Days When the Sacrament of Crowning Is Not Performed

Days When the Sacrament of Crowning Is Not Performed #

The Sacrament of Crowning is performed by a priest, usually the spiritual father of the bride and groom. However, this sacrament is not performed at just any time. The fasting periods of the year require restraint and spiritual labor. Therefore, marriages are not conducted during these times.

Major feast days call for spiritual joy, which must be placed above worldly celebration. On such days, divine services in honor of the feast take precedence, and the Sacrament of Crowning is likewise not performed.

The list below provides more specific guidance on the fasting and feast days when marriage is not permitted. All dates are given according to the New Style (Gregorian calendar).

1. Throughout the entire year:

  • On Tuesdays and Thursdays (which precede the weekly fast days of Wednesday and Friday), and on Saturdays (in preparation for Sunday).

2. During all fasts and the eve of long fasts:

  • The Great Fast (Lent)

  • The Apostles’ Fast (Peter’s Fast)

  • The Dormition Fast

  • The Nativity Fast (Advent)

3. During Meatfare Sunday and Cheesefare Week (the week before Lent begins).

**4. During Pascha (Easter) and all of Bright Week (the week following Pascha).

**5. During the Holy Days (January 7–19), from the Nativity of Christ through Theophany.

6. On the eve of the following Twelve Great Feasts:

  • The Meeting of the Lord (February 15)

  • The Ascension of the Lord (movable date)

  • Pentecost (Trinity Sunday) (movable date)

  • The Nativity of the God-bearer (September 21)

  • The Exaltation of the Precious Cross (September 27)

The other Great Feasts—such as the Annunciation, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Transfiguration, and the Entry of the God-bearer into the Temple—always fall during fasting periods. The eves of the Nativity of Christ (January 7) and the Dormition of the God-bearer (August 28) also occur during fasts.

7. On the eve of a church’s patronal feast (these vary by parish).

8. On the eve of five major vigils (treated as equal to the Great Feasts):

  • St. John the Theologian (May 21 and October 9)

  • The Nativity of John the Baptist (July 7; always during a fast)

  • The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (July 12; the eve always falls during the fast)

  • The Beheading of John the Baptist (September 11)

9. On the eve of other major feast days:

  • The Day of the Holy Spirit (movable)

  • The Vladimir Icon of the God-bearer (June 3 and September 8)

  • The Kazan Icon of the God-bearer (July 21 and November 4)

  • The Protection of the God-bearer (October 14)

  • St. John Chrysostom (November 26)

10. According to local custom or the decision of the priest, this list may be expanded. Some clergy do not perform marriages on the eve of the following:

  • The Three Holy Hierarchs (February 12)

  • St. George the Trophy-bearer (May 6)

  • The Translation of the Relics of St. Nicholas (May 22)

  • The Placement of the Lord’s Robe (July 23)

  • The Prophet Elijah (August 2)

  • The Smolensk Icon of the God-bearer (August 10)

  • The Icon of the Savior “Not Made by Hands” (August 29)

  • The Icon of the God-bearer “Joy of All Who Sorrow” (November 6)

  • St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki (November 8)

  • The Synaxis of the Archangel Michael (November 21)

11. On days of single-day fasts:

  • The Beheading of John the Baptist (September 11)

  • The Exaltation of the Cross (September 27)

12. On the eve of memorial Saturdays (designated days for the general commemoration of the departed; dates vary).

13. Additionally, the Sacrament of Crowning is not performed:

  • When the bride is in a state of female impurity (during menstruation or within 40 days after childbirth).

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