Discovering World Religions

SO, a friend of mine at work is getting married and she is Russian Orthodox. I had no idea what this means, and so I investigated.

And after reading this, I still am unsure of what the hell the Eastern Orthodox church is. Sometimes Wikipedia fails you.

Here are the highlights though...

1. Their cross looks like this:

Mega-Cross

 Which to me, is obviously a combination Mega-Cross of two crosses and a railroad sign. Its bitchin'.

2. Days of fasting also mean day of no sexual intercourse, as fasting is supposed to be a means of regaining innocence and purification. So...you're not eating AND you're not boning = cranky time.

3. They're all about the 3s, 6s, and 9s. Church processionals are done three times around the building. The ninth day after a holy day is ALSO a holy day. I can buy into this because 3s make sense to me.

4. Marriage ceremonies are considered the "coronation" of the husband and wife becoming King and Queen of their own lives. And so, during the ceremony they have CROWNS held up over their heads and they are CROWNED DURING THE CEREMONY. Observe:

What?! RIGHT?!

I, personally, feel cheated out of a missed opportunity to do this at my own wedding ceremony. I'll be planning My Nuptials Redux for 2014.

5. Finally, Easter is a floating holiday for them. They use the Julian calandar (not the Gregorian one like most of us use. 365 days, 12 months, etc.) so everything depends on the vernal equinox. 2011 was the first time EVER that Christian Easter and Eastern Orthodox Easter were on the same day.


Yours in all things knowledge,
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