Every true Christian, in order to show God his honest love, must know, understand and follow certain rules, strictly adhering to the canons of the Church. One important aspect of this is the sin of defilement. The question is quite delicate and not fully studied, but very important for those who revere the Almighty and the Orthodox faith. More details about what desecration means later in the article.
Sin of desecration in a dream
The very concept of “desecration” in Orthodoxy is interpreted as an external action that is aimed at desecrating the holy. As a rule, this is accompanied by a violation of the norms of religious ethics, moral “purity,” morality, God’s Commandments, and belittlement of one’s own dignity.
All requirements for fulfilling the rules of Christian morality are contained in the Law of Moses. The Great Prophet identified the following 4 types of defilement by sin:
The most common sin is defilement in a dream, when a person (often a man) “loses” physical and mental purity, thereby violating all possible principles of Christian morality.
According to church canons, such a sin is desecration in a man’s sleep, namely, the expiration of semen, which has long had sinful causes:
Desecration in most cases is a ban on subsequent Communion. And in order for this sin to be forgiven, a person (following the 28th chapter of the “Alphabetical Syntagma” of Matthew Blastar) must do the following:
Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:
In modern practice, any outflow that occurs in a dream is called defilement. However, according to church canons, only such an outflow in a dream that had sinful causes is recognized as desecration (see the 1st rule of St. Athanasius the Great). A person is not considered defiled if he has had a marital relationship.
Discharges can occur for various reasons. The main thing is sensual excitement and carnal thoughts. In addition, it can happen: “1) to judge a sincere person, that is, his brother, who is a sinner; 2) from arrogance and pride, and that is also sinful; 3) from overeating and drinking, also decently; 4) it pours out from nature without movement and without dreaming, just like other excesses; 5) from bodily weakness and certain illness; 6) from demonic envy” (Rule of prayer for those preparing for holy communion and daily evening and morning. M., 1893; reprint: M., 1993. P. 137). The reasons that caused the last three cases of expiration are not imputed to the person as sin. Saint Athanasius the Great calls only outflows caused by sin defilement. In a letter to the Egyptian ascetic monk Ammun, he writes: “All of God’s creations are good and pure. For the Word of God did not create anything unprofitable or unclean. The fragrance of Christ is in those who are being saved, according to the Apostle (2 Cor. 2:15)... I am amazed at the trick of the devil, that, being corruption and destruction, he apparently puts in thoughts of purity. But what he does is more of a slander or a temptation. For, as I said, in order to distract the ascetics from their usual and saving care, and in this, as he imagines, to defeat them, for this purpose he stirs up such rumors that do not bring any benefit to life, but only empty questions and vanity, which should be avoided must. For tell me, beloved and most reverent, what is sinful or unclean in any natural eruption, such as, for example, if someone wanted to blame the discharge of phlegm from the nostrils and spitting from the mouth... Also, if, according to Divine Scripture, we believe that a person is the work of God's hands, how could a desecrated work come about from pure power; and if we are the race of God, according to the Divine Scripture of the Apostolic Acts (17:28), then we have nothing unclean in ourselves. For only then do we become defiled when we commit sin, the worst of all stench. And when some natural involuntary eruption occurs, then we and others are subjected to this, as was said above, by natural necessity... Blessedly, someone can say in this case: some natural eruption will not lead us to punishment. Perhaps doctors (even though they will be convinced by external contradictions) will say in defense of this that the animal is given some necessary results for the deposition of excess moisture nourished in each of our members, which are the essence of the excess of the head, hair and moisture, separating from the head, and emanating from womb, as well as its excess in the seminal vessels. So, most God-loving elder, what sin is there before God, when the Lord Himself who created the animal wanted and created for these members to have such outcomes? But it is necessary to prevent the contradictions of the evil ones. For they can say: therefore, the use itself will not be a sin when the tools are created by the Creator. Let us silence such questions by saying: what use are you talking about? Is it about legal? whether about that which God allowed, saying: “grow and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 1: 28), or about that which the Apostle allowed, saying: “marriage is honorable, and the bed is undefiled” (Heb. 13: 4), or about that which happens between people, but happens secretly and adulterously? (Rules of the Orthodox Church. M., 2001. pp. 353–355).
Is it possible to receive communion if the leak occurred in a dream? Saint Timothy of Alexandria († 385) gives the following rule: “Question. If a layman who had an unclean dream asks a clergyman: should he be allowed to receive communion or not? Answer. If he is subject to the lust of his wife, he should not take communion; if Satan tempts him, so that for this reason he will be alienated from the communion of the Divine Mysteries, then he must receive communion. For otherwise the tempter will not cease to attack him at the time when he should partake” (canon 12).
In the “Alphabetical Syntagma” of Matthew Vlastar, the 28th chapter (“K”) is devoted to this issue: “St. Dionysius of Alexandria in the 4th rule of those who have had an involuntary discharge of semen at night, makes their own incorruptible conscience the judge of this case: for if the flow of semen happened involuntarily, without any previous passionate excitement, when nature singled it out as a surplus, then the one who has suffered this can freely proceed to Divine communion; and if it was preceded by some passionate thought, which, having established itself in the imagination, produced a vision at night, and this was followed by the ejaculation of semen, or if this happened as a result of drunkenness and overeating, such a person is not clean not because of the ejaculation of semen, for semen is not unclean, like the flesh, of which it is a surplus, but because of an evil desire that has defiled the thought. Therefore, he who doubts this in his conscience is deprived of boldness; How can one who is disposed in this way approach God, for according to the great Paul: if you have doubts, you are condemned (Rom. 14:23) ... And the Great Basil, in his essay on asceticism, having been asked whether someone who had been defiled in a dream should dare to begin communion, answered that to approach someone in uncleanness to the holy mysteries is such a thing, the Last Judgment for which we know from the Old Testament; and if there is more holiness here, then, obviously, the apostle will teach us even greater fear, saying: he who eats and drinks is unworthy; judgment eats and drinks (1 Cor. 11:29); and the holy father called uncleanness not the eruption of semen, which, I think [according to the opinion of Zonara, in his interpretation of the letter of St. Athanasius the Great to the monk Ammun], no one can completely avoid unless he is completely insensitive, but the bad desire about which the Lord said: “Everyone will look at his wife,” and so on (Matthew 5:8), due to which sin is committed in thought through the pleasure of lust, and thus there is dreamy copulation in a dream and the ejaculation of semen.”
If the reasons for the expiration were sinful, then you need to read the prayer of St. Basil the Great against desecration (available in the complete Prayer Books) or the “Rule against defilement,” which is found in the Canons, and then confess this sin in the sacrament of repentance.
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Defilement in women
Also in Orthodoxy there is a section that deals with the question “Night defilement in women, what is it?” This aspect is quite unclear, since basically such a concept is closer to the male gender. But for women it has its own explanation, which often directly depends on the man’s actions towards her.
Often defilement can be communication with people whose influence “breaks” a person’s personality, “contaminating” thoughts with sinful thoughts and forcing them to perform unrighteous acts. Then the Christian becomes close to losing his main value - faith. This means that he should learn to resist this and do everything possible so as not to lose it. Moreover, he must try in every way to open the knowledge and acceptance of the power of the Lord's faith to those who are mired in sin, for this is the mission of a true Christian on earth.
We should not forget that desecration of a shrine is a great sin. Therefore, in such cases, you need to be more attentive both to yourself and to the people around you and their actions.
Regarding defilement with food, there are also certain nuances here. Initially, food is a necessary means of maintaining vitality. But if a believer strictly adheres to all Church canons, then during fasting and before undergoing Church rites he is simply obliged to strictly fulfill all requirements (if this does not harm his health). In most cases this applies to meat and meat products.
A believer should read the rule against desecration of Basil the Great, because the sin of desecration is a difficult issue for many people, because not everyone has the opportunity to fully understand it and honestly carry it out. And Church laws do not at all oblige a Christian to deny himself the joy of certain holidays. But if a person’s faith is deep and true, then these rules must be followed strictly, for this is the right path to the Lord, to His eternal grace.
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Does intimate marital communication during Lent defile spouses?
St. Theophan the Recluse, commenting on the words of the Apostle about abstinence by consent during fasting and prayer (1 Cor. 7:3-5), clarifies: “... the marriage affair only distracts from this, and does not produce desecration” (St. Theophan the Recluse. Interpretations of the Epistles of St. . Apostle Paul. First Epistle to the Corinthians. M.: Moscow Sretensky Monastery; Pilgrim; Rule of Faith, 1998. pp. 252–253).
St. also spoke about the same thing. John Chrysostom: “He (the Apostle) did not say: let not you be defiled, but: let you abide, that is, exercise, in fasting and prayer; since communication with a wife does not lead to impurity, but to lack of exercise (in these matters)" (St. John Chrysostom. On virginity // St. John Chrysostom. Creations. St. Petersburg: Publishing house SPbDA, 1898. T. I, book 1. pp. 320–321).
The essence of the concept of desecration
If you read the Bible, you can find out that before sin, the body of Adam and Eve had a different shape. It moved freely in space and passed through material objects; there were no barriers for it.
When the ancestors of Orthodox people sinned, the Creator offered to repent of their fall, but they refused. In addition, the man accused Eve, it was she who offered the apple of the tempter serpent, and the woman was sent to him by the Creator. It turns out that God is to blame for everything.
So, God expelled the culprits from the Garden of Eden and sent them to earth. According to the Hebrew text, they received a “cloth of skin” - a body of density like that of animals. As a result, man was doomed to the worst qualities:
● temporary stay on earth;
God's grace provided people with just such a life. The Creator gave man the freedom and right to decide whether to maintain spiritual and physical purity or to defile. Therefore, any Christian in the fight against passion must visit church, read prayers in the fight against his own sins, of which the most serious are carnal ones. To overcome them there is a rule against desecration:
● in case of non-observance of religious and moral purity;
The Law of Moses sets forth four defilements of sin that degrade man:
4) contact with death, disease, uncleanness.
What is prodigal, nocturnal defilement? This is spontaneous ejaculation or dreams of sexual content. However, Saint Athanasius the Great did not consider relationships with his lawful wife and ejaculation a sin. This phenomenon occurs on an unconscious level and the person is not responsible for these actions. Therefore, the Theologian attributed only thoughts and desires that provoked night defilement in men.
Causes
He identified the main reasons: condemnation, arrogance, pride, gluttony. Food is necessary for existence, but excess in food is called gluttony, which is talked about not only by priests, but also by doctors. Wine serves as a drink; even Jesus Christ drank it. However, there must be moderation in everything, since alcohol abuse deprives a person of the ability to normally control thoughts and actions. As a result, he surrenders to the power of passion and the hand of the devil.
Arrogance is an overestimation of intellectual abilities. Pride is a serious sin that negatively affects the mental state of the person himself.
Is it possible to receive communion after night desecration? Saint Timothy of Alexandria answers this question in the following rule:
● If you had sexual relations with your wife, then it is prohibited.
● If the devil tempts you to prevent you from communicating with the Lord, then communion is necessary, because Satan will not give you peace and will constantly attack.
Main reasons
Below you can find out the main causes of snoring in women.
- Climax. Snoring is rare in young women. The risk of its occurrence increases by the age of 45-50 – which is associated with the period of menopause. One of the consequences of this process is a decrease in the tone of the muscles included in the structure of the respiratory tract.
- Pathologies of the respiratory system. In some cases, a person begins to snore due to the anatomical structure of the respiratory tract. These include a deviated nasal septum, excessively narrow nasal passages, and abnormal structure of the lower or upper jaw or bite.
- Diseases. Among them: problems with the endocrine system and hormone balance, dysfunction of the pituitary gland, sinusitis and rhinitis, polyps in the nasal cavity, infectious diseases of the respiratory system.
- Obesity. A large amount of fatty tissue in the body reduces the airway patency, causing snoring.
- Bad habits
- Sleep disturbances and lack of sleep.
- Side effects of medications.
- Sleeping on your back.
- Nervous system disorders.
This is not a complete list of the causes of snoring in women.
What is filth
By defilement we mean any sin.
Not only the body, but also the human soul is exposed to its action. Speaking about defilement, it is important to understand that this condition manifests itself through a lack of taste for life. In order for a person to feel bad, it is enough to inadvertently offend someone. Those who fall into the power of alcohol or women also become slaves of sin.
Depravity manifests itself through human egoism. It is common for people to identify themselves with objects that belong to them. Buying a desired car, which subsequently gets into an accident, can give rise to a flurry of sinful thoughts in the soul. Despite the preservation of health and life, the person suffers. This is due to the personification of one’s essence with a thing.
There is a person's attachment to his body. First of all, he cares about satisfying material needs.
People forget about spiritual needs. Then the filth consumes him. To get rid of sinful things, people should pay attention to spiritual knowledge and strive for enlightenment. It is important to try to understand who a person really is.
Despite being consumed by the sins of human nature, one can get rid of defilement. For healing, cleansing holy communion and the sacrament of confession are used.
It should be remembered that any measure will have an effect only in the case of true faith. The desire to get rid of sin is not enough; it is important to believe in the Divine principle with all your heart. This will help not only to repent of sins, but also to find the true path.
Note! It is not enough to know church rituals and perform them. Exact repetition of sacred actions will not allow spiritual purification. Enlightenment of the human soul occurs through changing behavior for the better.
Effective methods to get rid of snoring
There are many folk recipes for getting rid of snoring at home, but we under no circumstances recommend self-medication, but rather go to a specialist and find out the cause of the disease. But still, there are several useful tips that are safe for health, which you can find below.
- Correct conditions and sleeping place. First of all, take care of comfortable conditions in the bedroom and a suitable bed. You need to monitor the temperature and humidity in the room, regularly ventilate the room and eliminate potential allergens from it, purchase an orthopedic pillow and be sure to clean and moisturize your nasal passages before going to bed.
- Don't sleep on your back. As we said earlier, sleeping on your back is one of the causes of snoring. The ideal sleeping position is on the left side. Since gastric juice does not put pressure on the pancreas due to the location of the organs.
- Special exercises for snoring are a quick and simple exercise for the muscles of the oropharynx, allowing you to get rid of the problem without medications or surgery.
- Nasal rinsing. This is one of the simplest and most popular ways to ease nasal breathing and get rid of snoring at home. The procedure is aimed at disinfection and elimination of inflammatory processes characteristic of ENT diseases and allergies.
- Anti-snoring patch. Using a special patch that restores normal breathing during night rest.
You should not resort to drug treatment for snoring in women without first visiting a specialist, since you will not be able to identify the cause of the disease on your own and will most likely cause more harm to the body than good.
Desecration in a dream
What is and how does defilement manifest itself in a dream?
According to the canon of the Orthodox Church, this is, first of all, a male sin. Sinfulness is manifested in intimate intimacy with a woman without marriage. In this case, it means ejaculation (or ejaculation) during sleep. For spiritual cleansing after expiration during sleep, a prayer against night defilement is used. The rule against desecration of Basil the Great has a healing property of this kind. The confessor can also read the prayers of other holy elders. The prayer against night defilement must be said taking into account certain rules and instructions.
This is interesting! A lecture on Father German's drunkenness and how to get there.
It should be noted that this concept appeared among monks. This is due to the fact that they make an immutable vow to avoid intimacy with women. It is important to remember that not only intercourse, but even thoughts about it are considered a sin. Such sinful dreams give rise to temptation of unprecedented strength. It is this fact that underlies the ban on women visiting the territory of monasteries. This is also relevant for women’s monasteries.
Among the permitted things was the possibility of relatives visiting monasteries. They were also allowed to attend Sunday services. There could be no question of a woman serving as a servant in the house where the bishop came. In the case of holding a Liturgy for the sisters, the priest had to spend the night outside the walls of the monastery.
Note! In the event of nighttime desecration, a man should tell his confessor about it. This is mandatory especially on the eve of Communion. The clergyman will decide on the possibility of holding the sacrament.
Rule
A person can find salvation from defilement in prayer.
The rule against desecration should be considered, what it is and when it should be read. How you can cleanse yourself of defilement, for this you need to read the rule against defilement. It refers to a specific series of prayer texts. A healing sequence is drawn up, which includes requests to restore the former peace of mind and dignity. The rule is also supplemented by holy psalms. Through the texts, a person expresses sincere regret about his sinful nature. He admits the corruption of his nature and asks God for forgiveness.
All people are sinners. There are no examples in the history of mankind of someone not violating divine commandments. Even saints went through trials of sorrows and illnesses in order to receive divine purity.
It is important to remember the healing effect of the rule, especially after an unpleasant event. After realizing thoughts and actions, a person needs to turn to God. It is in him that one should look for love and consolation.
When to read prayers against defilement. According to the instructions of the priests, the reading of prayers should follow the morning prayer rule. The next confession to a priest should also be accompanied by repentance for the sins committed. During the sacrament, it is also recommended to read the rule against desecration.
You are allowed to listen to the texts of the prayers. This requires maximum concentration of the mind, and it is necessary to carefully follow the text with your eyes as you read.
Prayers can be found on the Internet with the ability to download. Remember, it is not enough to download the prayer text. It is necessary to comprehend it with your mind and soul.
The sacred text was written to overcome the fall of sin. It is believed that human bodies are carriers of ancient sin.
It arises as a result of the fall of our ancestors, so a person instantly becomes dependent on everything pleasant and convenient. To combat sinfulness, purification is required. It is possible to overcome thoughts by talking with a spiritual mentor or priest.
Believers often wonder why a rule is needed, because every day anyone can turn to God in prayer. The Forefather will hear the words of the convert. However, not all people have the ability to clearly express their thoughts and feelings. In order for ordinary people to be heard by God, there are specially created texts that make it possible to obtain the desired peace.
Faithful turning to God and the Holy Spirit sanctifies a person. The recitation of prayers grants divine acceptance to the sufferer.
For women
In the church understanding, there is no specifically provided rule against desecration for the fair sex.
Nothing human is alien to women. Sins are common to both men and women. For women, throwing around at night and other defilements that occur in reality or in a dream are sinful. A distinctive feature of such defilement is that it ends in the same way as intimacy with a man.
The Church allows only one option for satisfying carnal desires for women. This can be intercourse with a legal husband, preferably in a church marriage. If a woman is single and not legally married, then she needs to fight her passions. Women believers are required to read special prayers and undergo confession.
For men
Male defilement involves involuntary and especially voluntary ejaculation.
An exception is daytime or nighttime expiration due to illness or marital relations. The compiled text of the rule necessarily contains a note about cases where it has been read. It also indicates which part is read by men. The reading of the sacred text occurs with the blessing of the confessor.
The fundamental text for overcoming defilement is the rule against desecration of Basil the Great. The prayer text contains petitions for deliverance from sins for clergy and laity, parishioners of the temple.
It should be noted that Basil the Great is known as the Archbishop of Caesarea. During his lifetime, he was known for delivering sinners from imaginable and unimaginable sins.
Night defilements in women
Home ‹ Questions for the priest ‹ Night desecrations
Author: Elena
Date: 11/10/2010 at 12:04
-1. Over time, there will be fewer such dreams, but for now such attacks are due to the fact that passions are still raging. Defilements can occur by nature, but less often and without prodigal scenes. 2. If you do everything right, try to resist. 3. Yes, you can do that too. 4. Yes, pray, fight, but speak in confession. God bless and bless you!
The life of every Christian consists not only of pious and pleasant actions: prayer, pilgrimage, reading about miracles, etc. But unfortunately, there are serious difficulties on the path of every believer, because the inner spiritual life is associated not only with ups, but also with downs.
By turning to God, a Christian is sanctified, that is, made more holy, because he turns to the Holy Spirit. And, as you know, the Holy Spirit is the third hypostasis of God. When a person checks his spirit, his inner settings, as it were, with the Spirit of God, he becomes at least a little like his Heavenly Father, and He, as you know, is Love and the highest Good. Simply put, it’s good to be with Him, when He’s near, a person just feels good. A believer commits fewer actions that would sadden them and introduce disharmony into their already more or less established internal harmony.
Saints are saints because their inner world, through efforts and resistance to temptations, has become similar to that of the Angels. In Orthodoxy they speak of such people as “earthly angels and heavenly men.” By the way, Basil the Great himself, the author of the rule against desecration, is glorified among the saints.
A person begins to feel good when his inner world, as it were, becomes magnetized to God and begins to receive for himself the highest good for the human soul - the constant presence of God through His Spirit.
But the man sinned. Suddenly I decided to do something that goes completely against God and His structure. Harmony collapses, a person’s inner world becomes demagnetized , and the sinner begins to suffer. Because he allowed disharmony not just in his world, but in his relationship with Heavenly Father. It ceased to be the metal that could attract a magnet to itself, lost its properties, by its actions it placed itself on a par not with Angels, but with animals, and allowed filth into itself. And now it needs cleansing in order to restore interaction with God. After all, His Spirit does not interact with any spiritual defilement. That is, it does not enter into communication, does not become at least to some extent common.
But, as all Christians know, nothing is irreparable. Of course, wallowing in something nasty is not a pleasant pleasure. However, if this did happen and the filth touched the person’s soul, then the situation can be corrected through certain rules established by the holy fathers. This is called the rule against desecration. Its author is Basil the Great, one of the main teachers of the Church. People came to listen to his sermons from the farthest corners of the world.
What is the rule against desecration
The rule against desecration is a certain sequence of prayers . It is composed of psalms and requests for restoration to their former dignity. The rule helps to express regret about one’s sinful nature, recognition of one’s damaged nature.
Rule against defilement read by men
Men resort to the rule against defilement if involuntary ejaculation occurs in a dream or at night. And even more so if it was arbitrary. A discharge in a dream or in reality that occurs due to marital relations or illness is not defilement.
Before the text itself, the rules usually publish a note about what men need to read and in what cases. It is also indicated that it is read with the blessing of a spiritual mentor.
Rule against defilement read by women
There is no special rule against defilement for women. Women can also have night dreams and various bad things about sleep and reality, ending in the same way as an act with a man. Yes, carnal desires are far from alien to people , but they should be satisfied with a husband, in a legal, ideally church, marriage. If a woman is alone, not married, then she must fight her passions, pray and, if there was temptation, then she must repent, including during confession. If you constantly do everything correctly, then soon the desires will decrease and it will be much easier to cope with them.
Commandment 7: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
“A wife must not divorce her husband, ... and a husband must not leave his wife” (1 Cor. 7:10-11). If divorce can happen, it will be done legally and for legitimate reasons. We are not talking here about external third-party reasons that are presented not by the husband and wife themselves, but by other persons in the latter’s position or at the special requirement of the law: these reasons (for example, marriage in a prohibited relationship or minors) are rather unpleasant for the persons being divorced than desirable. One of the spouses can legally begin divorce proceedings for reasons either physical or moral.
The physical side here is the physical inability for marital cohabitation, if, however, this inability by nature remained hidden before marriage (St. Law 10, part 1, art. 46–49), and did not occur in the marriage itself, as a misfortune . But even here, “whoever can contain it, let him contain it” (Matthew 19:12), i.e. the best sacrifice to God on the part of the offended person would be the determination not to demand a permitted divorce, but to remain married for the sake of friendship and mutual help: an elderly husband and wife live together, who no longer have carnal communication with each other, and perhaps also did not have never children. In the sense of a physical reason for divorce, one can accept a reference of this kind, when the guilty person is deprived of all rights of the estate or is irrevocably exiled: another (innocent) person, of course, cannot be charged with a moral obligation to bear the same fate. (If a husband or wife remains without any news, then a lenient divorce of this marriage is also possible after 5 years (Ust. Cons. p. 231–237); and in the case of an unknown absence to war (the husband has gone too far and does not notify about himself) or capture (on the road somewhere in the outskirts, the infidels took the wife from the husband and carried her away to their borders), in these cases, since they offer more hope for the return of the unknown person, the period for divorce is double, or 10 years (Uk.sin.1855). But even the most irrevocable exile, with the apparent dissolution of a marriage, does not always internally dissolve the marriage. In favorable circumstances this time, the marriage can be resumed, for example, if the exile is unexpectedly forgiven or turns out to be innocent, and the spouse left at home I have never sought a legal divorce before.
The moral reason for divorce should first of all be called the desire to enter monasticism. But assuming in divorce, as a necessary quality, coercion on some part, or bondage, regarding the husband and wife entering monasticism (at legalized ages, i.e. for the first - 40, and for the second - 30, and according to mutual with their consent (St. Law 9, Art. 252), we cannot talk about divorce here at all. No; those who enter monasticism in the proper sense are not dissolved by marriage, although in fact and before the law their separation by force forever followed monastic vows. Their marriage is elevated even more: instead of a carnal and external connection, an exclusively spiritual connection can remain between them, through correspondence about spiritual life and through verbal notification of each other. (Reverends Andronikos and Athanasia were saved together in monastic form, only the first did not recognize in the last one, his wife, who put on a man’s dress (Thurs. Min. on Oct. 9)).
In the strict sense, a moral reason for divorce can be marital infidelity: “except for the guilt of adultery” (Matthew 5:32). This is the most important thing that allows for divorce and at the same time confirms the strictness of marital relations! But generally speaking, in Orthodoxy there should be no marital divorce. Why? Because, firstly, that the husband and wife constitute “one flesh”, two halves of the whole human being, so that the first married couple (Adam and Eve) was assigned one name “man”: “and God created man... man and a woman” (Gen. 1:27). Then, Christian spouses bear the banner of the union of Christ with the Church, which is never dissolved. And finally, divorce always harms and causes grave offense to the weakest half, which, without a doubt, is the wife. Therefore, “what God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6). Divorce would then be tolerable or useful as a temporary measure, when people did not understand in husband and wife unity in the flesh and in the spiritual mystery of marriage, when, out of their ignorance, they did not recognize universal human rights for a woman, and would be close in their rudeness to that to take the lives of their wives. Such was the ignorant state (hard-heartedness) of the Jews (and then in a later time) (Deut. 10:16), for whom divorce was permitted by the Law of Moses. “But at first (before the Fall) it was not so (Matthew 19:8).
Applying these general judgments about the indissolubility of Christian marriage to the practice of life, we will be fully convinced, on the one hand, of the unfoundedness of the reasons for which divorce is defended: and, on the other hand, of the unattainability of the desired goal by divorce. Yes, the Gospel commandment about divorce, although strict and seemingly cruel, is easy to fulfill and useful for the spouses themselves. Will spouses point out the “difference in their characters” in order to afford a divorce? But the difference in their characters is natural. Moreover, sometimes it is their own fault: it is their late marriage, which makes it difficult to reconcile or use too different characters. This means they need to blame themselves, and not a church marriage that does not allow divorce. And in any case, they should study each other’s characters with a view to applying them to each other, and study them at the beginning of married life, remembering, however, that some shortcomings can unexpectedly be encountered in each other (especially in a wife), even after five years. ten years. Will they complain “about daily troubles in married life, most often the wife’s oppression by her husband”? But we also encounter oppression in other especially close human unions or relationships, for example, in the service. If everyone in the world resorts to divorce as a remedy for violation of rights; in this case, people will constantly have to disagree with each other. Let another be a tyrant of his wife, even if he attempted to kill her life: still, for such isolated cases, it would be unwise to make the law on divorce common to all in cases of oppression and cruelty. “Has the husband indulged in excessive drinking? Did he squander his wife’s dowry or, on the contrary, did the drunken wife take away everything she could get her hands on from the house?” But, without a doubt, the weak will come to an even worse state if they are abandoned. Yes, then drunkenness and extravagance may be joined by another vice, relationships with strangers, or adultery. Is it consistent with marital vows to only wish or allow a married person to strive for a worse state? Isn’t the party that abandoned their couple directly responsible for another’s sin of adultery? “Whoever divorces...except for the guilt of adultery, gives...cause" to the person being divorced to "commit adultery" (Matthew 5:32). And why should strangers then take into their care or only tolerate the completely drunk or inebriated woman who is abandoned, and not those whose husband it is or whose wife it is? A dry hand does not work and disfigures the body, but they do not cut it off: why completely cut off your wife, who can still sooner be corrected than a dead member in the body? or why does a wife cut off her husband from herself, like a whole body from the head, which naturally then dies?
Finally, “marital infidelity itself, at least the first proven experience of it, does not excuse divorce and will not bring any benefit.” The Gospel teaching: “is the word adulterous” is not an indispensable law for divorce, but only a permission or justification for it. The husband will undoubtedly sin if he does not accept a wife who repents and promises to be faithful. If the first infidelity in the marital bed is not forgiven and reasonable measures are not taken against this infidelity on the part of another person who remains innocent: then with divorce many infidelities will be repeated. It is known about the ancient prophet Hosea that he married a harlot, but then completely corrected his wife. Divorce due to adultery is understood by many as follows: “the husband has the right to kick his wife out as soon as he is convinced of her infidelity. And if he himself admits infidelity, and even several infidelity: this is excusable for him and he has nothing to fear that his wife can legally leave him.” Is this view of husbands, often justified in practice, fair? Not at all. Let a woman, aware of her weakness by nature, value her husband more than her husband does, and therefore let them not use reasons for divorce. Let in the Old Testament, in relation to the undeveloped morals of people, the female sex was more severely condemned for adultery (Judg. 15:6; Jer. 3:1), and in the New Christianity at first there was a custom that gave the husband more rights to divorce according to about adultery than to the wife (Vas. Vel. 21:9). But the Apostle Paul gives the law on marital fidelity first to the husband (1 Cor. 7:3). Vows of marital chastity during a church wedding are pronounced equally by both husband and wife. If the body of the husband is at the same time the body of the wife, then the husband must keep his wife’s property intact, and not waste and diminish this property through adultery. No; The Orthodox Church, contrary to Greco-Roman laws, does not at all grant a husband any more rights to divorce his wife; She does not leave her husband to the mercy of a strong person, to immediately expel the guilty wife from himself due to adultery, and in other cases, she does not allow the wife to divorce her husband just because of her whim and impatience (1 Cor. 7:35), for example, I would run away to my parents. Preaching the equality of husband and wife in moral qualities, the Christian law just as strictly judges a wife who has once fallen, as well as a husband who has been exposed at least once in a fall. Briefly: a Christian marriage is so morally high that whether the husband is depraved or just stupid and lazy, whether the wife reaches the point of drunkenness or is just unattractive in appearance, only extremely annoys the husband with her obstinate character - all this the spouses must sacrifice to another higher goal of marriage, about which the Apostle speaks: “This mystery is great; But I speak into Christ and into the church” (Eph. 5:32). And thus, divorce in a Christian marriage should not be “for any fault” (Matthew 19:3), that is, for the sake of every trouble or arbitrarily. Thus, in the full sense or decisively, both the one who, having released or removed his wife from himself, takes another female person for cohabitation, and those who live with expelled wives, as well as a wife who, after divorcing her husband, lives dishonestly, are considered adulterers. (Mark 10:11–12). And in the Old Testament there was such a punitive law this time: when a wife, kicked out by her husband, was again kicked out by another husband who accepted her, or widowed after this second husband, the first husband, even feeling pity for her or needing cohabiting with her, he had no right to return her to himself (Deut. 24:2-4). And so it is best not to allow divorce between Orthodox Christians. And if there is a legal or good reason for it, then it cannot happen arbitrarily, but only with the permission of the same Christ's authority that combined it. Neither the priest can give anyone a so-called “letter of divorce”, nor the entire local church authority (excluding divorces due to exile and unknown absence) does not resolve issues of divorce on its own. The resolution of these issues belongs to the highest spiritual authority (the Holy Synod) (Ust.d.cons., Chapter 6).
Spouses living in an unauthorized divorce from either party! Why do you remain opponents of the Christian law? If you want to be among the true Christians, then hasten to fulfill God’s commandment, which applies to you: “if (the wife) divorces, she must remain single, or be reconciled with her husband” (1 Cor. 7:11), i.e. Yes, “make peace.” And if you don’t want to return to your previous marriage, which was dissolved by one of you without permission, i.e. if you know strangers: where is your faith in this case, where is your respect for the name of a Christian? After this, do not force the priest, as a spiritual father, by coming to him for confession and demanding permission for your sins and permission to begin the Holy Mysteries. Leave the vain self-justification that “you involuntarily become sinners-adulterers, because your heart boils at the mere thought of insults from the person with whom you decided to divorce, and because at the same time you cannot refrain from lawless copulation.” The Lord God never puts a person in such a state that a person will certainly commit grave sins. If you do not want to humble yourself before each other, both the grieving and the grieving party, and at the same time do not keep yourself in chastity: then we also repeat to you the law on proper divorce. Ask and ask for a divorce, sincerely revealing your reasons. But if the Church does not recognize your reasons as valid, then you have no choice in your situation but to return to your previous marriage, and in any case, leave an outside relationship or only temporarily the sin of adultery. Oh, for the sake of God, for the sake of your soul, correct your life!
From the history of the human body and its sinfulness
A person does not always defile by his own personal choice:
For example, male representatives cannot always control the ejaculation of semen at night. However, defilement occurs, even if it is not spiritual, but only physical, but nevertheless.
There shouldn't be any shame about it. However, shame nevertheless often touches the human soul. And this is natural. The fact is that our modern bodies are in so many ways identical to the bodies of animals.
But this was not always the case, although many people do not know about this simply because they rarely or inattentively read the pages of the Holy Scriptures (the Bible). Before his fall, man had a body of a completely different nature. It was not so dense, it was capable of passing through material objects, disappearing in one place and instantly materializing in another. Yes, that sounds fantastic. However, this is true .
Let's turn to the pages of Holy Scripture. When Adam and Eve sinned, they had a conversation with God, in which He gave them the opportunity to repent, admit their mistakes and take responsibility for them. But Adam and Eve, who disobeyed their Creator and ate the then forbidden fruits of one of the trees in the Garden of Eden, refused to repent. They only shifted the blame for what happened either onto each other or onto God himself. Adam told his creator that these fruits that He ate were given to him by Eve. And then he added that He, God, gave this woman to him.
That is, it turns out that it is generally God who is to blame for everything . Adam himself, in his own interpretation, turned out to be just a victim. This is why Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. However, before finally settling them on Earth, according to what is written in ancient biblical texts, God “dressed them in leather garments.” This is one of the important fragments in the entire book about the history of mankind.
Now this is, of course, funny. And this laughter through the tears. The Perfect Creator, who created everything around for love and peace, suddenly turns out to be almost the first murderer, in order for some reason to dress the first people in the skins of other creatures.
Of course, everything was completely wrong . By leather vestments is meant the compaction of the spiritual bodies of the first people to a state that is characteristic of the bodies of animals. Man, through these new, incomparably worse bodies, which were sick, which can be damaged, destroyed, which are especially sensitive to both frost and heat, etc., received the opposite properties instead of infinity, eternity and immortality:
That is why, precisely because of the properties of our imperfect bodies, which we now carry as a heavy burden, indicating to us that without God and His grace, on which He built everything, only such a life is possible. The body is a vessel of sin , it is an initially crippled (by ourselves) instrument. That is why we sin so often, and sometimes involuntarily. Therefore, on the one hand, desecration is, in general, a common occurrence since the Fall of man. On the other hand, this is nevertheless not the norm for us, people called to life with God in his Kingdom.
Flesh without sin and without blemish
When the Lord resurrected , He appeared before the disciples , who were sitting tightly locked in one of the houses. They were afraid that the Jews would find them and kill them. But suddenly Christ appeared between them right in the room. He passed locks, doors and walls. Thus, He, voluntarily or involuntarily, not on purpose, but demonstrated the capabilities of a new, or, more precisely, transformed to the state of the first grace of the human body.
When the disciples, after His crucifixion, traveled from one city to another and were in different places and in different cities, Jesus simultaneously accompanied some, talked with others and was with others. And all this being in a human body, similar to ours, but transformed. The bodies of Adam and Eve had the same properties. All this indicates that when the Lord resurrects and transforms our bodies on the day of the general Resurrection, the onset of which every Christian confesses in the Creed, we will receive the same properties of the flesh.
Is it possible not to become defiled?
In the meantime, at a time when our bodies, as a result of the fall of our ancestors and confirmation by our personal sins, are still the bearer of sin, corruption and have the ability to instantly become dependent on everything convenient and pleasant, we need cleansing. This is why the rule against desecration was written . It is not difficult to find: you just need to search the Internet and download it.
You can protect yourself from desecration. First, you need to discuss this with your confessor or priest. It is not advisable to resort to this without permission.
Required:
Defilement is the violation of God's covenants, not everything we don't like
Often believers condemn other people's religions, modern culture, someone's way of life. But this is only a sure way to defile oneself by violating the instruction “do not judge, lest you be judged.”
Desecration is a violation of God's direct prohibition. And if someone doesn’t like, say, heavy music, it’s just a matter of their tastes. When some old lady argues that all rockers will go to hell, there is nothing Christian about it.
It is also a mistake to think that friendship with a Zoroastrian or an atheist can desecrate an Orthodox person. All these are prejudices.
