Cheesefare Sunday and Marriage
Cheesefare Sunday and Marriage
Question
Is marriage permitted on Cheesefare Sunday?
Answer
The Patriarchate issued its directive years ago to all churches prohibiting marriages on Cheesefare Sunday.
The reason for this is the expectation of breaking the fast…
Because it is not expected that the bride and groom would be fasting from the morning of their wedding day, whether regarding food or regarding abstaining from marital relations for 55 days immediately after the wedding [which is the period of the Great Lent].
And the Scripture says: “Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?” (Mark 2:19).
Thus, if we permit them to marry on Cheesefare Sunday, it would be as though we are implicitly permitting them to break the fast, and this is not permissible.
The same situation applies to the eve of any fast, in terms of the necessity of prohibiting marriage on the eve of the fast…
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