Правило 53 Василия Великого

A widowed slave may not have sinned much by agreeing to a second marriage under the guise of admiration. Therefore, it is by no means appropriate to blame her for this. For it is not the appearance that is judged, but the intention. Obviously there is, as she is subject to the penance of bigamy. (Ap. 82; IV Om. 14; Trul. 85; Gangr. 3; Carth. 82; Basil the Great. 22, 38, 40, 42). A certain slave, having become a widow, wanted to get married again; however, she was afraid to do this openly, either for the sake of the children, or for the sake of her first husband’s relatives, and therefore she pretended that she had been kidnapped by the man she was going to marry. Such a woman, according to this rule, is not subject to condemnation, because there was no actual fraud, and this was done only for appearances in order to make it possible to enter into a second marriage, for, says St. Vasily - “it is not the external appearance that is judged, but the intention” (αλλ' ή προαίρεσις). In any case, the present rule requires that such a woman be subjected to the penance prescribed for second marriages. You might be interested in: