In the ancient Church, for the first week, newlyweds lived like brother and sister...

In the ancient Church, for the first week, newlyweds lived like brother and sister and wore church crowns. This was done so that their marriage would be chaste, so that the spiritual, prayer principle would prevail in it, so that the young people, humanly, spiritually, would open up to each other. Only on the eighth day after the removal of the crowns could they move on to another relationship.This contributed to a deeper understanding of all stages of rapprochement in marriage and love.

Now the crowns are removed at the end of the wedding ceremony with the reading of a prayer for the permission of the crowns on the eighth day (it has retained its ancient name). Newlyweds are no longer subject to the first week chastity rule.

Marital relations require patience and tenderness, the greatest mutual tact and consent ... A period of maintaining chastity for at least two or three days, if not a week is a guarantee of the chastity of marriage. It allows you to unhurriedly comprehend the sacrament of the wedding and as a new event to realize a new stage in the development of the marriage union.

Archpriest Gleb Kaleda