How many days after your period you can receive communion. What are the restrictions on going to church during your period?

Many Orthodox girls and women are worried whether it is possible to go to church with menstruation, receive communion and confess, if this is not a violation of the canons. Sometimes there are situations when you really need to visit the temple, an important rite for the family has been appointed, on Easter or another significant holiday.

How to be in such a situation? Skip the service or still ignore the critical days. For many centuries this question has been asked by Christians to themselves and to church officials. They often look for the answer on their own in the Bible or the sayings of the saints.

In those distant times, women, along with plague people, were put on the same level. These days, according to the worshipers, they were unclean. In order not to become on the same level with them, you should not touch them. Hence, visiting the girl during her monthly period at the church premises was strictly prohibited, and even more so it was impossible to perform any rituals.

After giving birth, it was also impossible to immediately come to church. The period of abstinence from visits depended on the sex of the infant. If it was a boy, then within a month, and if a girl was born, then longer - 3 months. In general, a period of about 40 days was indicated. In those days, they said that while a woman was undergoing postnatal cleansing, she should not be at the service. The same applied to the woman's condition after a miscarriage. Today this tradition is hardly observed.

According to the New Testament: is it possible to attend church during menstruation

In subsequent centuries, views changed, but were not unambiguous. For example, the Apostle said that everything created by God is light and beautiful. A woman is also His creation, and the menstrual cycle is not some kind of her fault, but just a natural phenomenon, so there should be no ban on going to church during menstruation.

In confirmation of his words, he cited the parable of a sick long time parishioner. She was bleeding and there was no way for the doctors to help her. Having learned about the Son of God passing by, she went to meet him with a prayer, touched his clothes lightly and with trembling with a pale hand. The Lord healed her, saying with approval that it was the faith of the sick person who helped her. So, the bleeding was not pushed away by Christ himself, which means that visiting the temple is possible for her.

Dionysius of Alexandria was not opposed to visiting a woman on critical days of the temple, but her actions should be limited:

Just pray and be baptized.
The prohibition of the sacrament.
Prohibition of touching holy graves.

Is it possible for a woman to confess and receive communion during menstruation

If in our time you turn to the priests with a similar question, you will get several different answers. Someone points out that women on critical days can do everything that is customary in the church, just not touch the temple shrines. Others are opposed to parishioners taking part in the Sacraments on these days. How to be? First of all, you need to know the rules that exist in this temple and follow them. This question can be resolved by talking to the priest.

If a trip to holy places is planned, then the woman needs a blessing, as well as the advice of a confessor. Some ministers of the Russian Orthodox Church are negative about visiting a woman with menstruation in the church.

The main reasons for the ban

The main thing is that according to legends, no one should shed blood in the temple. Even if someone in ancient times managed to get hurt in the temple, he had to leave him in order to stop her outside the church walls. This applied to both ordinary townspeople and clergy. If, nevertheless, it happened that blood sprinkled the floor or the icon, it had to be re-consecrated.
In the old days, women's clothing was different, and the risk of menstrual blood spilling onto the floor was very high. For this reason, they were not allowed inside. This is not possible today, as there are many useful means hygiene.
Another version is the death of the egg, which some believe is a spontaneous abortion. Allegedly, the painful bleeding given to a woman by nature is a punishment for the fall of Eve in paradise.

Communion and baptism

The first rite symbolizes unity common man with the Son of God, who, before his coming sufferings, as his flesh and blood, shared bread and wine with the disciples. Communion is a beautiful sacrament that is strictly forbidden during menstruation. The only thing is that if a woman seriously suffers from an ailment associated with severe bleeding, which happens with tumors, fibroids, etc., then she is allowed, but she must be as pure bodily as possible with her serious condition.

The sufferers must warn the priest about their situation. The first prayer will always be for health. In front of her, the sick confess and receive communion.

If your period unexpectedly begins earlier than usual, then a planned event, such as baptism, is best rescheduled. If this happened to the mother, she is not allowed into the temple, but the baby is still baptized.

Conclusion

Based on the above, you can draw the following useful conclusions for yourself.

Visit Orthodox Church in the period of menstruation, only the father can allow.
Confess and receive communion healthy woman on critical days it is impossible.
The priest will not refuse a woman with bleeding in confession and communion if she is seriously ill and will pray for healing.

The rest should wait out the unfavorable days and pray at home.

Priest Konstantin Parkhomenko

About the so-called female impurity or is it possible to confess during menstruation

Source: Azbuka.ru

Oh, how many times a day a priest serving in a church has to deal with this topic! .. Parishioners are afraid to enter the church, venerate the cross, they call in panic: “What to do, I was preparing this way, I was preparing for the holiday and now ...”

From the Diary: One girl calls on the phone: “Father, I could not attend all holidays in the temple because of uncleanness. And she did not take the Gospel and holy books in my hands. But don't think that I missed the holiday. I read all the texts of the service and the Gospel on the Internet! ”

Great invention of the Internet! Even in the days of the so-called. ritual impurity can touch the computer. And it makes it possible to prayerfully experience the holidays.

It seems how the natural processes of the organism can be weaned away from God? And educated girls and women themselves understand this, but there is church canons that prohibit visiting the temple on certain days ...

How can this issue be resolved?

To do this, we need to turn to pre-Christian times, to the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament, there are many prescriptions regarding the purity and impurity of a person. Uncleanness is, first of all1, a dead body, some diseases, effusions from the genitals of men and women.

Where did these ideas come from among the Jews? The easiest way to draw parallels with pagan cultures, which also had similar prescriptions about impurity, but the biblical understanding of impurity is much deeper than it seems at first glance.

Of course, the influence of pagan culture was, but for a person of the Old Testament Jewish culture, the idea of external impurity was rethought, it symbolized some deep theological truth. Which? In the Old Testament, impurity is associated with the theme of death, which took possession of humanity after the fall of Adam and Eve. It is not difficult to see that death, and disease, and the outflow of blood and semen as the destruction of the embryos of life - all this reminds of human mortality, of some deep damage to human nature.

A person in the moments of manifestation, the discovery of this mortality, sinfulness - must tactfully stand aside from God, who is Life itself!

This is how the Old Testament treated this kind of impurity.

But in the New Testament, the Savior radically rethinks this topic. The past has passed, now everyone who is with Him, even if he dies, will come to life, all the more the rest of the impurity has no meaning. Christ is - the incarnate Life Itself (John 14: 6).

The Savior touches the dead - let us remember how He touched the bed on which they carried the son of the widow of Naina to be buried; how He allowed the bleeding woman to touch Him ... We will not find a moment in the New Testament when Christ would observe the prescriptions about purity or impurity. Even when he meets with the embarrassment of a woman who clearly violated the etiquette of ritual impurity and touched Him, He says things to her that contradict the generally accepted opinion: "Be bold, daughter!" (Matthew 9:22).

The apostles taught in the same way. “I know and have confidence in the Lord Jesus,” says the Apostle. Paul - that there is nothing unclean in itself; only to him that thinks something unclean is unclean ”(Rom. 14:14). He: “For every creation of God is good, and nothing is reprehensible if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4: 4).

In the very literally the apostle speaks of food impurity. The Jews considered a number of products to be unclean, while the apostle says that everything created by God is holy and pure. But ap. Paul says nothing about the impurity of physiological processes. We do not find specific indications of whether to consider a woman during menstruation unclean, neither from him, nor from the other apostles. If we proceed from the logic of the preaching of Ap. Paul, then menstruation, like the natural processes of our body, cannot separate a person from God and grace.

We can assume that in the early centuries of Christianity, believers made their own choices. Someone followed the tradition, acted like mothers and grandmothers, maybe “just in case”, or, based on theological convictions or some other reason, defended the point of view that on “critical” days it is better not to touch shrines and not receive communion.

Others received communion always, even during menstruation. and no one excommunicated them from the Sacrament.

In any case, we have no information about this, on the contrary. we know that the ancient Christians, weekly, even under the threat of death, gathered in their homes, served the Liturgy and received Communion. If there were exceptions to this rule, for example, for women in a certain period, then ancient church monuments would have mentioned this. They don't say anything about it.

But that was the question. And in the middle of the 3rd century, St. Clement of Rome in Apostolic Decrees:

“If anyone observes and performs the Jewish rites regarding the ejection of the seed, the flow of the seed, the lawful intercourse, let them tell us, do they stop praying, or touching the Bible, or partaking of the Eucharist in those hours and days when they are subjected to something like this? If they say that they are ceasing, then it is obvious that they do not have the Holy Spirit in themselves, which always abides with the believers ... Indeed, if you, a woman, think that during seven days, when you have a period The Holy Spirit; then it follows that if you die suddenly, then you will depart without the Holy Spirit and boldness and hope in God. But the Holy Spirit, of course, is inherent in you ... For neither legal copulation, nor childbirth, nor the flow of blood, nor the flow of semen in a dream can desecrate a person's nature or separate the Holy Spirit from him, only wickedness and lawless activity are excommunicated from [the Spirit].

So, woman, if you, as you say, do not have the Holy Spirit in you in the days of the cleansing of the month, then you must be filled with an unclean spirit. For when you don’t pray or read the Bible, you involuntarily call him to you ...

Therefore, refrain, woman, from empty speeches and always remember about the One who created you, and pray to him ... without observing anything - no natural cleansing, no legal copulation, no childbirth, no miscarriages, no bodily defect. These observations are empty and meaningless inventions of stupid people.

... Marriage is honorable and honest, and the birth of children is pure ... and natural cleansing is not disgusting before God, Who wisely arranged for women to have it ... But even according to the Gospel, when bleeding she touched the saving hem of the Lord's garment in order to recover, the Lord did not reproach her but he said, your faith has saved you. "

In the 6th century, St. Grigory Dvoeslov. He answers a question asked about this to the Archbishop of the Angles Augustine, saying that a woman can enter the temple and begin the sacraments at any time - both immediately after the birth of a child, and during menstruation:

“A woman should not be forbidden to enter church during her period, for she should not be blamed for what is given by nature, and from which a woman suffers against her will. After all, we know that a woman suffering from bleeding came up behind the Lord and touched the hem of His garment, and immediately the illness left her. Why, if she could touch the Lord's garment with bleeding and receive healing, a woman during her period cannot enter the Lord's church? ..

It is impossible at such a time to forbid a woman to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion. If she does not dare to accept it out of great reverence, it is commendable, but by accepting it, she will not commit a sin ... And menstruation in women is not sinful, for it comes from their nature ...

Leave women to their own understanding, and if during menstruation they dare not approach the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord, they should be praised for their piety. If they ... want to accept this Sacrament, they should not, as we said, hinder them in this. ”

That is, in the West, and both fathers were Roman bishops, this topic received the most authoritative and final disclosure. Today, no Western Christian would dream of asking questions that confuse us, the heirs of the Eastern Christian culture... There, a woman can approach the shrine at any time, in spite of any female ailments.

In the East, however, there was no consensus on this issue.

A Syrian ancient Christian document of the 3rd century (Didascalia) says that a Christian woman should not observe any days and can always receive communion.

St. Dionysius of Alexandria, at the same time, in the middle of the III century, writes another:

“I don’t think that they [that is, women on certain days], if they are faithful and pious, being in such a state, dared to either proceed to the Holy Meal, or touch the Body and Blood of Christ. For the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, for the sake of healing, did not touch Him, but only the hem of her clothes. It is not forbidden to pray, in whatever state and no matter how disposed, remembering the Lord and asking for His help. But to approach what is the Holy of Holies, may it be forbidden for a person who is not entirely pure in soul and body. "

After 100 years, St. Athanasius of Alexandria. He says that all of God's creation is "good and pure." “Tell me, beloved and most reverent, what is sinful or unclean in any natural eruption, as, for example, if someone wanted to blame the production of phlegm from the nostrils and saliva from the mouth? We can say about more, about the eruptions of the womb, which are necessary for the life of a living being. If, according to Divine Scripture, we believe that man is the work of God's hands, then how could a bad creation come about from pure power? And if we remember that we are the race of God (Acts 17:28), then we have nothing unclean in us. For then only we are defiled when we commit sin, the worst of every stench. "

According to St. Athanasius' thoughts about the pure and the unclean are offered to us by “the tricks of the devil” in order to distract us from the spiritual life.

And after another 30 years, the successor of St. Athanasius on the chair of St. Timofey of Alexandria expressed a different opinion on the same topic. When asked whether it was possible to baptize or admit to Communion a woman who had "the usual thing for women," he answered: "It must be postponed until she is cleansed."

It is this last opinion with different variations that existed in the East until recently. Only some fathers and canonists were more rigorous - a woman these days should not go to church at all, others said that you can pray, you can go to church, you cannot just take communion.

But still - why not? We do not get a clear answer to this question. As an example, I will cite the words of the great Athos ascetic and erudite of the 18th century, St. Nikodim Svyatogorets. To the question: why not only in the Old Testament, but also according to the Christian holy fathers, the monthly cleansing of a woman is considered unclean, the monk replies that there are three reasons for this:

1. Due to popular perception, because all people consider uncleanness that is expelled from the body through some organs as unnecessary or unnecessary, such as discharge from the ear, nose, phlegm when coughing, etc.

2. All this is called unclean, for God teaches through the bodily about the spiritual, that is, the moral. If it is unclean bodily, which happens against the will of man, then how unclean are the sins that we commit of our own will.

3. God calls the monthly cleansing of women uncleanness in order to prevent men from copulating with them ... mainly and mainly because of caring for posterity, children.

This is how a well-known theologian answers this question. All three arguments are completely frivolous. In the first case, the issue is resolved with the help of hygienic means, in the second, it is not clear how menstruation is related to sins? .. So it is with the third argument of St. Nicodemus. God calls the monthly cleansing of women in the Old Testament uncleanness, but in the New, much of the Old Testament was abolished by Christ. Also, what does the question of copulation on critical days have to do with Communion?

In view of the relevance of this issue, it was studied by the modern theologian, Patriarch of Serbia Pavel. He wrote about this many times a reprinted article with a characteristic title: “Can a woman come to church for prayer, kiss icons and receive communion when she is“ unclean ”(during her period)”?

His Holiness the Patriarch writes: “Monthly cleansing of a woman does not make her ritually, prayerfully unclean. This impurity is only physical, bodily, as well as secretions from other organs. In addition, since modern hygiene products can effectively prevent the accidental bleeding from making the temple unclean ... we believe that from this side there is no doubt that a woman during a month of cleansing, with the necessary caution and taking hygienic measures, can come to church, kiss icons, take antidor and consecrated water as well as participate in singing. She would not have been able to receive Communion in this state, or unbaptized - to be baptized. But in a fatal disease, she can both take communion and be baptized. "

We see that Patriarch Paul comes to the conclusion that "this impurity is only physical, bodily, as well as excretion from other organs." In this case, the conclusion of his work is incomprehensible: you can go to church, but still you cannot receive communion. If the problem is in hygiene, then this problem, 3 as Vladyka Paul himself notes, has been solved ... Why, then, is it impossible to receive communion? I think that, out of humility, Vladyka simply did not dare to contradict tradition.

Summing up, I can say that most modern Orthodox priests, respecting, although often not understanding the logic of such prohibitions, they still do not recommend a woman to receive communion during her period.

Other priests (the author of this article belongs to those) say that all these are just historical misunderstandings4 and that one should not pay attention to any natural processes of the body - only sin defiles a person.

But neither do they ask the women and girls who come to confession about their cycles. Our “church grandmothers” are showing much greater and uncommendable zeal in this matter. It is they who frighten the novice Christian women with some kind of "filthy" and "uncleanness" that is necessary, leading church life, vigilantly track and confess in case of omission.

There are other "unclean" things for a Jew: some food, animals, etc., but the main uncleanness is exactly what I have designated.

According to legend, it was he who was the author of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which is served on weekdays of Great Lent.

The reference of some priests to the "canons" is not entirely justified. In the Orthodox Church, there is no definition on this score adopted at the Council. There are only very authoritative opinions of the holy fathers (we mentioned them (these are Saints Dionysius, Athanasius and Timothy of Alexandria) included in the Book of Rules of the Orthodox Church. The opinions of individual fathers, even if very authoritative, are not the canons of the Church.

Precisely historical, not theological. All known to the author of the so-called. the theological justification for this prohibition is very far-fetched.

Press Service of the Temple of Elijah the Prophet

Oh, how many times a day a priest serving in a church has to deal with this topic! .. Parishioners are afraid to enter the church, venerate the cross, in panic they call: “What to do, I prepared myself this way, prepared myself for the holiday and now ...”

Many Internet forums have published bewildered questions of women to clergy, on what theological basis, in crucial periods of their lives, they are excommunicated from the sacrament, and often even just from going to the Church. There is a lot of controversy on this issue. Times change, and attitudes change.

It seems how the natural processes of the organism can be weaned away from God? And educated girls and women themselves understand this, but there are church canons that prohibit visiting church on certain days ...

How can this issue be resolved? There is no definitive answer. The origin of the prohibitions on "uncleanness" after the expirations lies in the Old Testament era, in Orthodoxy no one introduced these prohibitions - they simply were not canceled. Moreover, they found their confirmation in the canons of the Orthodox Church, although no one gave a theological explanation and justification.

Menstruation is the cleansing of the uterus from dead tissue, cleansing the uterus for a new round of waiting, hope for new life, for conception. Any shedding of blood is the specter of death, for in the blood is life (in the Old Testament even more - “the soul of a man is in his blood”). But menstrual blood is doubly death, for it is not only blood, but also dead tissues of the uterus. By freeing herself from them, a woman is purified. This is the origin of the concept of impurity in a woman's period. It is clear that this is not a personal sin of women, but a sin that lies on all of humanity.

Let's turn to the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament, there are many prescriptions regarding the purity and impurity of a person. Uncleanness is, first of all, a dead body, some diseases, outflows from the genitals of men and women (there are other things that are “unclean” for a Jew: some food, animals, etc., but the main uncleanness is precisely that I indicated).

Where did these ideas come from among the Jews? It is easiest to draw parallels with pagan cultures, which also had similar prescriptions about impurity, but the biblical understanding of impurity is much deeper than it seems at first glance.

At the moments of manifestation, the discovery of this mortality, sinfulness, a person must tactfully stand aside from God, who is Life itself!

This is how the Old Testament treated this kind of “impurity”.

Christianity, in connection with its teaching about the victory over death and the rejection of the Old Testament man, also rejects the Old Testament teaching about impurity. Christ declares all these precepts to be human. The past has passed, now everyone who is with Him, even if he dies, will come to life, all the more the rest of the impurity has no meaning. Christ is - the incarnate Life Itself (John 14: 6).

The apostles taught in the same way. " I know and am confident in the Lord Jesus, - says the ap. Paul - that there is nothing unclean in itself; only to him that thinks something unclean is unclean ”(Rom. 14:14). He: “For every creation of God is good, and nothing is reprehensible if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer"(1 Tim. 4: 4).

Here the apostle says about food impurity... The Jews considered a number of products to be unclean, while the apostle says that everything created by God is holy and pure. But ap. Paul says nothing about the impurity of physiological processes. We do not find specific indications of whether to consider a woman during menstruation unclean, neither from him, nor from the other apostles. In any case, we do not have any information about this, on the contrary, we know that the ancient Christians weekly, even under the threat of death, gathered in their homes, served the Liturgy and received Communion. If there were exceptions to this rule, for example, for women in a certain period, then ancient church monuments would have mentioned this. They don't say anything about it.

But that was the question. And in the middle of the 3rd century, the answer was given by St. Clement of Rome in the essay "Apostolic Decrees":

« If anyone observes and performs the Jewish ceremonies regarding the ejection of the seed, the flow of the seed, the lawful intercourse, let them tell us whether they stop praying, or touching the Bible, or partaking of the Eucharist in those hours and days when they are exposed to something like that? If they say that they are ceasing, then it is obvious that they do not have the Holy Spirit in themselves, which always abides with the believers ... Indeed, if you, a woman, think that during seven days, when you have a period The Holy Spirit; then it follows that if you die suddenly, then you will depart without the Holy Spirit and boldness and hope in God. But the Holy Spirit, of course, is inherent in you ... For neither legal copulation, nor childbirth, nor the flow of blood, nor the flow of semen in a dream can desecrate a person's nature or separate the Holy Spirit from him, only wickedness and lawless activity are excommunicated from [the Spirit].

In the 6th century, he writes on the same topic St. Grigory Dvoeslov(it is to him that the authorship of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts belongs, which is served on weekdays of Great Lent). He answers a question asked about this to the Archbishop of the Angles Augustine, saying that a woman can enter the temple and begin the sacraments at any time - both immediately after the birth of a child, and during menstruation:

« A woman should not be forbidden to enter church during her period, for she should not be blamed for what is given by nature, and from which a woman suffers against her will. After all, we know that a woman suffering from bleeding came up behind the Lord and touched the hem of His garment, and immediately the illness left her. Why, if she could touch the Lord's garment with bleeding and receive healing, a woman during her period cannot enter the Lord's church? ..

That is in the West, and both fathers were Roman bishops, this topic received the most authoritative and final disclosure. Today, no Western Christian would dream of asking questions that confuse us heirs of Eastern Christian culture. There, a woman can approach the shrine at any time, in spite of any female ailments.

In the East, however, there was no consensus on this issue.

A Syrian ancient Christian document of the 3rd century (Didascalia) says that a Christian woman should not observe any days and can always receive communion.

St. Dionysius of Alexandria, at the same time, in the middle of the III century, he writes another:

“I don’t think that they [that is, women on certain days], if they are faithful and pious, being in such a state, dared to either proceed to the Holy Meal, or touch the Body and Blood of Christ ... For the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, for the sake of healing, did not touch Him, but only the hem of her clothes. It is not forbidden to pray, in whatever state and no matter how disposed, remembering the Lord and asking for His help. But to begin what is the Holy of Holies, may it be forbidden to a person who is not completely pure in soul and body.».

A hundred years later, on the topic of the natural processes of the body, he writes St. Athanasius of Alexandria... He says that all of God's creation is "good and pure." " Tell me, beloved and most reverent, what is sinful or unclean in any natural eruption, as, for example, if someone wanted to blame the production of phlegm from the nostrils and saliva from the mouth? We can say about more, about the eruptions of the womb, which are necessary for the life of a living being. If, according to Divine Scripture, we believe that man is the work of God's hands, then how could a bad creation come about from pure power? And if we remember that we are the race of God (Acts 17:28), then we have nothing unclean in us. For then only we are defiled when we commit sin, of every stench, the worst».

According to St. Athanasius' thoughts about the pure and the unclean are offered to us by "the tricks of the devil" in order to distract us from the spiritual life.

And thirty years later, the successor of St. Afanasy at the department St. Timofey of Alexandria he expressed himself differently on the same topic. When asked whether it is possible to baptize or admit to Communion a woman who has “had the usual for women,” he answered: “ Must postpone until it is cleansed».

It is this last opinion with different variations that existed in the East until recently. Only some fathers and canonists were more rigorous - a woman these days should not visit the temple at all, others said that you can pray, you can go to church, you can't just take communion.

If we turn from canonical and patristic monuments to more modern monuments (XVI-XVIII centuries), we will see that they are more favorable to the Old Testament view of family life than to the New Testament. For example, in the Great Trebnik we will find whole line prayers for deliverance from the defilement associated with generic phenomena.

But still - why not? We do not get a clear answer to this question. As an example, I will cite the words of the great Athos ascetic and erudite of the 18th century Rev. Nikodim Svyatogorts... To the question: why not only in the Old Testament, but also according to the Christian holy fathers a woman's monthly cleansing is considered unclean The reverend replies that there are three reasons for this:

3. God calls the monthly cleansing of women uncleanness in order to prevent men from copulating with them ... mainly and mainly because of caring for posterity, children.

This is how a well-known theologian answers this question.

In view of the relevance of this issue, it was studied by a modern theologian Serbian Patriarch Pavel. He wrote about this many times a reprinted article with a characteristic title: "Can a woman come to church for prayer, kiss icons and receive communion when she is" unclean "(during menstruation)?

His Holiness the Patriarch writes: “ A woman's monthly cleansing does not make her ritually, prayerfully unclean. This impurity is only physical, bodily, as well as secretions from other organs. In addition, since modern hygiene products can effectively prevent accidental bleeding from making a temple unclean ... we believe that from this side there is no doubt that a woman during a month of cleansing, with the necessary caution and taking hygienic measures, can come to church, kiss icons, take antidor and consecrated water, as well as participate in singing. She would not have been able to receive Communion in this state, or unbaptized - to be baptized. But in a fatal illness, she can both take communion and be baptized. "

We see that Patriarch Paul comes to the conclusion: you can go to church, but still you can't take communion.

But it should be noted that in the Orthodox Church there is no definition of the feminine issue of hygiene, adopted at the Council. There are only very authoritative opinions of the holy fathers (we mentioned them (these are Saints Dionysius, Athanasius and Timothy of Alexandria), included in The Book of Rules of the Orthodox Church... The opinions of individual fathers, even if very authoritative, are not the canons of the Church.

Summing up, I can say that most modern Orthodox priests still do not recommend a woman to receive communion during her period.

Other priests say that all these are just historical misunderstandings and that one should not pay attention to any natural processes of the body - only sin defiles a person.

Based on the article by the priest Konstantin Parkhomenko "On the so-called female" impurity "

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APPLICATION

Can a woman come to church for prayer, kiss icons and receive communion when she is "unclean" (during her period)? (Serbian Patriarch Pavel (Stoycevic))

“Back in the III century, a similar question was asked to Saint Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria (+ 265), and he replied that he did not think that women in such a state,“ if the essence of faithful and pious, dared to either proceed to the Holy meal, or touch the body and blood of Christ ", for, accepting the Shrine, one must be pure in soul and body... At the same time, he gives the example of a bleeding wife who did not dare to touch the body of Christ, but only the hem of His garment (Matt 9: 20-22). In further clarification, Saint Dionysius says that praying, in whatever state, is always permissible... A hundred years later, to the question: can a woman who “had the usual wives” take communion, Timothy, also Bishop of Alexandria (+ 385), answers, and says that he cannot, until this period has passed and she is cleansed ... Saint John the Faster (6th century) adhered to the same point of view, defining penance in case a woman in such a state still “accepted the Holy Mystery”.

All three of these answers show essentially the same thing, i.e. that women in this state cannot receive communion. The words of Saint Dionysius that they then cannot “start to the Holy meal” actually mean - to take Communion, because they started to the Holy meal only for this purpose ... "

Answers from Deacon Andrei Kuraev and Father Dmitry Smirnov.

Answer about. Dimitri (Smirnova):

Deacon Andrei Kuraev's answer:

The question of whether it is possible to go to church with menstruation worries many Orthodox women. After all, their arrival cannot be scheduled.

And suddenly a solemn event is planned, for example Easter, on such a holiday it is necessary to visit a church, but what to do if critical days have come? Really miss going to church?

Is it okay to go to church with periods - Old Testament times

In Old Testament times, not only women were considered unclean in these days, but also people who suffered from the plague. Moreover, it was forbidden to touch women on these days, it was believed that the one who touched would also become unclean. Therefore, in those days, church attendance was strictly prohibited.

It was believed that a woman who gave birth to a son should not attend church until one month after giving birth. If she gave birth to a daughter, then in this case, you cannot cross the threshold of the temple for more than three months.

Can you attend church during your period - New Testament times

We can recall the words of the great Gregory the Dvoeslov and the Apostle Paul, who argued that everything that the Lord created was beautiful and light. A woman was created by the Creator God, which means she is beautiful. The menstrual cycle is a natural phenomenon in which a woman is not at all to blame and should not be prohibited from attending church.

There is a parable about a bleeding woman who long time was sick, and no one could help her. When she learned that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was coming, she touched His clothes with faith. The Lord did not push her away, but on the contrary healed and approved her deed: “Your faith saved you,” Christ told her.

The Savior himself did not oppose the bleeding woman, and therefore, she has the right to visit the temple.

Is it possible to confess and receive communion during menstruation

In the 21st century, asking a question on this topic, you can get different answers from priests.

Some say that women on critical days can go to church, light candles and pray, take a blessing, but they cannot touch the shrines - the Cross, icons, the relics of the Holy Benefactors of God. You cannot take part in the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church - baptism, wedding, chrismation, communion, confession, blessing (unction), priesthood.

Others say that you can do all of the above. You need to be guided in this matter by your conscience, as well as follow the rules that are adopted in your church, where you go to worship.

If a woman is planning to go to a monastery, to holy places, and is planning to take part in the Sacraments at the same time, you need to consult with a confessor or a parish priest and take a blessing for the trip. Question about critical days also should be resolved in the course of the conversation.

When women are not allowed to go to church

How many days after the birth of a child can you be in the presence of God at a service?

In the days of the Old Testament, it was believed that a woman after giving birth for 40 days, while she is undergoing cleansing, has no right to attend the service. Currently, this tradition has also been abolished.

Serbian Patriarch Pavel on female impurity

Patriarch Paul, reflecting on female impurity, talked about Dionysius of Alexandria, who argued that a woman does not have the right to communion, to touch the holy relics of the Savior, but is always obliged to pray and be baptized.

According to Dionysius, a woman does not have the right to confess until she is completely cleansed. There is also an opinion that it is impossible to enter the temple for exactly 40 days from the moment of childbirth or miscarriage.

But Father Paul's personal response was different. He draws on the parable of the bleeding woman. If the Savior himself did not consider women with blood to be unclean, then why should prohibitions be placed in our time, the father reasoned.

Conclusion

Menstruation is a natural course of events given to a woman by nature, which was created by God. In the 21st century, there are many ways to hide the smell and protect against leaks so as not to desecrate the church.

A woman must be in church, try to live a full spiritual life, fulfill the commandments of Christ, repent of her sins in confession and take part in the Sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion). All this is much more important than calculating the dates of critical days.

The menstrual cycle is laid down by nature. Women experience a lot of inconvenience, some severe pain... Believers perceive such a ban to be unfair.

The Russian Orthodox Church has no consensus as to why it is impossible to go to church with menstruation. All clergymen interpret the ban at their own discretion.

Reasons for the ban

To determine if you can go to church during your period, you need to read the Bible and try to find the answer in it. Banned from entering the church at the time Old Testament were physical disorders in the human body:

Infectious diseases;
Inflammatory processes in the active phase;
Discharge from the urethra in men;
Menses in women.

In addition, it was forbidden to visit temples who had physical contact with the deceased (washing, preparing for burial). Young mothers attend church 40 days after the birth of their son and 80 days after the birth of their daughter.

The prohibition for women with the menstrual cycle is associated with the fact that blood should not be shed in the church. Priests or parishioners, injured, should leave the temple and stop the bleeding outside of it. Getting blood on the floor, icons or holy books is unacceptable, because after that it must be re-consecrated.

With the advent of the New Testament, the list of conditions that prohibit going to church has diminished. It still has 40 days from the date of birth of children and menstruation. The latter are considered a sin. Offensive menstrual cycle, according to some interpretations, indicates a dead egg and spontaneous abortion.

There is evidence in the New Testament that Jesus healed a woman with uterine bleeding. During the ceremony, she touched him with her hand and the bleeding stopped. Some priests associated this state of a woman with the possibility of the birth of a new life, which the Almighty awarded her to women. Others saw bleeding as a punishment for the sins of the first woman, Eve.

Attitude of the modern church

Can you go to church with your period ?! With this question, young women come to the clergy and ask for advice. To decide or not is a personal matter for the minister.

Priests are allowed to be present in the church, but you cannot:

To put candles;
Touch the images.

It is allowed to enter and pray in the temple. Priests are lenient to the sick. Some women and girls are worried uterine bleeding when establishing the menstrual cycle and its completion. Unfortunately, medicine is not able to stop them overnight. Periodic treatment is ineffective. Then they go with prayer to the Lord and the saints for health.

In such situations, the first prayer should be said in church, lighting a candle. Before prayer, it is customary to undergo the rite of confession and communion. Before him, the holy father is warned about his situation and asked for blessings.

Is it possible to receive communion during menstruation

Confession, communion and baptism are not carried out for girls, girls and women during menstruation. The church is a place of bloodless sacrifice, and according to its laws, people with bleeding wounds cannot visit it.

On the issue of baptism

The sacrament of baptism consists in the death of sinful flesh and its regeneration by the Holy Spirit. A person is cleansed of sins and is reborn after church customs... During baptism, prayers are read, washed with holy water.

Babies are completely dipped, adults are washed head and face. After the person is dressed in clean clothes. In spite of modern facilities hygiene, a woman with a month is pure in spirit, but not pure in body. Therefore, the sacrament of Baptism is not performed during the cycle.

They prepare for baptism in advance, and if suddenly menstruation began earlier and ended up on this day, it is better to postpone it to another date. The clergyman is notified in advance f. When a child is baptized, the priest may prohibit the mother from participating in baptism because of the menstrual cycle.

Possibility of confession

Every believer goes through a ritual of confession. It is aimed at spiritual cleansing. With worldly problems, misdemeanors, people turn to the clergyman.

The priest lets a person go sinful thoughts and deeds, gives advice and instructions for a righteous life. In addition to spiritual cleansing, bodily purity is also necessary. With menstruation, this is impossible, therefore, on such days they do not go to confession.

Sacrament of communion

This is the sacrament of union with the Lord, established by him himself before suffering. Then he divided the bread and wine among the apostles as his own flesh and blood. The ceremony has a lot to do with the actions of Christ.

After the service and prayer, people come to the altar waiting for the chalice. Children are allowed to go ahead... They do not drink from the cup, but open their mouths to receive a church drink and kiss its bases. Prosphora are used as bread.

The sacrament of communion is prohibited during menstruation, an exception is made for diseases in which there are uterine bleeding. For communion, a person purifies the soul and must be pure bodily. This condition cannot be met with the physiological characteristics of the female body.

Sincerely believing women understand the covenants and canons of the Gospel and accept the will of the clergy with dignity. Therefore, it is not difficult for them to refuse the sacrament or prayer in the church.