One of the most exciting and exciting days foreach person is a wedding day. However, few people know that before the marriage rite, engagement was mandatory in Russia before, and this day was considered as important as the direct binding of marriage bonds. After all, engagement is the solemn proclamation of the mutual consent of two lovers' hearts, after which he and she received the right to be called the bridegroom and bride.
In the old days in Russia this day was helda solemn meeting of the parents of the bride and groom, where they gave their parental blessings for a happy and long life. According to tradition, at the celebration there was an exchange of bread and salt between the parents, after which everyone fell silent for a few minutes. Before dinner, the man gave his beloved a beautiful engagement ring with a precious stone, after which they named themselves bride and groom. Engagement is the most significant day before the wedding, so the young people prepared for it especially carefully. In the rich and noble families about this was given, as a rule, a dinner or a ball, to which influential people from all over the area were invited. The guests gave the bride gifts and congratulated the young on the first step towards joining the sacred marriage union.
Today, the engagement is not all, and more oftenjust this day there is an official meeting of the parents, after which a party is held. The future spouse gives his bride an engagement ring, which indicates serious intentions to marry his girlfriend. The future wife can also give her beloved some thing that is significant to him, which he will keep for a long time as a memory of this important day for him. In fact, the engagement is a kind of discussion of the intentions to marry young people, since the word itself is based on the concept of “say”, that is, to come to terms. Parents “engaged” to marry their children, after which they finally planned their wedding day.
However, if you study this Slavic tradition moreCarefully, you should know that engagement is not the first stage of engagement. There was still a so-called matchmaking before him, when the bridegroom sent matchmakers to the future bride with a proposal to get engaged.
We should not forget that in the old daysbesides marriage, the marriage of young people in the church was also carried out. Since ancient times, our people have been devout, therefore faith in God is traditionally inherent in most people. It is noteworthy that the Bible does not say anything about the engagement ceremony, which gives grounds for many churchmen to assert that this rite appeared at a later time. At the same time, there is information that even the ancient Slavs before the Christian era in Russia already had established traditions that included this custom.
Engagement in the church is understood as a declaration of God.about their voluntary and firm intention to enter into marriage and marriage vow. It is noteworthy that parents may not be present here, because the main thing in this process is to inform God about the firmness of their intentions. On the day of marriage, many young believers perform a betrothal ceremony in the church, after which it is believed that the bride and groom are tied up for the rest of their lives, and God is a witness to that.
In different parts of our country existed theirfeatures and traditions of engagement, however, in general, it did not change the essence of the event. Today, not all newlyweds celebrate this day, because many do not even know what an engagement is. Despite the gradual loss of traditions, all people should remember and be aware of such holidays, as they are our cultural heritage, which we must preserve and pass on to future generations.
