators and sinners.

This type of relationship arose in the second half of the 19th century, became the norm in the USSR and the cause of many misfortunes for women and children. After all, a man in this situation enjoys all the rights of a “spouse”, but does not bear any obligations to the woman and his children, either to God or to the state. In case of a conflict of interest, a woman has to prove paternity and her rights to property or alimony in court.

A man can leave his “wife” or kick her out at any time. For an irresponsible person, this approach is very convenient.

Priest Andrei Efanov points out that the Russian Orthodox Church calls such a “marriage” a prodigal cohabitation, in which both the man and the woman fell into sin. Such people are allowed to participate in the church rite of communion only in cases where they entered into a relationship before joining the church or if one of them wants to correct the situation, register the marriage in the registry office and get married, and the second, an unbeliever, resists this.

Is it possible for those living in a civil marriage to receive communion?

Spouses living in a registered marriage can receive communion. But people living in cohabitation are usually not allowed to the Sacrament. In exceptional cases, the Church treats believers with leniency who wish to approach the Chalice but who are not officially married. Such issues are considered individually during confession. Read more

Happiness built on sin

If half a century ago a couple living without marriage registration was contemptuously called cohabitants, now some people are proud of their position, explaining everything by mutual trust and freedom of action.

What kind of trust are we talking about if the couple decided to first try to become a family in order to be able to find their will at any time? Those people who boast of their freedom most likely confused this word with permissiveness.

Civil marriage

Unsigned couples initially live in lies, mistrust and uncertainty about the future. Civil marriage is an illusion of the Christian family. Although a woman calls herself a wife, she actually does not have any rights as an official spouse. Through the prism of fornication and deception, women acquire a fictitious family, men - a free mistress, a housekeeper.

A family built on fornication will never have the patronage of the church. All sin is considered lawlessness (John 3:4).

By violating the laws of spiritual life, a person leads himself to self-destruction; he has no opportunity to get into the Kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul warns about this in His letter to the Corinthians. Chapter 6 of this message clearly states that fornication and adultery are mortal sins.

Important! At the same time, Paul (1 Cor. 6:9-20) warns that many things are permissible for a person, but no passions should control a believer, for his body is the temple of God. Here the apostle emphasizes that the Lord's doors are always open to those who understand their sin and repent.

Every couple living in a civil marriage, if the spouses were raised in Christian families, knows very well that their relationship is a sin that will never bring complete happiness. The main difference between a civil family and a legal family lies in mistrust, fear of responsibility, and uncertainty about one’s own feelings.

About family in Orthodoxy:

Patriarchal family in modern Orthodoxy
About sex life in an Orthodox family
Is it obligatory for Orthodox Christians to have many children?

Why does the Church insist on abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage?

Another frequent question from people far from the Church is: can love be a sin? And if physical intimacy in itself is not sinful, then why, in order to enter into it, do you need a seal affixed to the registry office? In a secular society, the moral standards adopted by believers often cause bewilderment. And a Christian does not always immediately find the appropriate answer. Read more

“We command to get married, and not to corrupt your life through fornication...”

Unfortunately, a harmful illusion has spread among believers about the Church’s lenient attitude towards unmarried Orthodox Christians. According to this prejudice, it is believed that if believing spouses have registered their relationship in the registry office, then their cohabitation is not a sin (further in the article we will only talk about registered marriages, which we will call “civil marriage”). As a result, many Christians began to believe that the Sacrament of Wedding for their family union is, although desirable, but far from obligatory. Usually the newlyweds themselves mask their reluctance to get married with pseudo-pious reasoning about the need to “mature” for this great Sacrament, having first tested the strength of their feelings towards each other in a civil marriage.

The saddest thing is that the reason for the emergence of such a misconception, first among the clergy, and then among the parishioners, was the ambiguity allowed in the definition of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of December 28-29, 1998[1], from which some draw the conclusion about the optionality of church weddings for Orthodox Christians. If we turn to the document “On the participation of the faithful in the Eucharist” (approved by the Council of Bishops in 2016), we will read the following: “As noted in the Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church (X. 2) and in the definition of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of December 28 1998, the Church, insisting on the need for church marriage, still does not deprive spouses of the Holy Mysteries of a marriage union, which was concluded with the assumption of all legal rights and obligations and is recognized as a legally full marriage, but for some reason not consecrated by wedding. This measure of church oikonomia , based on the words of the Holy Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 7:14) and canon 72 of the Trullo Council, is intended to facilitate the possibility of participation in church life for those Orthodox Christians who married before the beginning of their conscious participation in the sacraments of the Church . Unlike adulterous cohabitation, which is a canonical obstacle to communion, such a union in the eyes of the Church constitutes a legal marriage”[2]. From this explanation we can conclude that the Church, out of leniency, allows unmarried marriages only for those who created a family union even before they repented and began to consciously participate in the sacraments of the Church.

According to church canons, the Church indeed from ancient times recognized the legality of civil marriage when it came to the family union of infidels. Rule 72 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council clearly speaks about this: “if some, while still in unbelief, and not being counted among the flock of Orthodox, were united in legal marriage .” That is, if a marriage between non-Orthodox people is concluded according to civil laws that do not conflict with Christian moral norms, then the Church, naturally, treats it “respectfully.” It is clear that non-believers are completely indifferent to what the Church thinks about their marriage, but for Christians it was important when one of the parties to such a marriage accepted the Christian faith.

As for Orthodox Christians, marriage for them, according to the canonical provisions formulated in Byzantium, “is not formed by a verbal agreement, but by sacred prayer ” [3], i.e. The Sacrament of Wedding. “From here,” as the famous Russian canonist A.S. concludes. Pavlov, - it naturally followed that whoever began marital cohabitation without the blessing of the Church is not in a marriage, but in an adulterous relationship ”[4]. These legal norms were finally formulated by the novels of Emperor Leo VI (893), when free persons were required to marry according to church rites, and Emperor Alexius Komnenos (1095), who extended this rule to slaves. In this form, these legal requirements for marriage were included in the church canonical collection Nomocanon (The Helmsman's Book). Emperor Andronikos Palaiologos and Patriarch Athanasius of Constantinople once and for all “established that no marriage can be concluded without the knowledge and blessing of the subject parish priest” [5].

There is no need to be confused by the late and civil origin of these church definitions. The teaching of the Church on the marriage of Christians as a sacred rite dates back to apostolic times and directly follows from the letters of the Apostle Paul. Thus, in his letter to Timothy, he says that marriage is good and blameless for the faithful if it is accepted “with thanksgiving, because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:3-5). Elsewhere, discussing the permission of a widow to marry, the Apostle demands that this marriage be performed “only in the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:39), which of course means a church marriage. But the teaching of the Apostle Paul is expressed especially clearly in the Epistle to the Ephesians, where he calls the marriage union of Christians the “great Mystery” (Sacrament) in relation to the union of Christ and the Church (Eph. 5:22–32) [6].

Following the Apostle Paul, subsequent holy fathers and teachers of the Church revealed the Christian teaching about marriage as a sacred rite and a Sacrament in their writings. Thus, Saint Zeno of Verona († c. 260) calls the church sacred rite, which through marital love unites two people into one flesh, “a venerable sacrament.” Saint Ambrose of Milan (†397) directly states that “(Christian) marriage must be sanctified by priestly protection and blessing.” And St. Gregory the Theologian points out that the priest is the celebrant of marriage: “I am the matchmaker, I am the bridegroom... I will imitate Christ, the pure bridegroom and bridegroom, who works miracles at marriage and by His presence brings honor to the marriage.” Saint John Chrysostom repeats the same thing: “As the inhabitants of Cana of Galilee did,” he says, “so let those who are now getting married do: let them have Christ among them. But how, they ask, can this be? - Through the priests. “Whoever accepts you,” said the Lord, “will accept me.” In a similar way, Chrysostom’s contemporary, Saint Pope Innocent I, taught: “The blessing bestowed by the priest on the newlyweds contains the form of a law established anciently by God.”[7]

Based on such a lofty teaching about the family union as a church sacrament, evasion from it among Christians from time immemorial has been equated to adulterous cohabitation, even if this marriage was officially registered by the state. Thus, Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer (†115) in his letter to Polycarp writes: “And those who marry and are given in marriage must enter into a union with the consent of the bishop, so that the marriage is about the Lord, and not out of lust .”[8]. Those. non-church marriage already had a negative assessment for the first Christians - “out of lust.” Tertullian (II-III centuries) says even more directly: “With us (Christians), secret marriages, that is, not previously announced in the church, are in danger of being judged on a par with adultery and fornication ”[9]. We find the same attitude towards an unwedded marriage in the time of St. John Chrysostom (IV century): “First after the entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven, the faith spread, seeing the many rebellions and evil plagues in this life, the apostles commanded them to get married : And The priest commanded not to go to such feasts where there was no wedding ceremony . Thus the holy fathers called such marriage “fornication ” (like the saints of our father John Chrysostom, the Word about fornicators and bigamists) [10].

When pagan remnants in marriage legislation were eliminated in the Byzantine Empire, the dogmatic teaching on marriage finally took shape in the Church: “The famous Greek canonist of the 12th century. Fyodor Balsamon says: “The incomprehensible descent to us of the Only Begotten Son of God and the guarantee of the salvation of the human race manifests its greatness and glory both in many other sacraments, and no less in the marriage priesthood.” Here... this very sacred language is recognized as the sacrament of marriage, which the priest performs, and those getting married only accept ”[11].

Therefore, later Byzantine canonists, with full doctrinal justification, call an unmarried marriage sin and fornication and prohibit such spouses from giving communion and accepting donations from them. Thus, Peter Chartophylax (1092), and then Constantine Armenopulus (mid-14th century) indicate in their treatises: “Since copulation without priesthood is fornication , then whether a slave is unblessed (unmarried) or a free one, there is no gift What is brought from him should not be accepted, nor should he be allowed to pray in the house of the Lord ” [12].

It was in this form that Christianity brought the doctrine of marriage to Rus'. Old Russian monuments of canon law in all their diversity testify that with the beginning of the Christianization of Rus', Russian saints instilled in the minds of the clergy, nobility and people that the only legal marriage can only be a marriage married in the Church.

So already Saint John II of Kiev († 1089), in his canonical answers to all those who “are counted without blessing,” demands to recognize “to be strangers to our faith, rejected by the conciliar church .” In addition, eradicating the opinion that weddings in the Church are only for boyars and princes, and not for the common people, the saint gives the following instructions: “whoever, besides the divine church and besides the blessing, performs a wedding, will be called a sacrament (i.e., according to Greco-Roman law illegal marriage): those who are caught in the same way as a fornicator should be given penance ” [13].

The Novgorod saint Schema-Archbishop John (in the monasticism of Elijah), in his teaching of 1166, tells the priests to force those from their flock who live in lawless marriages to get married, but at the same time to impose penance “they were not married together according to the law of God ”[14].

In the same spirit, the Rule of St. Maximus, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus' (1283-1305) instructs its readers: “I write to you, my children, and yes to all my children, born in the newly consecrated font. May you keep your wives from the holy catholic and apostolic church, the wife of salvation for the sake of humanity. If you keep them in fornication, without the blessing of the church , then what help do you have? But pray to them and encourage them, even if they are old and young, so that they can get married in the church ”[15].

In this context, the answer to the question: how to deal with the third marriage of Saint Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus' (1389-1406), which he gives to a certain abbot Athanasius, is very noteworthy. The saint insists on marrying such people: “We command them to get married, and not to corrupt their lives through fornication... If they don’t want to get married, we won’t bestow blessing on such people; we won’t accept anything less than a prosphora or a candle from them into the church, until they get married, or they’ll be separated.”[16] Those. Even such an extraordinary event for a Christian as a third marriage is suggested to be treated with condescension and strive to get married so that the spouses do not die in fornication.

St. Photius, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus' (1408-1431), wrote in his epistles about the need to punish those who do not want to get married in the Church. So he orders to impose penance on those living with their wives “without the priest’s blessing” “ like a fornicator ”, “and to bring them to Orthodoxy: with the blessing they would be caught with their wives. If they don’t want to live with blessings, they will be separated.”[17] Those who persist in their reluctance to get married are likened by Saint Photius to “ destroyers and scoffers of the Law of God ”, subject to civil and spiritual punishment, “as they are destroyed by death.” The priests are ordered to “remove such people from the church, and not to give bread, neither the bread of the Mother of God, nor the holy communion , until they unite in legal marriage with repentance and tears” [18].

The successor of Saint Photius, Saint Jonah, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia (1448-1461), also likened the life of Christians “with illegally unmarried wives” to a matter “ resisting and hateful to God ,” leading “ to peasant destruction ”[19].

So we see that the holy saints of God of Ancient Rus', glorified by the Church in the ranks of saints, with one mouth recognize the only legal marriage among Orthodox Christians - a marriage married in the Church, and other marital cohabitations, which could still be preserved among the Slavs according to customary law, are likened to sin fornication, which leads the soul to eternal destruction.

This attitude towards marriage continues in the Russian Church in the future. This is evidenced by the Kormchaya Book - the main collection of church laws, including the norms of marriage law, which guided the activities of both the hierarchy of the church and the civil authorities of the Russian Empire, right up to the Local Council of 1917-1918.[20] Thus, it included the “New Commandment of the Pious King Alexius Komnenos” (Chapter 43), which stated that “marriage should not be called legal and worthy of the Christian state if the sacred language does not bind those who copulate,” and declaring such a marriage to be sin and fornication: “those who combine slaves without the sacred language , do not constitute a God-pleasing marriage for them, but affirm fornication . For those whom God, called through the sacred, does not unite, decisively agree to sin among themselves.” And in Chapter 51 “On the Mystery of Marriage” it is said: “All other marriages, other than with the blessing of the church and orderly from their shepherd, are from the bishop, or from that parochial priest, performed by a wedding in front of two or three witnesses, according to the conciliar the instruction, and the holy father’s teaching, is not lawful, much less lawless and nothing of the essence ” (sheet, 522).

Therefore, it is not surprising that the holy righteous John of Kronstadt gives such a terrible description of a non-church marriage: “You like civil marriage - but this is a marriage according to the flesh, and not according to the spirit... a union, I will say in one word, adulterous, animal, demonic ”[21]. And in another place he writes: “Agripina, a maiden, a servant of the widow Prokofieva, died from childbirth, from the growth of the baby to the uterus - this is a testimony to the righteous Judgment of God to adulterers and adulterers and to the fear of all living in a so-called civil marriage ”[22] .

Of course, one can argue: since the state in the Russian Empire did not recognize civil marriages of Orthodox Christians, then the Church treated such marriages as prodigal cohabitation.

However, Orthodox Christians encountered the phenomenon of officially recognized civil marriages back in the 19th century in Austria-Hungary. The Serbian canonist Bishop of Dalmatia and Istria, Hieroconfessor Nikodim (Milash), even then pointed out that “besides this church wedding, the Orthodox Church does not consider any other form of marriage legal , even if all preconditions were met and all obstacles were absent. Therefore, it does not recognize any ecclesiastical legal significance for the so-called civil marriage, introduced in some countries by state legislation”[23].

Decades later, we will see the same church reaction in Russia, when, after the Bolsheviks came to power, their government recognized “civil marriage” as legal. In its resolution of February 19 (March 4), 1918, the Local Council of the Orthodox Russian Church recognized the Bolshevik decree on civil marriage as directed “to the overthrow of church laws” and condemned such a marriage itself, for which a wedding was no longer required, but was “enough with a simple recording in a court".

All who entered into such marriages, according to the definition of the fathers of the Council, entered “ on the broad path of sin leading to destruction ” and “ incurred the wrath of God and church condemnation .” Therefore, the Council determined that all “so-called civil marriages must certainly be sanctified by a church wedding”[24].

Thus, the holy fathers of the council, whose memory we celebrate on November 18, expressed the general thousand-year-old view of the Orthodox Church on a marriage registered according to civil laws, but not sanctified by the Sacrament of Wedding, as a sinful and soul-destroying marriage for Orthodox Christians. That is why one of the most revered elders of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) (†2006), sternly warns our contemporaries: “There are sins and obvious fornication : if any of those who bring repentance live in a marriage that is not sanctified by the Sacrament of the Church, repent with bitter tears repentance, for you spend your life in fornication ! Ask the Lord to sanctify your marriage with the Sacrament of the Church, no matter what age you are. Lord, forgive us sinners!”[25]. St. had the same attitude. Luka Krymsky (†1961): “Registration of marriages in the registry office has only legal significance and cannot in the least replace the Sacrament of Marriage. In each case of cohabitation without marriage, the priest must question the cohabiting couple to find out why they ignore the Sacrament of Marriage, and if it turns out that this is only a frivolous attitude towards a very important church law, then the priest must seriously explain to those cohabiting outside of marriage the severity of their sin and excommunicate the Saints from communion Secrets until repentance for sin and its correction . However, if those cohabiting outside of marriage present any very serious reasons that make it difficult for them to have a church wedding, then the matter should be reported to me for my consideration and decision.”* This testimony is especially valuable because it describes the practice of the saint, who lived in recent Soviet times, when the modern institution of the registry office already existed.

It should be noted that the documents of other Local Orthodox Churches express a very definite attitude towards the “unwed marriages” of Orthodox Christians. Thus, in the definition of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America o[26]. However, “the pastor should consult with his diocesan bishop before taking any final action in situations involving Orthodox spouses married outside the Orthodox Church.” The pastoral instructions adopted in the Greek Archdiocese of America (Patriarchate of Constantinople) say: “An Orthodox Christian, whose marriage has not been blessed by the Orthodox Church, cannot receive church sacraments, including Holy Communion, or act as a guarantor in the sacraments of Marriage, Baptism or Confirmation "[27].

When can a civil marriage be considered legal?

Meanwhile, our review of the topic would be incomplete if we, having highlighted the general attitude of the Church towards unwed marriage as lawlessness, did not touch upon the exception, which, as we know, only confirms the rule. The fact is that there have always been, are and will be such marriages of Orthodox Christians that the Church cannot solemnize, but nevertheless recognizes them as legal. As it was said in the definition of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church dated December 28-29, 1998, the Orthodox Church respects civil marriage, “in which only one of the parties belongs to the Orthodox faith, in accordance with the words of the Holy Apostle Paul: “An unbelieving husband is sanctified by a believing wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband” (1 Cor. 7:14)”[28]. However, it is very significant that in this case, too, the Church recognizes this marriage not because of its civil conclusion, but because of its sanctification by the faith of the Orthodox spouse : “How can we understand: “sacred”? – We must understand: the husband is holy like a husband, and the wife like a wife, that is, in a marital relationship. In other words: your marriage, faithful wife, with an unfaithful husband did not turn into illegal cohabitation because you believed; on the contrary, your faith has sanctified this marriage (sacred - ηγιασται has already been sanctified) and your husband in the marital relationship” (St. Theophan the Recluse)[29]. Those. in this case, the very faith of the Orthodox spouse makes up for the lack of sanctification of marriage through the Sacrament of Wedding.

Saint Sylvester (Malevansky), following Tertullian, explains the conflict in this way, why believers entering into marriage should sanctify their marriage with the Wedding, and marriage with an unfaithful is sanctified by the faithful himself: “The sanctifying grace of baptism is so great and wide that it sanctifies the baptized person entirely in soul and body , and therefore sanctifies his marriage union, if it is in such a state (for husband and wife are one body (Eph. 5:31)). But, thus sanctifying everything that is found in the present position of the baptized person, it (grace) does not extend its sanctifying effect to his still non-existent further position, to which the marital state should also be included, if only after baptism he wished get married. Therefore, for the sanctification of marriage after baptism, a special grace, different from the grace of baptism, is necessary, which is taught in the Church. But to receive it, it is necessary that both spouses be Christians, and not just one of them being a Christian while the other is a pagan. Because in the latter case... their marriage cannot be concluded legally”[30]. By the grace of baptism here it is quite possible to mean the grace of faith, since in our time we often meet unbelievers who were baptized in childhood, but this baptism remains formal until the grace of faith “overtakes” them.

At the same time, not every marriage with an unbeliever is sanctified under the above conditions, but only one where the unbeliever “ agrees ” to live with the believer (1 Cor. 7:12), which, according to the patristic and canonical interpretation, means “so that in the marriage life of spouses of different faiths The dominant faith was the Orthodox faith, i.e. that the Orthodox spouse should not only enjoy complete freedom in professing his faith and doing good deeds according to the teachings of Christ, but also have a moral influence on the entire family life, since (only) by this, according to the Apostle, this mixed marriage is “sacred” [ 31].

Here is what St. John Chrysostom says about this: “If he (the unbelieving spouse) commands you (the believing spouse) to make sacrifices and participate in his wickedness by right of marriage, or to leave, then it is better to leave marriage than piety. “The brother or sister is not related in such cases.” If the infidel daily insults and starts quarrels because of this, then it is better to separate. This is expressed (by the apostle) with the words: “God has called us to peace.” He (the unfaithful) himself gives the reason for this, just like the adulterer .”[32]

In this regard, some shepherds are extremely sinful when they force believers to make “compromises” with unbelieving spouses for the sake of maintaining “peace” in the family: for example, to indulge in perversions in marital intimacy. The marital state in itself is not the end in itself of the Christian life. And if marriage to an unbeliever becomes an obstacle to salvation, an Orthodox Christian must leave him without reproach. This is what the lives of the saints teach us. Thus, the Apostle Andrew the First-Called (November 30) suffered for converting Maximilla, the wife of the proconsul Aegiatus, to Christianity, and she, according to the apostolic instructions, began to abhor marital relations with her pagan husband; also, the Apostle Thomas (October 6), after the baptism of Queen Tertiana, convinced her to renounce carnal cohabitation with an unbelieving husband and for this he accepted martyrdom by order of the angry king; the martyrs Chrysanthos and Darius (March 19) were accused by the Roman crowd of pagans of destroying marriages by inducing believing Christians to leave their idolatrous spouses; The holy martyr Golinduha (July 12), after her baptism, according to the instructions of her spiritual father, ceased to obey her husband in the performance of her marital duty, and he, despairing of inducing her to cohabitate, denounced her to the king. And these are only some of the examples that the Church praises as an example of Christian virtue and feat of faith.

All of the above relates exclusively to such a marital union, which took place even before the conversion of one of the spouses. And only for this reason the Apostle Paul (and with him the Church) condescendingly allows for the possibility of preserving such mixed marriages: “The Apostle speaks not of those who have not yet been married, but of those who have been married; he did not say: if someone wants to marry an infidel, but: if someone has an infidel, that is, if someone, after marriage or marriage, accepts pious teaching, and the other person remains in unbelief and meanwhile wants to live together, then the marriage is not is terminated"[33].

As for the situation in which someone baptized in Orthodoxy wants to start a family with a non-Orthodox person, the Church “has long since condemned such marriages and considered them illegal if they were concluded by chance. Church legislation, starting from the 4th century, strictly forbade Orthodox Christians to marry not only pagans and Jews, but also heretics.”[34] The 72nd canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council eloquently speaks about this: “It is not worthy for an Orthodox husband to copulate with a heretical wife, nor for an Orthodox wife to couple with a heretic husband. If something like this is seen, done by someone: the marriage will not be considered firm, and the illegal cohabitation will be dissolved . For it is not proper to confuse the unmixed, nor to mate with the sheep of the wolf, nor the lot of sinners with the part of Christ. If anyone transgresses what we have decreed, let him be excommunicated.” Moreover, the canons “by heretics mean those who accept our sacrament, but in some parts of the teaching they sin, which is why they differ from the Orthodox, and by Jews they mean murderers of Christ, and by Hellenes - completely unbelievers and suffering from the disease of idolatry.”[35]

Nevertheless, according to the “Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church,” “based on considerations of pastoral economy, the Russian Orthodox Church, both in the past and today, finds it possible to marry Orthodox Christians with Catholics, members of the Ancient Eastern Churches and Protestants who profess faith in Triune God, subject to the blessing of marriage in the Orthodox Church and raising children in the Orthodox faith. The same practice has been followed in most Orthodox Churches over the past centuries.”[36] Without touching on the controversy, to what extent this practice has a canonical justification, it should be noted that in this case, such a marriage is considered legal only if the marriage is blessed in the Orthodox Church, which is practically expressed in the performance of the Sacrament of Wedding over the newlyweds.

Thus, summing up the above, we can conclude that the Orthodox Church recognizes only married marriage as legal for its children, equating unsanctified marital unions of Orthodox Christians with fornication. The only exceptions are such mixed marriages with non-Orthodox people, which were concluded according to civil laws that do not contradict moral Christian norms, even before the conversion of one of the spouses to Orthodoxy, and which are preserved by mutual consent of the parties, subject to the dominant position of the Orthodox faith in their family life. But these marriages are also recognized by the Church as legal, not because of their civil conclusion, but because of their mysterious sanctification by the grace of the faith of the husband or wife of the Orthodox confession.

[1] Definition of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church dated December 28-29, 1998 “On the recent cases of abuse by some pastors of the power entrusted to them by God to “knit and decide.” URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/dokumenty/opredelenie-svjashhennogo-sinoda-ob-uchastivshihsja-v-poslednee-vremja-sluchajah-zloupotreblenija-nekotorymi-pastyrjami-vverennoj-im-ot-boga-vlastyu-vjazat- i-reshit-mf-18-18/

[2] On the participation of the faithful in the Eucharist. V. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/dokumenty/ob-uchastii-vernyh-v-evharistii/#0_8

[3] Matthew Blastar. Alphabetical Syntagma. The beginning of the letter Γ. Ch. 8. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Matfej_Vlastar/Alfavitnaia_Sintagma/3_8

[4] Pavlov A. 50th Chapter of the Helmsman’s Book. M., 1887. P. 70.

[5] Hieroconfessor Nicodemus (Milash). Orthodox church law. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Nikodim_Milash/pravoslavnoe-tserkovnoe-pravo/4_13

[6] Quoted. by: St. Sylvester (Malevansky). Experience of Orthodox dogmatic theology. T. 4. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Silvestr_Malevanskij/opyt-pravoslavnogo-dogmaticheskogo-bogoslovija-tom-4/3_54

[7] Ibid.

[8] St. Ignatius the God-Bearer. Epistle to Polycarp, 5. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ignatij_Antiohijskij/poslanie-k-polikarpu/#0_5

[9] Pavlov A. 50th Chapter of the Helmsman’s Book. M., 1887. P. 63

[10] Zlatostroy. Word 111 // Electronic copy: Moscow Orthodox Theological Academy. 2006. pp. 525-526

[11] Pavlov A. 50th Chapter of the Helmsman’s Book. pp. 69-70.

[12] Tulupov T.S. Conversation about the sacrament of marriage. URL: https://starajavera.narod.ru/tulupov2.html

[13] Pavlov A.S. Monuments of ancient Russian canon law. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Aleksej_Pavlov/pamjatniki-drevne-russkogo-kanonicheskogo-prava/1_1

[14] Pavlov A.S. Monuments of ancient Russian canon law. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Aleksej_Pavlov/pamjatniki-drevne-russkogo-kanonicheskogo-prava/137_2

[15] Pavlov A.S. Monuments of ancient Russian canon law. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Aleksej_Pavlov/pamjatniki-drevne-russkogo-kanonicheskogo-prava/13

[16] Pavlov A.S. Monuments of ancient Russian canon law. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Aleksej_Pavlov/pamjatniki-drevne-russkogo-kanonicheskogo-prava/32

[17] Pavlov A.S. Monuments of ancient Russian canon law. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Aleksej_Pavlov/pamjatniki-drevne-russkogo-kanonicheskogo-prava/33

[18] Pavlov A.S. Monuments of ancient Russian canon law. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Aleksej_Pavlov/pamjatniki-drevne-russkogo-kanonicheskogo-prava/60

[19] Pavlov A.S. Monuments of ancient Russian canon law. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Aleksej_Pavlov/pamjatniki-drevne-russkogo-kanonicheskogo-prava/77

[20] The helmsman’s book // Orthodox encyclopedia. T. 38. URL: https://www.pravenc.ru/text/2458663.html

[21] Righteous John of Kronstadt. Diary. Volume 17. 1872–1873. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Kronshtadtskij/dnevnik-tom-17-1872-1873/14_12

[22] Righteous John of Kronstadt. Diary. Volume 17. 1873–1874 URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Kronshtadtskij/dnevnik-tom-18-1873-1874-gg/12_25

[23] Orthodox church law. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Nikodim_Milash/pravoslavnoe-tserkovnoe-pravo/4_20

[24] Russian Orthodox Church and the communist state. 1917-1941. M., 1996. pp. 17-18.

[25] archim. John (Krestyankin). Experience of constructing a confession. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Krestjankin/opyt-postroenija-ispovedi/1_7

[26] Encyclical “On Marriage” // URL: https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/encyclicals/on-marriage

[27] Pastoral Guidelines: Weddings, Divorces, Baptisms, Funerals, and Memorials. URL: https://www.stvasilios.org/orthodox_faith/pastoral_guidelines/pastoral_guidelines_weddings

[28] Definition of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church dated December 28-29, 1998 “On the recent cases of abuse by some pastors of the power entrusted to them by God to “knit and decide.” URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/dokumenty/opredelenie-svjashhennogo-sinoda-ob-uchastivshihsja-v-poslednee-vremja-sluchajah-zloupotreblenija-nekotorymi-pastyrjami-vverennoj-im-ot-boga-vlastyu-vjazat- i-reshit-mf-18-18/

[29] Interpretation of the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/dokumenty/opredelenie-svjashhennogo-sinoda-ob-uchastivshihsja-v-poslednee-vremja-sluchajah-zloupotreblenija-nekotorymi-pastyrjami-vverennoj-im-ot-boga-vlastyu-vjazat-i- reshit-mf-18-18/https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Feofan_Zatvornik/tolkovanie-na-pervoe-poslanie-k-korinfjanam/3_1_4

[30] St. Sylvester (Malevansky). Experience of Orthodox dogmatic theology. Volume IV// https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Silvestr_Malevanskij/opyt-pravoslavnogo-dogmaticheskogo-bogoslovija-tom-4/3_56

[31] Hieroconfessor Nicodemus (Milash). Interpretation of Rule 72 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council // Rules of the Holy Apostles and Ecumenical Councils with interpretations. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Nikodim_Milash/pravila-svjatyh-apostolov-i-vselenskih-soborov-s-tolkovanijami/223

[32] St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on 1 Corinthians, 19. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Zlatoust/tolk_64/19

[33] St. John Chrysostom. Discourses on 1 Corinthians, 19. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Ioann_Zlatoust/tolk_64/19

[34] Hieroconfessor Nicodemus (Milash). Interpretation of Rule 72 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council // Rules of the Holy Apostles and Ecumenical Councils with interpretations. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Nikodim_Milash/pravila-svjatyh-apostolov-i-vselenskih-soborov-s-tolkovanijami/223

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* Decree to all rectors of churches of the Crimean diocese. URL: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Luka_Vojno-Jasenetskij/ukazy/#0_27

Punishment for adultery

Fornication is the name given to carnal pleasure without causing any harm to another.

The sin of adultery gives rise to slander (lies) and insult to the legal union. As punishment, the church can excommunicate an adulterer from communion with the Holy Mysteries for 15 years. A seven-year sentence is prescribed for a fornicator.

Important! The measure of penance (church punishment) is established depending on the condition of the person who committed the sin.

The people highly condemn any manifestation of infidelity, so the adulterer will feel unpleasant conversations on the side.
Those who have fallen into fornication cannot receive communion until they repent.
Punishment comes from one’s own conscience, which does not allow one to forget the sin for a long time. Purification comes only after the memory of this event is destroyed.
The consequence of the sin of adultery is the suffering that arises after learning about the betrayal. Spouses have to seek a divorce because saving the marriage is even more difficult.
Any prodigal sin closes the soul’s gate to the Heavenly abode.
Adulterers will suffer “the second death in the lake of hell, full of fire and brimstone.
In the New Testament, the bodies of each person become members of the body of Christ, therefore the sinner brings dishonor to the Son of God and dissolves the original unity. Having lost sacred support, a person surrenders to the power of monstrous demons.
Fornication and adultery build a metaphysical wall through which prayers and forgiveness filter heavily. If you do not take appropriate measures to heal the soul, there is a possibility of falling away from the Church and God forever.
They distance themselves from the adulterer and turn away. He is considered an object of shame and contempt, he brings grief to his parents and is the subject of unflattering reviews.
The sin of adultery in Orthodoxy is capable of destroying not only the physical, but also the spiritual shell. They annul moral laws that are independent of human will.

On a note! Saint Basil, speaking about adultery, did not distinguish between adultery on the part of the wife and the husband. In both cases, the sins became mortal and required complete repentance.

This position did not take root in the Christian tradition for a long time, because in ancient times the wife did not have the status of a full member of society.

The meaning of the commandment “thou shalt not commit adultery”

The statements of the Holy Fathers and certain passages from the Gospel have special power against this sin.

The one who looks at a woman with lust is already committing adultery.
The children of Israel should not be subjected to this passion, since the heavenly abode does not accept people who are unclean in heart.
In Orthodoxy, bodies are regarded as a temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. It is believed that there is nothing in the material world that belongs to us, therefore sinning at a party is prohibited and unnatural.
It is necessary to take care of the purity of your body, because the time will come when every Christian will have to give an answer for the life he has lived.
Adultery is necessarily judged by the Almighty Lord, but a pure marriage and an immaculate bed are permitted by God.

How to atone for lustful sin

Each of the passions is capable of capturing the soul and removing it from communication with the Eternal purity of the Lord. If sins are combined, it becomes difficult to get out of a dangerous situation, therefore the task of every Orthodox Christian is to destroy all the seeds of sinfulness.

The first thing is to cleanse the recesses of the heart, which will allow you to see God in the soul. He will give instructions and faithful advice that will protect you from the influence of the sin of fornication. Not a single thought can be hidden from the Creator, therefore the desire for fornication or adultery must be destroyed by great shame in the face of the Almighty.
The clergy teach the laity to be more attentive to feelings and desires. Demons of lustful sinfulness often appear in the form of a useful and good deed. Unclean creatures first darken the mind, and then explain what they need.
Healing will come when the thought of the opposite sex ceases to arouse passion. To reduce temptation, it is necessary to reduce the time of communication and remove vicious thoughts from yourself. The fire of lust flares up precisely in the movement of thought, and not in the body.
Since the demonic attack is carried out on the body and soul, one must resist in two ways. Physical fasting alone is not enough; a layman should constantly meditate on the Holy Scriptures, and also occupy his hands with work or handicrafts.
If a temptation arises before a person, he is obliged to find the reason, internal or external, and eradicate it. Chastity presupposes simplicity in attire and peace of one’s own flesh, which will not allow lustful moods to arise in the mind.

We advise you to study Congratulations on St. Nicholas Day

What causes such a strict attitude of the Church?

After all, it seems that a civil marriage does not harm anyone, and people enter into it by mutual consent. This is not adultery and betrayal, leading to the destruction of a family. To answer this question, it is worth first remembering what the concept of “sin” means.

Sin violates the laws of human spiritual life. And any violation of physical and spiritual laws leads to self-destruction, and as a consequence to various troubles. Just as it is impossible to build a reliable, durable building on a rotten foundation, it is impossible to build a strong marriage on fornication. The Bible ranks fornication among the most serious sins.

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The Church does not forbid, but on the contrary blesses, carnal relationships between women and men only in one case - if the relationship took place in a marriage. Moreover, the marriage does not have to be a wedding. It is enough that the union be in accordance with civil law. Married people receive the blessing of the Lord. However, carnal relations outside of marriage are a sin. The Bible tells us that spouses in marriage become one “one flesh” for a life of love, for the birth and further raising of children. Civil marriage also unites a couple, but this union is sinful and lawless.

Any extramarital affair hurts a person’s soul, leaving an indelible mark on it. Even after getting married, a person continues to bear the burden of past sins. If marriage unites spouses to live in love and respect, then civil marriage, being a manifestation of fornication, defiles the soul of people. By indulging in fornication, people pay for their sin with various problems and hardships.

Fictitious marriage

Although a fictitious marriage is registered in the registry office, it is essentially unreal. It represents a kind of “feigned” type of marriage relationship without the intention of both parties to create a full-fledged family .

The purposes of concluding such false marriages can be very different:

receiving material benefits - housing, inherited property, state pension;
obtaining citizenship for a foreigner;
other selfish goals.

If it is subsequently proven that the marriage was not concluded with the aim of creating a full-fledged family, then the marriage will be dissolved.

The attitude of the church towards cohabitation

With this lifestyle, a person loses the purity of relationships characteristic of people who are chaste before official marriage.

Cohabitation is a sin, because with such a union, each partner thinks only about himself, about his comfort and well-being. In this case, the connection with God is lost.

The church strongly recommends that people living in unofficial relationships formalize the relationship or end such cohabitation, replacing it with friendly communication.

Prodigal cohabitation is a road to nowhere; it destroys the institution of the family and the state itself. The Church has always been a supporter of real values - morality, sincere faith in God, a real family.

After a confidential conversation with a priest, many still decide to get officially married and change their sinful lifestyle for a more righteous one.