www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Wedding Ring on right hand

I would like to know as much as possible regarding the tradition to wear our wedding ring on our right hand.

Also, any good books or links which discuss this tradition?

thanks,

Henri

It is the tradition among the Slavs, especially Eastern Slavs (Ukrainians, Rusyns, Gr. Russians etc.) I think it goes as far back to Pagan times.

Ung-Certez

I have always understood it to be that Christ sits at the right hand of the Father.

This is from the Greek Orthodox wedding Ceremony consists of two parts: The Betrothal and the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. It is a Christian ceremony.

The Betrothal Service

In the Betrothal service, the Priest blesses the rings of the Bride and Groom, then places them on their right hands. The sponsor then exchanges the rings between them three times signifying that their lives are enter twined forever.

In the Bible, the right hand is the preferred hand, indicating good. The Betrothal dramatizes the free decision made by the Bride and Groom, and is symbolized by the giving of rings.

This service begins at the door of the church and is completed before the altar. The Bride, Groom, and their attendants gather at the vestibule of the church. The Priest comes to meet them. The Bride and Groom stand before the Priest, the Groom to the right of the Bride. He asks them if they come of their own free will, and if they have not promised themselves to someone else. The Priest then invites the Bride and Groom, and the attendants, to enter the church and stand before the altar.

The rings are blessed and placed on the fourth finger of the right hand of the Groom and the Bride. The Priest then places a portion of his vestment over their crossed hands and they recite the marriage vows.

Glory to Jesus Christ!
I have heard that the Germans also wear the wedding ring on the right hand. Beyond this, I have no additional information.
Deacon El

Dear Friends,

The right hand is the hand by which we make the Sign of the Cross and we've seen how it is almost like a living sacramental in that we are not to soil it when making prostrations etc.

It signifies Christ Himself Who sits at the Right Hand of God the Father.

As our marriage is sealed in Christ, the ring is placed on the right hand.

According to ancient Christian custom, those who are married in Christ are to glance at their wedding ring when making the Sign of the Cross to remind themselves of the Mystery of Crowning in the Lord.

The fourth finger is chosen because it is the "Amen" of the invocation of the Trinity represented by the thumb, index and middle fingers.

In Roman times, of course, the ring was worn as a symbol of authority as it bore the crest of the authority in whose name people, as civil servants, acted.

As Christians, we act in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the ring signifies the authority we have from Him as His priests, prophets and kings.

As we are crowned in marriage, so too are we invested with authority from Christ, signified by the ring, to reflect the life of the Trinity in our married lives to channel Divine Grace to the world.

This is why early Christian wedding bands had Crosses on them emulating the heraldic symbols of government ministers.

A rich tradition that we are privileged to be a part of.

Your sinful servant,

Alex

Alex,

OK from that [ BTW welcome back ] then why do we in the West have our wedding rings on the left hand ?

Anhelyna

Dear Anhelyna,

I just dropped in for a spot of tea . . .

It was really only much later that the practice of using the left hand for the wedding ring came into being - an imitation of the pagan Roman practice that believed there was a vein that connected to the heart in the fourth finger of the left hand.

The pagan Romans believed the left hand to be where one's personal "tempter demon" resides, tempting us with sensual and other temptations ("left" in Latin is "sinister" - thus my view of left-wing political parties and governments . . .).

The saying, "He got out of the wrong side of bed" comes from Roman times and means that one got out of bed on the left side - and so was prey to evil spirits leading to ill humour and the like.

The pagan view of marriage was that it was primarily a sensual thing - not for PROcreation but solely for REcreation.

Thus, the sigificance given to the left hand - something picked up much later by secularized Christian culture.

We've also inherited many other pagan traditions, including the love rites of February that culminated in the attempted Christianization associated with "St Valentine's Day."

"Februa" in fact were special whips used in Roman orgiastic rites and we'll leave it at that.

I think I'll make my morning shower a cold one today . . .

Sinfully yours,

Alex

Alex,
Glory to Jesus Christ!

Wow, we are using some left-over pagan practices. Amazing.

Next, you are probably going to tell me that the days of the week are not named for St. Sun, St. Moon, St. Tiu (St. Mars), St. Woden (St. Mercury), St. Thor, St. Freya (St. Venus) and St. Saturn!

Deacon El

Bless, Father Deacon!

We try to wear the wedding ring on the right hand in general, which is according to correct Orthodox (and general Christian) tradition.

When my wife's cousin got married, he and his wife received the rings on the right hand, but then (and in front of Bishop Isidore Borecky - +memory eternal!) took them off and placed them on their left hands.

That was a bit tasteless, wouldn't you say?

There was also the tradition of wearing the "marriage belt" or a belt with a buckle that bore the image of the Cross - Fr. John Meyendorff's book on marriage has a picture of just such a belt on the front cover.

It would be good for all Christians to have an image of the Cross engraved on their wedding bands as well . . .

This is the origin of the later Western practice of the "Rosary Ring" that bears a Cross on the top with ten notches for the ten Hail Mary's around it.

As for the days of the week, the Romance languages name them after Roman, as opposed to Norse, gods.

The East Slavic tradition is to follow closely the Jewish tradition of numbering the days of the week such as "Chetver" or "Fourth Day" etc.

Sunday is the "Day of the Resurrection" or "Voskressenja" and it is a beautiful and meaningful way to refer to Sunday or the Lord's Day.

By the way, the first three canonized saints of Iceland all bore variations of the name of the hammer-god "Thor."

Archaeologists found an old jeweller's mold in Sweden that had both the imprint of the Cross as well as Thor's hammer - this was from the time of the "dvoyevirya" or when people "hedged their bets" by being Christians - but also keeping some veneration of their old pagan gods.

Alex

Well now what is it I often say - let the ed.........

He's done it again !!
The quote about numbering the days of the week - the Portugese do this too - segunda feria etc to Sabbado [ Saturday ] and Domingo [ Sunday] This has always puzzled me . So that's the explanation - but WHY

Hmm - where's de Freitas and Lauro - these folk are never around when you want 'em.

Anhelyna

Alex,

Stay a while! Have some biscuits with your tea!

Good to see you again.

Also a sinner,
Andrew

In regard to pagan practices;

As you may know we are replete with them. Every time I see the Panagia icon, I think about Mother Earth and the back to nature crowd. Christianity leaves nobody behind.

The way I look at it, all religions are correct, it is just that some are more imperfect or incomplete than others.

There was a time that I wanted to wear my ring on the right. Too many people thought that meant I was divorced or widowed. I decided that it was more important for me, us, to follow the cultural tradition on this one.

And I am a bigger sinner than you are,

John

Wearing a ring, especially a silver one, on the right hand also signifies a gay marriage in our culture.

Dear Fr. Deacon Petrus,

Do you have an icon of the Buddha?

Dear Friends,

If we want to begin comparing our levels of sinfulness, perhaps we should start another thread . . .

Anhelyna (ladies first):

As I understand it, the Hebrew tradition in this regard was to only give special names to the most religiously significant days of the week and in this case it was Friday as the "Day of Preparation" and the Sabbath.

In the Hebrew tradition as well, as in the Slavonic, numbers and letters were and are intimately connected - Old Church Slavonic only uses letters to denote numbers. The Name of Yeshua or Jesus in Hebrew comes out, numerically, to "888" and Christianity also inherited a religiously significant numerical system from Judaism as well.

The Slavonic tradition has also augmented the numbering of week-days with other names - Monday is referred to as "the day after Sunday" and Wednesday is "the middle."

It was also formerly traditional to use Saints' Feasts to denote days and Namesdays rather than birthdays(I believe churches at one time forbade the celebration of birthdays as a pagan tradition).

The Old Believers still greet friends whose homes they enter with a reference to the particular saint's day or feast day, for example, as one enters another's home, after making the due obeisances before the icon corner, one says: "With the Feast of St Angelina of Serbia, I wish you health and happiness!" Or, "With the Day of the Resurrection and the Feast of St Simeon, I wish you etc."

It was much more important to underline the Christian religious significance of the day than the numbering in any event and because of that, there was originally no great effort to develop a Christian "days of the week" scheme, leaving the original Hebrew or pagan traditions in place.

Paul:

Certainly, there is much in our pre-Christian past that we have "blessed" and taken over. There is nothing wrong with that and, in any event, we note in the New Testament that Hebrew Christians kept much of their Judaic tradition while other Christians coming from pagan traditions likewise developed their "rites" in another direction.

There were instances when certain pagan traditions were rejected outrightly, not because they were pagan, but because they were impractical.

We know that the shape of our Byzantine basilicas and churches came from pre-Christian Roman judicial buildings that were large enough to accommodate many people.

Even the priests' double-looped chain for the pectoral Cross was formerly worn by Roman civil servants - the double chain signified double responsibility for the people etc.

Even the word "bishop" comes from "episcopus" which originally simply meant "mayor."

And even "pagan" originally meant not that one believed in many false gods, but that one was from the village or a peasant which is where paganism endured in the Roman empire after the major urban centres had formally become Christian.

Andrew:

Thank you!

Sinfully yours,

Alex

Great replies, thanks!

This raises another question for me. Given our tradition of wearing the ring on the right hand, and given that the culture we live in is used to seeing the ring on the left hand AND given that there can be some gross misperceptions with wearing the ring on the right hand (if you're male) - what do most people here do, and why? (whew - run on sentence!)

Personally, I find myself switching from one hand to the other depending on where I am (e.g. at a bar with friends: left hand to make it clear to those around me I'm married; at Divine Liturgy and most other places: right hand) - but I'd prefer just to pick one or the other. I guess that's why I started this thread!

- Henri