What days can you get married in 2022, suitable for a wedding?

When can you get married in 2022 according to the Orthodox calendar?

In Orthodoxy, a ritual is not performed every day. The sacrament is performed only four times a week - on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, unless there are restrictions related to fasting and holidays.

When planning a wedding, you need to immediately find out what days you can get married in 2022. You can choose a date in any season:

in the fall - after the Feast of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary (October 14);
in winter - from Epiphany to the beginning of Lent (until the last day of Maslenitsa);
in the summer - in the interval between Peter's Fast and the Fast before the Dormition of the Virgin Mary;
in the spring - after Easter (in the old days, Krasnaya Gorka, the first Sunday after the holiday, was considered a particularly favorable time).

When choosing a date, couples often take into account folk signs rather than church regulations, but the latter should be given special attention.

When to have a wedding and when not to: church rules

There are some beliefs that say when it is worth getting married and when not. It is customary to hold wedding ceremonies on such days of the week as:

Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Sunday

You should avoid getting married on any day of the week 13th ! The Orthodox Church considers the number 13 to be from the Devil and does not recommend getting married on this date.

Wedding ceremony according to Orthodox customs
It is worth noting that there are also days that are considered prosperous for the wedding ceremony. This:

autumn time after Intercession
winter time from Epiphany to Maslenitsa
summer time between the Petrov fast and the Uspensky fast
in the spring to celebrate Krasnaya Gorka

Many couples want to organize a wedding on their wedding day, but the priests strongly discourage them from doing so. They recommend that the couple perform the ceremony a year later in order to accurately verify the sincerity of their feelings.

It is best not to rush into a wedding, because it is never too late to carry it out and neither children nor age are a hindrance.

Church rules for the wedding ceremony

Weddings need to be taken seriously. First you need to choose the temple in which the ceremony will take place.

You can get married at the registry office or at an outdoor ceremony - whichever the bride and groom prefer. With a church sacrament everything is more complicated. The temple is not chosen based on reviews, like a banquet hall. One must feel a spiritual inclination towards this place.

You can sign up for a wedding in a church shop, where they sell candles, accept donations and order funeral services and baptisms, but it is advisable to meet the priest first. And he will want to chat with the couple to check the seriousness of their intentions.

The priest will tell you when you can get married in 2022 and when not. In addition to the dates common to all Orthodox Christians, patronal holidays are taken into account; they are celebrated only in specific churches. This point needs to be clarified.

The priest will also tell you how the couple should prepare for the sacrament:

for three days before the ceremony, you must fast - do not drink alcohol or food of animal origin;
during the same period, the bride and groom must refrain from intimacy, even if they registered the marriage in the registry office long ago;
on the eve of the ceremony you need to confess and take communion.

During the time that the couple is preparing for the wedding, she must find guarantors - now they are called witnesses. It is obligatory for them to be Christians baptized in Orthodoxy. The witnesses must not be divorced and cannot have extramarital affairs with each other.

The rules in 2022 are the same as usual:

Only baptized people are allowed to marry (this is how the Orthodox Church differs from the Catholic Church, in which one of the spouses can be a non-believer or an atheist).
A second wedding is possible - if one of those getting married is a widower or his previous marriage ended in divorce according to all church rules. In total, the ceremony can be performed no more than three times; on the fourth, the priest will refuse to perform the ceremony, and the presence of a church divorce will not help.
You can have a wedding with secular attributes like balloons and flowers in a restaurant, but in a church there should be no foreign objects.
The ceremony is performed by a priest, based on the canons; unlike secular registration, nothing can be changed here.

As for menstruation, the priest cannot refuse to perform the sacrament to a couple if menstruation occurs unexpectedly - then it is equated to illness. But it's better for the bride to check her calendar and choose a date further away from the expected start.

Orthodox Life

Answered by priest Andrei Chizhenko.

The Sacrament of Marriage, or wedding, is not just a beautiful ceremony. According to the work “Long Christian Catechism of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church” by St. Philaret (Drozdov), “marriage is a Sacrament in which, with the bride and groom freely promising mutual fidelity before the priest and the Church, their marital union is blessed in the image of the spiritual union of Christ and the Church and grace is given pious unanimity for the legitimate birth and Christian upbringing of children." To put it simply: you still need to grow up before the wedding. As we see from the definition of the above-mentioned Sacrament, “the marital union is blessed in the image of the spiritual union of Christ and the Church.” And to understand this, you need to be an active member of the Church, to be enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit in Her other Sacraments: Baptism, Repentance, Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. It is important to regularly attend worship services and desire the salvation of your soul.

In the highest sense, one must love God and His Church more than anything else in the world and, in union with one’s spouse, see the end result of marriage: the creation of a small church from the spouses and their future offspring, which, being part of the Orthodox Church, will be saved and enter the Kingdom of Heaven for the eternal pleasure of the Lord God. That is, the Sacrament of Marriage is a form of union with Him blessed by the Almighty. And if people who are going to get married do not want to unite with God, then they will face serious trials, and perhaps even disasters. This is confirmed by all those people standing under the bishop’s offices and wanting to get a church divorce. A misunderstood goal leads to wrong results. And the main goal of the Sacrament of Marriage, as we have already said, is the marital union in the image of the spiritual union of Christ and the Church.

Based on this, in the ancient Church the Sacrament of Marriage was celebrated immediately after the Liturgy. And now, according to the Church Charter, this is very desirable. The bride and groom confessed and received the Holy Mysteries of Christ during the service, and then the wedding ceremony took place. This is a sign that those getting married should ideally already be deeply church-going people who know what confession and communion are. And the Church Charter tells us that immediately before the wedding, or at least a few days before, the bride and groom must confess and receive communion in order to enter into a marriage union, pure, bright, united with God, from which the Lord, through a clergyman, will create a small church and bless the future offspring of this wedding couple.

If the bride and groom are already churchgoers, they should know that in the liturgical life of the Church and in the everyday life of individual Its members there are periods when food fasting is imposed on an Orthodox Christian and the so-called marital fast (a ban on intimacy for husband and wife), as well as a ban on various types of entertainment and entertainment. This is not done to infringe on human rights, but so that people, having practiced fasting and prayer, which, according to the Gospel word, are means for casting out demons (see Matthew 17:21), will thin their body, making it an obedient collaborator for the soul in the matter of salvation. During these periods of fasting and some holidays, the Sacrament of Marriage cannot be performed.

What are these periods?

1. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The eves of Wednesday and Friday, on which we remember the passion of Christ. Saturday is the eve of resurrection, Little Easter, when we remember the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

2. September 10, 11, 26, 27 - the eves of the feasts of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist and the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. And the days of these holidays themselves.

3. The eves and days of the great twelve holidays, great holidays, as well as patronal feasts for one or another temple (in the latter case, the Sacrament of Marriage can be celebrated in another temple).

4. Four big fasts: Great, Petrov, Uspensky and Rozhdestvensky.

5. Two periods of the year associated with the Nativity of Christ and Easter, when these holidays are celebrated for several days: Christmastide (the period from the Nativity of Christ to the Epiphany: January 7 - January 19) and Bright Week - seven days after the Resurrection of Christ.

6. You also cannot get married during the last preparatory week before Lent, called Cheese Week (popularly known as Maslenitsa).

However, in certain purely individual cases, when considering the case of the bride and groom who have applied to him, the Ruling Bishop of a particular diocese may make exceptions.

The Sacrament of Marriage contains many liturgical elements associated with the Divine Liturgy, the main service of the Orthodox Church. And crowns on those getting married are a symbol of the fullness of God’s grace, which will henceforth rest on the married couple and their family. Take care of this, dear brothers and sisters! And just as in the Sacrament of Marriage you stand facing the altar, the open Royal Doors, through which the Throne of God is visible, so live: moving towards God - into the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the main essence of the Sacrament of Marriage.

Strict fasting dates in 2022

When analyzing the wedding calendar for 2022, you need to immediately highlight the dates of strict fasting. There are 4 multi-day periods in the year, all with strict prohibitions:

Great Lent. Precedes the Easter holiday, in 2022 it falls between March 15 and May 1. Particularly strict rules apply during Holy Week - the week before Easter Sunday. Throughout Lent, Christians should learn to pray, do good deeds, and admire how beautiful God’s world is. But you can’t get married at this time.
Petrov post. It is counted from Trinity, in 2022 it will last from June 28 to July 11. During Lent we must pray for sinners and for the righteous. They believe that prayer brings joy and comfort. According to popular belief, June is still not the most favorable period for marriage.
Assumption Fast. Its dates never change - from August 14 to 27, that is, until the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. During the Dormition Lent there are three church holidays - popularly they are called Honey, Apple and Nut Spas. At this time, Christians bring harvest to the church for blessing - honey, apples, nuts, and in the southern regions - grapes. But you can’t get married these days either. There is also no ceremony held on the Assumption, but according to tradition, matchmaking and betrothal take place.
Christmas post. Lasts 40 days, from November 28 to January 6. Secular holidays fall during this period, but believers try not to take part in noisy festivities, and getting married at this time is also prohibited.

There are no such strict restrictions in the Catholic Church. Here, weddings are not held only during Lent and during the month before Christmas, and in the summer the ceremony takes place at any time.

Registration of marriage at the registry office during fasting is not prohibited. But this only applies to documents. According to Christian canons, during Lent there are strict restrictions on food, and a festive table is prohibited. A wedding is fun and noisy celebrations, which are also prohibited at this time. If for some reason a couple wants to formalize the relationship, then this can be done during Lent, but without a magnificent holiday.

Consequences of marriage during Lent

Priests will not prosecute newlyweds for violating church canons. But people say that the marriage will not be happy. If you get married on an empty stomach, the consequences are as follows:

there will be quarrels in the family;
one of the spouses is walking;
someone will drink;
problems with children will begin.

READ Wedding menu - subtleties of choosing dishes, taking into account the style of celebration and budget

Believe it or not, everyone decides for themselves. Currently, not all Russian citizens are parishioners of the Orthodox Church; many profess a different faith. The question is individual and delicate.

Favorable days for a wedding in 2022

To determine favorable days for a wedding in 2022, you need to use not only the church calendar, but also the lunar calendar.

January - after 01/19/21;
February - all days except 02/15/21 (The Presentation of the Lord);
March - only 03/01/21;
May - after the end of Lent: 05/03/21, 05/05/21, 05/07/21, 05/10/21, 05/17/21, 05/23/21, 05/23/21, 05/24/21, 05/30/21 and 05/31/21;
June - 06/06/21, 06/07/21, 06/14/21, 06/21/21, 06/23/21;
July - after the end of fasting: 07/18/21, 07/19/21, 07/25/21 and 07/26/21;
August - before the start of Lent and immediately after: 08/01/21, 08/02/21, 08/08/21 08/09/21, 08/29/21, 08/30/21;
September - 09/05/21, 09/06/21, 09/12/21, 09/19/21, 09/20/21, 09/26/21;
October - 03.10.21, 04.10.21, 10.10.21, 11.10.21, 14.10.21 (this is the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos; in the old days it was believed that marriages concluded on such a holiday would become especially strong and happy), 17.10.21, 10/18/21, 10/24/21, 10/25/21;
November - 01.11.21, 04.11.21 (feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which is considered very favorable for starting a family).

Some days may seem good for painting (January 8 or 10), but they fall on Christmastide, and performing the sacrament on these dates is not permitted. In April and December there are no suitable dates in the church calendar to marry a couple or celebrate a civil marriage.

In the old days they believed that the best wedding day of the year was Krasnaya Gorka. According to church traditions, he calls it St. Thomas Sunday, when the Savior appeared to the Apostle Thomas. Thomas believed in the resurrection of Christ and since then preached Christianity in the East - in Palestine, Ethiopia, and some sources claim that in India, but the New Testament does not contain accurate information.

Red Hill is a lucky day, but in 2022 it falls on May 9, and it is better to choose May 10. In the old days, it was believed that getting married at this time promised good luck and a happy family life. The church allows weddings on 05/10/21.

Signs about wedding gifts

When young people get married, it seems to them that everyone around them is rejoicing at their happiness, admiring them and wishing them well. But, unfortunately, this is not always the case. If, for example, a guy had a girlfriend before his marriage, whom he dated for a long time and even promised to marry, then it cannot be ruled out that the girl he deceived, harboring a mortal grudge, will not try to take revenge on him - to break up his new love. Taking advantage of the wedding turmoil and confusion, when sometimes many of the guests do not know each other, his ex-fiancee can easily pass on a gift through someone, plotted to cause a scandal and divorce. In fact, all this is not at all difficult, because everyone has fun during the wedding and no one thinks about bad things, but meanwhile the one who needs it invisibly sows his evil in the new family!

Also read: Wedding couple - icons for wedding.

The most beautiful permitted wedding dates in 2022

In December and April, which fall during Christmas and Lent, the wedding calendar for 2022 does not provide any permitted dates at all. In other months, newlyweds will be able to choose:

in January, the palindrome date falls on Thursday, leaving the ones closest to it - 01/20/21 and 01/22/21;
in February there are no palindromes, but there is a whole series of beautiful numbers - 02/01/21, 02/10/21, 02/12/21 and 02/22/21 (even those who do not believe in numerology will like this combination of twos and ones);
in March - 03/01/21, 03/03/21;
in May - after Krasnaya Gorka: 05/10/21, 05/21/21 and 05/30/21;
in June - 06/02/21, 06/06/21, 06/11/21, 06/20/21 and 06/22/21;
in July - starting from the middle of the month: 07/12/21, 07/21/21, 07/30/21 (but the day of the patrons of the family of Peter and Fevronia - July 8 - falls on the fast);
in August - 01.08.21, 02.08.21, 08.08.21 and after the Assumption Fast - 30.08.21;
in September - on the Day of Knowledge 09/01/21, then after the day of the beheading of John the Baptist - 09/19/21, 09/22/21 and 09/29/21;
in October - 10/01/21, 10/10/21, 10/11/21, 10/20/21, 10/22/21 and 10/31/21;
in November, the most beautiful date is 11/21/21, but there are three more options - 11/01/21, 11/10/21 and 11/12/21.

There are no rational reasons that a wedding these days will have a favorable effect on the life together of a young family, but the dates look impressive.

On what days are weddings prohibited according to the Orthodox calendar?

You can sign up at any time. But to enter into a church marriage is only in accordance with the Orthodox wedding calendar for 2020 or another year. The sacrament of wedding is not performed:

during the periods of the listed fasts;
on Tuesdays and Thursdays;
on temple holidays;
on Saturdays before major holidays;
Christmas time is almost two weeks before Epiphany, from January 7 to January 19.

The rules apply at all times, including during leap years. From the point of view of Christian canons, such things as an extra day in February do not play a special role.

Theoretically, the Orthodox wedding calendar for 2022 does not provide for restrictions on memorial days. The church celebrates nine of them in total, some of them during Lent. The fourth (Radonitsa) occurs on the ninth day after the Resurrection of the Lord, on Tuesday. There is no wedding on this day.

Red Hill (the popular name for the next Sunday after Easter) is considered an auspicious day, but in 2022 it falls on May 9, the day of remembrance for those killed during the war. Usually newlyweds do not want to hold the ceremony on such dates.

Marriage registration during Orthodox holidays

You can register a marriage at the registry office during any Orthodox holidays, unless they are designated as public holidays.
According to church rules, everything is different. Great Christian holidays cannot be combined with weddings. The days on which they fall have a different, special purpose.

Therefore, it is better not to schedule the ceremony for the period before and on the days of the twelve main holidays of Orthodoxy. Their dates can be found in any church calendar.

But there are several other holidays when weddings are not only not prohibited, but are even considered auspicious. Among them are the days of veneration of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (21.07 and 4.11), the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God - 26.10 and St. Nicholas the Veshny (The World of Lycia) - 22.05.

Most of the Christian Church holidays fall on different dates every year. Before deciding on the day of the ceremony, you need to carefully study the calendar, which indicates fasting, continuous weeks and great holidays.

The task can be simplified - special wedding calendars are posted on Orthodox websites, which indicate the exact dates when the sacred Sacrament can be performed.

Is it possible to get married and have a wedding on the same day?

Neither the Old Testament nor the Gospel provide answers, because before there was no concept of secular marriage. If the couple looked at the wedding calendar for 2022 and chose a suitable date, then the civil ceremony can be held on that day.

Weddings are now celebrated on a grand scale, a photo shoot and a banquet are required, and the schedule can be too tight. The couple simply will not be able to experience all the solemnity of the ceremony, which is held in the Lord’s temple, so it is better to schedule the wedding for another day. According to the rules, the sacrament can be performed in a week, month, year or later.

It also happens that a husband and wife come to the decision to get married only a few years later, on their wedding anniversary. The Church allows this. Although it would be inappropriate for the bride to wear a white dress and veil as a symbol of innocence at such a ceremony.

Signs for a church wedding

When going up to the porch of the temple, the bride must be extremely careful. A long dress sometimes gets tangled in the legs, and some girls, unwittingly, step on the hem of the dress and stumble. A long light veil, blown by the wind, also blocks her view, which means there is a risk of tripping and falling, and it is precisely at this time, while she is climbing the steps, that the bride must mentally say:

“Let all our sorrows, troubles and illnesses not go with us down the aisle, but remain behind the threshold of the temple!”

This has been done at all times, and it is still being done, so as not to end up with any misfortune, you never know who wishes you harm.

In the place where the newlyweds will stand, the matchmaker or witness to the wedding lays a towel on the floor of the temple, under their feet. It is generally accepted that the one who is the first of the young people to step on the towel will be the head of the family. Under no circumstances should you leave the towel in the church after the wedding, just as you should not leave your wedding candles. The bride should note which candle was hers and which was her husband’s; for this, the candles can be marked with a nail strip or tape. After a wedding, people usually look to see which spouse has the smaller candle, and who will die sooner. Wedding candles are saved and lit during difficult times, such as when a child gets sick.

Young people must step into the temple with their right foot; they do not enter the wedding with their left foot.

If the newlyweds descend the stairs from the temple after the wedding and warm rain falls from the sky at this time, with a rainbow, then they will live in love and harmony until old age.

When crowns are held over the newlyweds' heads in the temple, they should under no circumstances look into each other's eyes, otherwise there will always be infidelity in their family. You need to look not at the candles, not at the guests, not at the temple choir, but only at the priest crowning them.

The healer who is present at the wedding (her duty is to protect the young from damage during the wedding) should whisper from time to time:

“Save, Lord, and preserve Them from all evil by the Holy Spirit, the Life-giving Cross, and the Prayers of all saints. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."

If she says this forty times during your wedding, then no one will be able to harm you at your wedding, even if there are forty witches in the temple for this purpose.

What not to do on your wedding day

The priest will give instructions on what to do during the wedding and after - regarding the spiritual life of the young family. But then everyday life begins, and many people follow the signs - they say that wedding candles should be stored, and wedding rings should be worn constantly. Although some ancient beliefs claim that candles can be used for love spells (this is mentioned in folklore collections and books on black magic), the church does not approve of such things. The same goes for the use of these items during difficult childbirth. From a religious point of view, even such everyday magic will prevent one from entering the Kingdom of God.

You cannot re-gift icons that were given to a couple at their wedding. They become a family heirloom that is passed on to children and grandchildren. They can be used again when the adult child of this couple gets married.

As for the signs and features of congratulations, everyone decides for themselves how to relate to folk traditions. But we must remember that many of them have pagan roots, so it is better to celebrate the event in accordance with church rules.

Wedding outfit: dress, shoes, jewelry

When dressing for the crown, you should not wear a wedding dress, starting from the sleeves, you should first stick your head into the neckline.

Make sure your outfit has an even number of buttons, otherwise your husband will cheat on you. All buttons must have a pair.

Your wedding outfit should not consist of a skirt and a separate corset. All wedding clothes should be one-piece, so that you don’t have to separate later.

There should be no colors other than white in the entire bride's attire. Even panties and stockings must be white. If you don't have white stockings, it's better not to wear them at all.

The bride should not wear pearl jewelry, otherwise there will be a lot of tears in family life.

Do not put flowers in your hair, if there is no veil, the marriage will not last long. The girl who decorates her dress at the waist with flowers will suffer for a long time during childbirth.

Don't get married in sandals, the marriage will be very bad.

Bare shoulders, of course, can decorate the bride, but this will then ruin her family life.

Some brides have adopted the fashion of wearing a wreath of flowers on their heads, like a mermaid. This beauty will backfire on them. You cannot wear a wreath without a veil; they, like mermaids, will be lonely and unhappy all their lives. There is no need to risk your love and family happiness.

In the old days, when the bride was being dressed for the wedding, her bridesmaids stood nearby and sang this song:

“Look, dear father, at me, at the young girl, am I well equipped to go to God’s church, to stand under a golden crown, to accept God’s law With a stranger, with a stranger? I, father, hit you with my brow, bow low. I was with you, father, when I was little, I walked near the bench, I ran around with a chair. You took me, father, into your white hands. You raised me, Father, above my wild little head, You told me, Father: “I will not give you up, dear daughter, neither for a prince, nor for a master; I will plant you, dear daughter, in green gardens; I will protect you, dear daughter, with an iron fence; I will cover you, dear daughter, with a tubular Kamka; I will shower you, dear daughter, with frequent pearls.” Here I am sitting with you, Father, in the nook behind the curtain. You have protected me, father, with girlfriends and gossips; You covered me, father, with melancholy and sadness, not with pearls, but with burning tears. They will take me by the hands and take me to a house that is strange to me. And I will be there forever, at the service of all people. Who will I tell, Who will I complain to, Who will call me His daughter? Who will wipe away My bitter tears And who will comb My scarves? Hold me, Don’t let me go, father, And if you let me go, You won’t call out, You won’t get a call, And you won’t be interrogated. I will be a slave, a crowned slave."

It is a bad omen if, before going to the registry office, something is hemmed or pinned on the bride; all this should be completed long before the wedding, at least a day before. It is also very bad if something comes off on the eve of the wedding, especially a button - this is a bad omen. To avoid big trouble, you need to immediately read the following prayer:

“In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Every day, every hour. There is a pike fish in the ocean-sea, Its cheeks are damask, Its teeth are well-shaped. She shakes her tail, shakes her head, grabs everything around her, and swallows what she grabs. So she would grab Our grief, Carry it into her sea. She kept Him in the ocean-sea and didn’t let him near (such and such). Get away from us, oh dear, into the ocean-sea, get off your bodies, from our clear eyes, from the crown of your head, from your ears, from your red blood. From the liver of the father-in-law, From the zealous heart. Do not take root in our house, Do not grow in troubles and illnesses. May my words be strong, may my deeds be moldable, for now, for centuries, for all time. Amen. Amen. Amen".