For many people, the concept of “church marriage” means something of their own, but its essence does not change from this. This is the legalization of their relations in the Church before the eyes of God according to religious rites. Today, this type of marriage is more likely to have a moral and cultural connotation, since it has no legal force.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, on the contrary, this was the only way to legitimize their relations. But we will return to this a bit later.
Church marriage in the Russian Empire
At the time of Emperor Nicholas the First, marriage was considered a Christian sacrament blessed by the Church and turning into a marital union in the image of the union of Jesus Christ and the Church. In other words, church marriage on behalf of the Lord blessed the bride and groom, who expressed their desire to live together, on the right to be husband and wife. The traditional formal procedure, which at that time must have been performed before the wedding, is an engagement. Its essence was to notify people around that a man and a woman, by mutual agreement, were ready to become one family.
Church divorce
In general, it is believed that a marriage concluded in the face of God cannot be divorced, because if the young have married in the Church, they have taken an oath of allegiance to each other before the Lord himself, and the dissolution of the union is a failure to fulfill this oath, which is regarded as a deception of the Almighty.
And cheating him is not good. The church does not welcome debunking; moreover, it condemns such people. Church marriage is eternal love and loyalty to each other. The Lord God certainly did not mean terminating them. But nothing is impossible! No matter how condemned the church divorce, it is considered the indulgence of the Lord to human weakness, so the bishop has the right to conduct such a procedure. He will remove the previous blessing in the presence of motives for divorce, as well as all the necessary legal documentation: certificates of divorce, passports. Today there are enough motives for debunking, but in the Gospel God indicated only one thing - adultery. By the way, the Church allows up to three attempts to legitimize its relations.
Civil marriage - what is it?
Despite some people misinterpreting the concept of civil marriage, this is not cohabitation. Civil marriage is an official entry into family relations registered by the registry office. What some call this phrase today has its clear name - "unregistered cohabitation."
People, let's correctly call a spade a spade!
Church and civil marriage
It is interesting that today, official marriage (civil marriage) can occur without a church wedding, but on the contrary - nothing! Since in modern Russia the Orthodox wedding has no legal force, it cannot act as an independent procedure for registering a new unit of society. However, in pre-revolutionary times, church marriage was the only official way to create a family. What can I say, time is changing, eras are changing, people's spiritual values are changing ...