For many people, the concept of "church marriage" means something different, but its essence does not change from this. This is the legitimization of one's relations in the Church before the eyes of God according to religious rites. Today, this type of marriage is more of a moral and cultural connotation, since it has no legal force.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, on the contrary, the only way to legitimize their relationship. But we will return to this later.
Church marriage in the Russian Empire
During the time of Emperor Nicholas I, 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, for the right to be husband and wife. The traditional formal procedure, which at that time had to be performed before the wedding, is the engagement. Its essence was to notify the surrounding people that a man and a woman, by mutual agreement, are ready to become one family.
Dissolution of church marriage
In general, it is consideredthat a marriage concluded in the face of God cannot be dissolved, because if the young people got married in the Church, they swore an oath of fidelity to each other before the Lord himself, and the dissolution of the union is the failure to fulfill this oath, which is regarded as a deception of the Almighty.
It's not good to deceive him. The Church does not welcome debunking; moreover, it condemns such people. Church marriage is eternal love and fidelity to each other. The Lord God certainly did not mean their termination. But nothing is impossible! No matter how much church divorce is condemned, it is considered the Lord's condescension to human weakness, therefore the right to conduct such a procedure remains with the bishop. He will remove the previous blessing if there are motives for divorce, as well as all the necessary legal documentation: divorce certificates, passports. Today there are enough motives for debunking, but in the Gospel God indicated only one - adultery. By the way, the Church allows up to three attempts to legitimize its relationship.
Civil marriage - what is it?
Despite some people's misinterpretation of civil marriage, it's not cohabitation. Civil marriage is the official entry into family relations, registered by the registry office. What some today call this phrase has its own clear name - "unregistered cohabitation".
People, let's correctly call a spade a spade!
Church and civilmarriage
It is interesting that today official marriage (civil marriage) can take place without a church wedding, but on the contrary - no way! Since an Orthodox wedding has no legal force in modern Russia, 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 one's family. What can I say, time is changing, epochs are changing, people's spiritual values are changing…
