Of course, many people know that the sacramentThe wedding is the most beautiful church ritual. However, not everyone knows that one of its most important attributes are the icons of the wedding - these are the images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.
Since ancient times in Russia, these items have beenfamily. Icons wedding should be selected with all seriousness and responsibility, and do it better in advance. These relics accompany the couple for many years and, ultimately, are inherited by the next generation, so they must meet all the criteria of durability. These include, first of all, images created on a wooden board.
It is the wedding icons that are the connecting linkbetween God and the brothers. The icon of the Savior bears in itself the features of the creator of all earthly things, who later became a man to take upon himself all human sins.
In the marriage concluded before God, the spousebecomes the bearer of the cross of family life, 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 the loving heart of the mother can give. And the young wife after marriage should be one with her husband, following the example of how the Mother of God showed firmness in the fulfillment of God's will.
Icons wedding - are integral componentsrite, which is committed by a priest in the church. In God's temple, they act as witnesses of the bride and groom, thereby connecting them "into the flesh one". 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 newly married spouses are instructed by their parents and bring them bread and salt. In doing so, they also use wedding icons to bless their children. Having kissed the holy images and the parent hand, the spouses go to their own house to identify the given icons with a place of honor, to light the icon lamp before them and imbue with the Christian atmosphere that will accompany their house from now on until the end of their days.
The wedding icon will share with the couple all the joysand adversity, which they 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 faithfulness.
At the same time, it is the wedding icons that are considered the basis of family life, passed down from generation to generation, as a valuable relic.
The wedding as a ritual, and with it the norm of blessing newly married icons, appeared in the Great Byzantium at the end of the fourth century.
Until the seventeenth century in Russia, the wedding was considered a privilege of the wealthy estate, and only after a hundred years it became available to everyone.
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