Wedding rings have
a very long history. For instance, they are mentioned in Genesis, the first
book of the Old Testament, “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee
over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and
put it upon Joseph’s hand…” (Gen. 41:41, 42). According to this text, a ring
symbolized that something or someone belonged to somebody else. Here we see
that Joseph becomes one of Egyptian officials — a cog in the machine of
Pharaoh’s power. This system confers certain power to him within the scope of
his duties. The ring passed from the Pharaoh to Joseph symbolizes the
confirmation of this pact.
We encounter a
similar phenomenon — this time in a spiritual context — in the New Testament
parable of the Prodigal Son: “And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned
against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on
him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet” (Luke 15:21, 22). That
was how the Holy Fathers interpreted this passage:
The father is God.
The son is the fallen human race. The best robe is that of the Baptism. The
ring is the symbol of the restoration of the union between God and man. The
shoes on his feet are the New Testament, the commandments and laws of which
make it possible for us humans to walk, i.e., to live. Here, like in the Old
Testament, a ring is a symbol of belonging and ownership. This time, it’s God
who restores his image and likeness in the human being and re-adopts him as his
son.
Wedding rings were
first used in the Roman Empire. They were a visible sign of the civil contract
between the newly-weds. It meant that the man now belonged to a certain woman,
and the woman to a certain man. This tradition is alive even now. Rings are a
symbol of belonging.
A priest is a
person who belongs only to God, so he can not belong to anyone else. The
Sacrament of Priesthood can be compared to the Sacrament of Matrimony in a
certain sense. A nominee for priesthood has to walk around the Holy Table three
times, just like the newly-weds, who walk around the central analogion with the
temple icon or the icon of a feast in the nave. At this point, the chants sung
during the Sacrament of Priesthood are the same as the chants sung during the
Matrimony, namely: Holy Martyrs; Glory to You, O Christ Our God; Isaiah
Rejoice… It symbolizes that the priest’s soul is married to God and forever
belongs to him. It is the service of the Lord that will be the priest’s main
purpose in the future. It is emphasized by the fact that a new priest is
allowed to hold the paten with the Body of Christ after the Transubstantiation
of the Holy Gifts. It is Jesus and only Jesus that the priest will serve
throughout his whole life. This ministry bestows a lot of grace on the priest
but it requires all his energy and time, too.
The sacred vestment
that a new priest wears shows that our Lord Jesus Christ will cover him with
his grace and act through his hands. A podriznik symbolizes purity, an
epitrachelion symbolizes the gifts of the Holy Spirit that the priest uses to
carry out his ministry and perform the Sacraments; the belt symbolizes the
Lord’s power; the cuffs are a symbol of the Lord’s chains and the fact that God
acts through the priest’s hands; the phelonion is a symbol of the Holy Shroud,
which points at the Lord’s Passion and at the same time means that the priest
is vested with Christ. This is an exalted and a terrifying ministry to be an
intercessor between God and the people. It demands total commitment,
self-denial, and dedication.
That is why a
priest can marry only before he’s professed into priesthood. As soon as he is
laid hands on, the new priest is dedicated to God. Of course, it doesn’t mean
that a married priest can stop taking care of his family. He has to provide for
his home church but this is his auxiliary task, the primary one being that of
serving God.
This is why Russian
priests don’t wear wedding rings. Their sign of belonging are their pectoral
crosses. This is to Whom they fully belong.
Naturally, you may
ask: how does a priest’s wife and children deal with it? It’s striking that
(I’m judging by my personal experience now) the more zealous you are in your
ministry, the better environment there is going to be in your family. The
Divine grace miraculously pours into the priest’s family in abundance, binding
it together with love.
So the priest’s
spouse keeps his wedding ring. For instance, I’ve seen wives of some priests wear
their husband’s rings on their fingers or necks, like a decoration.
Aside from what has
been said, there is a technical side to the fact that Russian priests don’t
wear rings. Crumbs of the Body of Christ or the particles taken out of
prosphoras during the Proskomedia can get under the ring and later fall to the
ground, God forbid. This is sacrilege.
Dear brothers and
sisters, I dare hope that I’ve unveiled some secrets of our lives as priests.
Believe me, the life of a priest is wonderful!
Perhaps, the most
important impression that I have got out of my personal experience as a priest
is that the Lord is really the Living I Am who revealed himself to Holy Prophet
Moses in the Burning Bush. Every time I stand in front of the Holy Table during
a Divine Liturgy or perform other Sacraments, I am convinced of it.
By Fr. Andrei Chizhenko
Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds
CONVERSATION