The remarriage of widows in the Orthodox Church

I've always thought that the one of the most interesting aspects of Orthodox documents on marriage is that the remarriage of divorced persons and the remarriage of widows are treated in the same way. Here is an example, from a set of guidelines to OCA clergy: * * * http:/aggreen.net/guidelines/guide04.html Second Marriage and Marriage Between Divorced Persons 1. The Orthodox norm for those who marry is one marriage. A second marriage is tolerated under certain conditions. A third marriage is extended under certain precise circumstances. 2. The Church does not grant divorces. However, it recognizes that because of human weaknesses and sin marriages sometimes disintegrate and are ended by civil decree (divorce). 3. In her mercy and wisdom, the Church may grant permission to remarry through the diocesan hierarch. Petition is made to the hierarch through the parish priest. A clear statement of repentance from the divorced party, whether or not he/she is considered the culpable one in the divorce, and a clear statement that the reason he/she desires to enter a second marriage is that it is considered necessary for his/her salvation is to be addressed to the diocesan hierarch through the parish priest. (See: Synodal Affirmations on Marriage, Family, Sexuality, and Sanctity of Life, Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America, Tenth All-American Council, 1992, page 5.) 4. Under no circumstances can there be a fourth marriage. 5. The Order of Service: • If one party of the marriage is being married for the first time (even if that person is not Orthodox), the order of the first marriage is used. • If both the partners are divorced and/or widowed, the order for the second marriage is used. * * * Or this, from a Serbian Orthodox site: http://www.decani.yunet.com/doctrine3.html "Marriage is celebrated through a rite of crowning, performed with great solemnity and signifying an eternal union, sacramentally 'projected' into the Kingdom of God. Orthodox theology of marriage insists on its sacramental eternity rather than its legal indissolubility. Thus, second marriages, in cases of either widowhood or divorce, are celebrated through a subdued penitential rite, and men who have been married more than once are not admitted to the priesthood." And here's a snippet from a letter from a Greek Orthodox professor of canon law: http://voithia.org/content/qmppatsavnik.htm "There is growing interest in certain sectors within the Church universal to examine the entire issue of remarriage of widowed and divorced presbyters" – both actions, of course, being currently forbidden. I wish I had a better library of Orthodox books than I do and could provide you with a passage describing the theological reasons for this equivalence; alas, I don't. My impression is that Orthodox Christians have been quieter in recent years about their theology on remarriage after widowhood than they have on their theology on remarriage after divorce, but the Orthodox Church's position comes through quite clearly in the writings on the historical development of marital theology in the East. Have you ever seen the liturgy for a second marriage? I'd be curious as to whether that sheds any light on this topic. Heather [E-mail]   [Home Page]