Of course, many people know that the sacrament of the wedding is the most beautiful church ritual. However, not everyone knows that wedding icons are considered one of its most important attributes - these are images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.
Since ancient times in Russia, these items were valued by every family. Wedding icons should be selected with all seriousness and responsibility, and it is better to do this in advance. These relics accompany a married couple for many years and, in the end, are inherited by the next generation, so they must meet all the criteria for longevity. These include, first of all, images created on a wooden board.
It is the wedding icons that are the link between God and the couple. The icon of the Savior bears the features of the creator of everything earthly, who later became a man in order to take on all human sins.
In a marriage made before God, the spouse becomes the bearer of the cross of family life in order to live according to religious canons. The face of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is considered the patroness of the family, is a symbol of the good that a mother's loving heart can give. And the young wife after marriage should bea single whole with her husband, following the example of how the Mother of God showed firmness in the fulfillment of God's will.
Wedding icons are an integral part of the rite, which is performed by the priest in the church. In God's temple, they act as witnesses for the bride and groom, thereby uniting them "into one flesh." After the wedding ceremony ends, the spiritual mentor blesses the young couple through the faces of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. Upon returning home, the newly-made spouses are admonished by their parents and brought bread and s alt to them. However, they also use wedding icons to bless their children. After kissing the holy images and the parental hand, the spouses go to their own house to determine a place of honor for the donated icons, light a lamp in front of them and feel the Christian atmosphere that will accompany their house from now on until the end of their days.
The wedding icon will share with the spouses all the joys and hardships that they will meet on the path of life. Looking at the holy faces, they will always remember that they swore an oath to each other in love and fidelity.
Over time, the so-called dimensional icons of saints will appear in the “home temple” of a married couple, which will protect their children from all difficulties and hardships. After the children become adults and leave their father's house, taking their own image of God, family icons will appear that will protect and protect all family members.
At the same time, wedding iconsare considered the basis of family life, passed down from generation to generation, like a valuable relic.
Wedding as a ritual, and with it the norm to bless newlyweds with icons, appeared in Great Byzantium at the end of the fourth century.
Until the seventeenth century in Russia, the wedding was considered a privilege of the we althy class, and only a hundred years later it became available to everyone.
