Is it possible to go to the temple when menstruation. "Women's impurity" to go to the temple or not? What are the restrictions on visiting the holy place today?

Each generation has its own opinion about different things and events. For example, in ancient times, menstruation and the church were considered incompatible concepts.

With the advent of critical days, women were protected from the outside world, since they were unclean in the opinion of the clergy. Today the situation has changed, and modern people are engaged in a variety of things.

But the question remains whether it is possible or not to visit the temple when menstruation is coming. Let's look at this topic from different angles.

Information from the Old Testament

The Old Testament is the first part of the Bible written before the birth of Christianity. Over time, it has become the source for opposing religions that are familiar modern people. This is Judaism and Christianity. Holy Scripture closed access to the temple unclean citizens.

Lepers.
Women with menstrual and abnormal bleeding.
Men with diseased prostate.
People who touched corpses or had signs of purulent-inflammatory diseases.

Also, it was not customary to go to church after sinful deeds, and many conditions fell under this definition. Women in childbirth, who gave the world boys, could visit the temple no earlier than the fortieth day. For mothers of newborn girls, this period increased to 80 days.

When asked why a woman cannot go to church with menstruation, there is an answer related to hygiene. Ancient women did not have pads and tampons and did not wear panties. It turns out that at any moment the blood could spill on the floor. Bleeding is unacceptable in the church. The cleaners of the sacred premises also did not want to wash out other people's blood, since contact with this liquid was equated to sinful cause. There were no disposable gloves back then.

Advances have made women comfortable underwear, pads, tampons and menstrual cups. Now the cleaners do not have to disinfect the floors after such visitors, and no one, except for the ladies themselves, comes into contact with sewage. Thus, church and menstruation in women are compatible in the modern world.

During the Old Testament period, many phenomena were considered with physical point vision. A soiled human body was considered unclean. Women were forbidden to go to church and public places with menstruation. She had to be alone for several days.

Menstruation and the church: what are the taboos today

With the advent of Jesus Christ and the New Testament, changes have taken place in church canons. The son of the Virgin Mary focused the attention of the people on the spiritual, and relegated the physical to the background. If a person was clean on the outside, but his soul remained black, Jesus did everything to ensure that he got rid of sin.

Temples continued to exist, but holiness was already transferred from the earth into human souls. Christ equalized men and women and commanded their souls to become temples of God.

Considering the topic of whether it is possible to go to church with menstruation, we will give one interesting fact, which changed the opinion of the Old Believers. One day, a sick woman with heavy bleeding made her way through the crowd and touched Jesus' garments with her hand. He felt an outflow of energy, but did not get angry and said: “Your faith has saved you, woman!” And since that day, the consciousness of the population began to change.

Old Testament adherents continued to insist that menstruating women should not go to church. The followers of Jesus abandoned this rule and began to live according to the New Testament. Thus, the publicly shed female blood gave rise to a new life.

In the Catholic Church, menstruation has not been perceived as a bad thing for a long time. The natural process today can be hidden from prying eyes thanks to high-quality hygiene products. If there is a need to visit the temple, a woman can do it any day.

However, priests forbid being in the church with menstruation when performing three rites:

Confession.
Baptism.
Wedding.

The taboo has a physical explanation. When baptized, a girl cannot be immersed in water for hygienic reasons, because the liquid will get dirty, and pathogenic microbes will penetrate into the genital tract. The wedding process takes a long time, it cannot be interrupted. If the bleeding is heavy, the bride will not be able to change her pad or tampon. The ritual can be spoiled by the fainting of the newlywed, since the critical days for some girls are accompanied by weakness, nausea and dizziness.

The sacrament of confession affects the psycho-emotional part of the female nature. During the days of menstruation, the girl is vulnerable and vulnerable. During the conversation, she can say too much to the priest and regret it later. As one priest said, "a woman is insane during menstruation."

Why women with menstruation were considered “unclean” in the old days, explains St. Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer. God gave such a definition to the fair sex in order for men to avoid copulation on critical days.

What the priests say

Ask different priests if you can enter the church during menstruation, and you will hear conflicting answers. In some churches, women come to worship on critical days, in others they do not. Rereading the Holy Scriptures, we find that the spirituality of a person is important to God, the body and its processes are secondary. If a girl keeps the commandments of the Almighty, she will not sin by coming to church with menstruation.

You can also visit the temple during pregnancy and after childbirth.

Some mothers want to baptize their children immediately after discharge from the hospital or invite priests directly to the hospital. If the baby is very weak, baptism will help him get stronger. The priest touches the puerperal without fear and does not consider himself defiled due to contact with the “unclean”.

It is advisable for devout women to find out in advance what views the local priest adheres to and comply with the established rules before visiting the church on the days of menstruation. True believers on critical days and the first months after childbirth can participate in religious rituals, if allowed by the priest. But they should not touch the shrines.

If a woman visits the temple only for the reason that it is customary on certain holidays, she should not think about menstruation. The cult institution is open to everyone, but the task of the parishioners is to strive for unity with God, and not just stand in the crowd with candles.

Gregory the Dialogist spoke about menstruation like this: if menstruation came in the church, this is not a reason to feel sinful. The natural process is designed to cleanse the body. God created a woman, and she cannot influence His will. If menstruation began on a certain day, becoming a hindrance to doing the planned things, then this is the will of God.

Priest Konstantin Parkhomenko allows the participation of a woman with menstruation in the rite of Communion. But if she respects the Holy Scripture and refuses the rite, by her deed she deserves the reward of the Almighty.

P.S. Whether it is worth going to church with menstruation, decide for yourself. If the soul reaches out to God or wants to light a candle for the health of loved ones or the dead, why not do it on critical days. A person with pure thoughts is pleasing to God. Bodily secretions should not interfere with the unity of a mere mortal with the Higher Forces.

Also, many priests do not recommend touching icons, crosses and other church attributes during this period. This rule is only a recommendation, not a strict prohibition. How exactly to act - the woman herself has the right to decide. In some churches, a clergyman may refuse to conduct a confession or a wedding, but a woman has the right to go to another church if she wishes, where the priest will not refuse her. This is not considered a sin, since the Bible itself does not disclose any prohibition associated with the presence of critical days for women.

Russian rules Orthodox Church do not forbid girls to visit the temple during the regular. There are some restrictions that priests strongly recommend to adhere to. Restrictions apply to Communion, during menstruation it is better to refuse it. The only exception to the rule is the presence of any serious illness.

There is no definite answer from the priest about whether it is possible to enter the church during menstruation. It is necessary to ask for blessings from the priest-rector of the church that the woman wants to visit.

Remember that spiritual matters are purely individual. In case of extreme need or spiritual confusion, the priest will not refuse to confess a woman. Bodily "impurity" will not become a hindrance. The doors of the Lord's House are always open to the afflicted. There is no strict canon on how to behave properly or incorrectly in matters of the Faith. For God, both a woman and a man are a beloved child who will always find refuge in his loving arms.

If there is a ban on visiting the cathedral, then the question naturally arises whether it is possible to baptize a child with menstruation and what to do if the event cannot be rescheduled. Follow the link for answers to these questions.

How does the church relate to menstruation according to the Old Testament

Previously, there was a serious ban on attending church during menstruation. This is because the Old Testament considers menstruation in girls as a manifestation of "impurity." In the Orthodox faith, these prohibitions were not spelled out anywhere, but there was also no refutation of them. That is why many still doubt whether it is possible to come to church with menstruation.

The Old Testament considers critical days as a violation of human nature. Relying on it, it is unacceptable to come to church during menstrual bleeding. Being in the temple with any bleeding wounds was also considered strictly forbidden.

To answer the question of whether it is possible to go to church with menstruation, it is necessary to understand the view of the Orthodox Church on this physiological phenomenon.

You will also be interested to know the signs about the beginning of menstruation by day of the week and numbers.

Sin of Eve and Adam

According to the Old Testament, menstruation is the punishment for the human race for the fall into which Eve pushed Adam. Having tasted the fruit of the forbidden tree on the advice of the Serpent Tempter, the first of the people, having seen their physicality, lost their angelic spirituality. The woman, revealing the weakness of the spirit, doomed the human race to eternal suffering.

In the third chapter of Genesis of the Old Testament, after Adam and Eve saw their nakedness and confessed their deed to God, the Creator said to the Woman: “I will make your pregnancy painful, in pain you will give birth to children.”

Later, many biblical scholars of antiquity were inclined to believe that not only the hardships of pregnancy and the pain of childbirth became a punishment for the female half of the human race for the sin of disobedience, but also menstruation is a monthly reminder of the loss of the former angelic nature.

Answering the question: “Is it possible to go to the temple with menstruation?” from the point of view of the Old Testament theologians, one can say with confidence: “No!”. Moreover, any of the daughters of Eve, neglecting this prohibition, defiles the holy place and plunges her family into the abyss of sin.

Symbol of death

Many theologians are inclined to personify the monthly blood not with the sacrament of birth, but with a systematic reminder to the human race of its mortality. The body is a temporary vessel filled with the Holy Spirit. Only by constantly remembering the imminent demise of “matter”, you tirelessly improve the spiritual principle.

The ban on visiting the temple during menstruation is closely related to the processes that give rise to the appearance of bloody discharge. During menstruation, the body rejects the unfertilized egg. This process, quite physiological from the point of view of medicine, in religion borders on the death of a potential fetus, and hence the soul, in the mother's womb. According to the religious dogmas of the Old Testament times, a dead body defiles the Church, reminding of the lost immortality.

Christianity does not forbid praying at home, but a woman, according to orthodox theologians, is forbidden to visit the House of God.

There are many different opinions on this topic. Some clergy say that during menstruation you can go to church. But most of them claim that it is forbidden. Many women are interested to know at what time during critical days you can attend church, and whether it is possible at all. Since the time of the Old Testament, much has changed, now almost no one blames a woman for having such a natural process as regulations. But in many temples there are restrictions and rules of conduct for women who decide to attend church during menstruation.

Is it possible to go to church with menstruation

Many women are interested in the question of whether it is possible to go to church with menstruation. Nowadays, more and more clergymen agree that women who have critical days are allowed to enter the church. However, some rituals are recommended to be postponed until the end of menstruation. These include baptism and marriage. Also, many priests do not recommend touching icons, crosses and other church attributes during this period. This rule is only a recommendation, not a strict prohibition. How exactly to act - the woman herself has the right to decide. In some churches, a clergyman may refuse to conduct a confession or a wedding, but a woman has the right to go to another church if she wishes, where the priest will not refuse her. This is not considered a sin, since the Bible itself does not disclose any prohibition associated with the presence of critical days for women.

The rules of the Russian Orthodox Church do not prohibit girls from visiting the temple during the regular. There are some restrictions that priests strongly recommend to adhere to. Restrictions apply to Communion, during menstruation it is better to refuse it. The only exception to the rule is the presence of any serious illness.

Many clergy say that you should not avoid going to church on critical days. Menstruation is a natural process in the female body, which should not interfere with being in the temple. Other priests share this opinion. They also claim that menstruation is a natural process that is conditioned by nature. They do not consider a woman during this period "dirty" and "unclean". A strict ban on visiting the temple remained in the distant past, in the days of the Old Testament.

What was before - the Old Testament

The Old Testament considers critical days as a violation of human nature. Relying on it, it is unacceptable to come to church during menstrual bleeding. Being in the temple with any bleeding wounds was also considered strictly forbidden.

How to proceed anyway

Everyone must decide for themselves whether it is possible to go to church with menstruation. The Bible does not reflect a categorical prohibition, it does not consider this issue in detail. Therefore, a woman has the right to do as she sees fit.

Before going to a holy place, it is better to decide when it is better to go to church. Many will not be able to visit the temple in the first days of the onset of menstruation, but this has nothing to do with any prohibition. This is due to the fact that in most women, the onset of menstruation is accompanied by severe pain, general malaise, nausea and weakness. To be in such a state in the temple will seem difficult to many. A woman may become ill, it is recommended to avoid such situations. It is better to postpone going to church until the end of critical days or until the moment when the condition returns to normal.

There is an opinion that a woman during menstruation is forbidden to enter the church and attend worship services. This prohibition has been observed for many centuries, so believing women still doubt whether they can go to church during menstruation. Maybe the bleeding makes them unclean, so they don't belong in the church?

Is it possible to visit a temple or church if a woman is on her period?

Where did the ban on visiting the temple during the regulars come from, is it relevant in the 21st century? Some women continue to strictly observe this prescription and are very worried that menstruation will not begin in the church. Others calmly attend church services, considering such warnings outdated. Can I or can't I go to church when I'm on my period? The answer to this question can be found in the study of the Old and New Testaments.

According to the Old Testament

According to the Old Testament, the first woman, Eve, succumbed to temptation and ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and then persuaded her husband Adam to eat it. For this, God punished Eve. The punishment for misconduct was imposed on the entire female sex. Since then, children have been born in suffering, and monthly bleeding is a reminder of the sin committed.

The Old Testament contains a prescription according to which women in certain situations are forbidden to approach the temple and enter it:

during the regulation;
after the birth of a boy - within 40 days;
after the birth of a girl - within 80 days.

The clergy explained this by the fact that the female sex bears the imprint of the fall of man. During the period of menstruation, a woman becomes dirty, unclean, so she should not defile the house of God. In addition, the Most Holy Bloodless Sacrifice is performed in the house of God - a prayer, therefore any bloodshed within its walls is unacceptable.

According to the New Testament

With the coming of Jesus Christ, the emphasis shifts from the physiological to the spiritual. If earlier, in the times of the Old Testament, a person was considered a defiler because of physical dirt, now only thoughts matter. No matter how clean outwardly a person may be, if he has dirty thoughts and intentions, there is no faith in his soul, all his deeds are considered unspiritual. And, on the contrary, even the dirtiest and sickest believer can be as pure in soul as a baby.

The New Testament describes a story that happened while Christ was going to the sick daughter of the arch-synagogue Jairus. A woman who had been bleeding for many years approached him, touched the hem of Jesus' garment, and immediately the bleeding stopped. Feeling the power emanating from him, Jesus Christ asked the disciples who touched him. The woman admitted that it was her. Christ answered her: “Daughter! Your faith has saved you; go in peace and be healed from your sickness.”

The origins of the ban

Where did the idea come from in the minds of society that a woman during menstruation is unclean? This point of view was common in antiquity among many peoples who did not understand why a woman bleeds, so they tried to explain this phenomenon in all possible ways. Since many physiological secretions were considered a sign of illness, the regulations began to personify bodily dirt.

pagan period

In times of paganism in different tribes, the attitude towards a woman during the period of bleeding was almost the same. How can a person shed blood, considered a sign of wounds and disease, every month, and yet he remains alive? The ancient peoples explained this by a connection with demons.

Girls on the verge of puberty underwent an initiation ceremony that was directly related to menarche. After that, they were considered adults, they were initiated into the women's sacraments, they could marry and give birth to children.

In some tribes, women during the period of bleeding were expelled from the house. They had to live in a special hut, and only after that, having cleansed themselves, could they return home. In remote corners of the planet, such customs have survived to this day.

Times of the Old Testament

Researchers believe that the period when the Old Testament was created refers to the I-II millennium BC. To understand why the prohibitions against the female sex were introduced into the Bible, it is necessary to pay attention to the social position of women at that time.

The female sex in ancient society was considered lower in status than the male. Wives and daughters did not have the same rights as husbands and sons. They could not own property, conduct business, did not have the right to vote. In fact, a woman was the property of a man - first the father, then the husband, and then the son.

The idea of the fall of man, of which Eve was the culprit, explained why a woman should occupy an inferior position compared to men. Another reason why menstruation made the female sex unclean lies in the concept of disease. The ancient peoples did not have knowledge about what causes various diseases.

Blood and pus were dangerous because they were obvious sign a disease that could infect another person. That is why in the days of the Old Testament it was forbidden to enter the church not only during menstruation, but also for those who had festering wounds, suffered from leprosy or touched corpses.

What are the restrictions on visiting the holy place today?

Despite the fact that the New Testament placed spiritual purity above physical purity, the opinion of the clergy remained unchanged for many centuries. For example, in the Kiev "Trebnik" of the beginning of the 17th century, there is an instruction that if a woman with menstruation enters the temple, she should be punished in the form of a 6-month fast and 50 daily prostrations.

Nowadays, there is no such strict ban on visiting temples. A woman can go to church, pray, light candles. If she is worried about the possible desecration of a holy place by her presence, then she can simply stand aside, at the entrance.

However, some restrictions still remain. The Church does not recommend performing the Sacraments during menstruation. Communion, baptism, confession and wedding - these events are best moved to other days of the cycle.

In addition, the parishioner should not forget about other rules for visiting churches. Women are supposed to enter the temple only with their heads covered and in a skirt. Too deep necklines and miniskirts are not allowed. However, many churches, especially those located in tourist areas, have become appearance believers are more loyal. If a woman feels an irresistible desire to go inside, she can do it in trousers and without a headscarf.

How do other religions view a woman's menstruation?

In Islam, opinion on this issue is ambiguous. Some Muslims believe that it is better to refrain from visiting the mosque. Others insist that such bans should be abandoned. It is forbidden to desecrate the mosque with bodily secretions, but if a Muslim woman uses hygiene products (tampons, pads or menstrual cups), she can enter inside.

In Hinduism, women are not allowed to enter temples during the regul. In Buddhism, unlike other religions, the ban on visiting has never existed. A woman can enter the datsan at any time.

The opinion of the clergy

Catholic clerics believe that the ancient ban on visiting churches was due to poor hygiene in past centuries. Unable to bathe and change clothes regularly, women often contracted infections. During the regulars, they smelled unpleasantly, and drops of blood could drip onto the floor of the church. Due to the fact that now the problem of hygiene has been resolved, the ban on entering the temple does not have the original meaning.

The opinion of Orthodox priests is not so unambiguous. Some of them continue to adhere to strict prohibitions and recommend refraining from performing the Sacraments, but explain this by concern for the health of the parishioner. Wedding, baptism, confession last a long time, and a believer during menstruation may feel ill, because of the smell of incense, she may feel dizzy. Other clergy say that the woman herself must make a decision. If she feels the need to attend church, she should not restrict this desire.

If a parishioner is afraid of violating the prohibitions and doubts whether she should attend worship during the days of the regulars, she should ask her spiritual mentor. A church minister will be able to dispel a woman's doubts and calm her down.

Critical days, menstruation or, as they are called in the Orthodox environment, days of uncleanness are an obstacle for women who want to participate in church life. But every representative of the fair sex of childbearing age has a glimmer of hope that there is still a chance to participate in Orthodox rites if such days fall inopportunely. Let's look at what is allowed and what is strictly prohibited. The text contains the answers of priests to women on the question of whether it is possible to go to church with menstruation.

What is given by nature

Often women talk about injustice because of the ban on visiting the temple and participating in the sacraments, because menstruation is something that is given by nature. But still, you should follow the established rules. Why? First, it is better to start with the Old Testament Fall. Let's remember what God said to Adam and Eve when they disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit. And the Lord said something like this: “From now on, you will live on earth in illness, labor, give birth in pain.” Eve was the first to disobey the Lord and was tempted by the words of the serpent, therefore, since then, a woman has been the one who should be in obedience to her husband, a man. In addition, she was also given periods of purification in the form of menstruation.

Secondly, in Orthodox church there should be no blood other than the blood of Christ, which is served to people during the sacrament of the Eucharist in the form of wine (cahors). Of course, in this case we are talking not only about women in the days of impurity, but also about those, for example, who suddenly began to have nosebleeds.

As seen, we are talking both about human blood in the temple in general, and about the purification of a woman. That is why modern priests often explain in their own way whether it is possible to go to church during menstruation.

Another nuance follows from this: in past centuries there were no hygiene products, women with critical days could, through negligence, desecrate the holy floor of the temple. That is why they refrained from visiting him during such periods. Therefore the tradition total absence women in the holy place still exists.

If reliable hygienic protection is provided

Thanks to modern technologies for the manufacture of hygiene products, every woman can be calm. But is it possible to go to the temple? Priests are often asked this question over and over again. In fact, you can, but you can’t just touch the shrines, it’s also forbidden to participate in any Sacraments. You should also not touch the priest's hand, take his blessing, kiss the cross at the end of the service.

But if the representative of the weaker sex is forgetful, she can inadvertently touch the shrine, then it is better to refrain from visiting the temple altogether, even on a big holiday. That is why, answering the question: "Is it possible to go to church during menstruation?", Let's be honest: "Undesirable."

What is allowed and what is not allowed in the temple?

Let's now take a closer look at what women are not forbidden to do in the church:

pray, participate in chants;
buy and put candles;
be in the porch of the temple.

As you can see, it is only allowed to stay spiritually in the church. But you can't do anything physically.

There are many more restrictions. Here is a list of what not to do:

participate in any sacraments (confession, communion, baptism of one’s own or godchild / goddaughter, wedding, consecration of the unction);
touch icons, cross, relics;
drink holy water;
accept consecrated objects (oil, images, consecrated objects);
touch the gospel.

These rules apply not only to temple visitors, but also to those who are outside the shrine at home, on a trip, at work, and so on. So, is it possible to go to church with menstruation? Yes, but you have to be careful.

When should you not go to church?

But it also happens that it is undesirable to go to the temple at all. Suppose there is only one exit in a small church, but at the end of the service, the priest stands in the porch at the very exit. Exit without kissing the cross, or it will not work, or there is a risk of hurting the shrine. In this case, the priests answer something like this: “Stay at home, you can skip Sunday or a holiday for such a good reason. But the prayerful mood for the future will be good. Pray at home as if you were at a liturgy.”

But is it possible to go to church with menstruation if there are no obstacles? Of course you can. It is only desirable to be in the vestibule (at the entrance to the temple), so as not to accidentally forget about the unclean days and not to venerate the icons.

What to do if you touched the shrine?

Sometimes, however, out of ignorance or negligence, a woman touches a shrine. What to do? It is imperative to tell the priest in confession that she kissed the icon / cross or drank holy water during menstruation. Is it possible to go to church during menstruation, even if they have almost stopped? The short answer is: "Undesirable."

If menstruation is a disease

Exists gospel story, which speaks of the healing of a bleeding woman by Jesus Christ. At the same time, the Lord did not scold the woman, but said something like this: “Faith healed you, go and do not sin again.”

Is it possible to go to church with periods that last longer than normal and are considered a disease? In this case, yes.

When else is a woman forbidden to enter the temple?

Even in the early Christian period, it was established that a woman did not visit the temple at all for 40 days after giving birth. A child can be brought by a father or a relative, close friends. But the mother must refrain.

We figured out whether it is possible to go to church during menstruation. In conclusion, it should be noted that it is also impossible to venerate shrines on the street, immerse yourself in a holy spring and participate in a water-blessed prayer service.

Such temporary bans are not a reason for despair for believing women, but this is a good reason to strengthen your faith, to be more serious in prayer.