There is no exact answer to this question, whether it is possible to go to church during menstruation. Before entering the Temple of God, it is better for a woman to find out about this from the rector of the church, and postpone all religious rituals for another time.
People go to church to pray for the health and peace of their loved ones, for the support of their faith, ask for help from the Almighty or thank him, perform the sacrament of baptism or wedding. In Orthodoxy, there are no strict restrictions on church attendance. But women often have a question, can you go to church during your period? To get an answer, you need to turn to the Old and New Testaments.
Can I go to church during my period?
In the Old Testament, there are definitions of purity and impurity of the body. You cannot go to church for certain illnesses and discharge from the genitals. Therefore, during menstruation, women are better off not attending church. But if you recall the New Testament, then during menstruation, one of the women touched the Savior's clothes, and this was not considered a sin.
The answer to the question can be found in the words of Gregory Dvoeslov, who wrote that a woman during her period can attend church. She was created by God, and all the processes taking place in her body are natural, it does not depend in any way on her soul and will. Menstruation is a cleansing of the body, it cannot be compared with something unclean.
Priest Nikodim Svyatorets also believed that a woman should not be prohibited from attending church on critical days, during this period it is possible to receive communion. And the Monk Nikodim Svyatorets said that women during menstruation are unclean, so during this period intercourse with a man is forbidden and procreation is impossible.
Modern clergy have different answers to this question. Some are against going to church during menstruation, others do not see anything sinful in this, and still others are allowed to attend church on critical days, but forbid participating in religious rituals and touching shrines.
Why is a woman considered unclean during her period?
During menstruation, a woman is considered unclean for two reasons: firstly, it is due to hygiene and blood leakage. When there were no reliable means of protection, blood could leak onto the floor of the church, and the Temple of God is not a place for bloodshed. Secondly, impurity is associated with the death of the egg and its release during bleeding.
Many clerics now restrict the participation of a woman with a monthly discharge in church life. The abbots do not forbid them to visit church, you can go in and pray, but not take part in religious rituals (chrismation, confession, baptism, wedding, etc.) and not touch the shrines. And this is connected not with the fact that the woman is unclean, but with the fact that with any bleeding one cannot touch the shrines. For example, this restriction even applies to a priest who injured his hand.
