Правило 41 Василия Великого

In widowhood, having power in herself, she can marry innocently, even if there is no one to distinguish between this cohabitation. For the apostle said: if her husband dies, she is freed from the law of marriage, free to marry whomever she wants, only in the Lord (Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:89). (Ap. 17; I Om. 8; Trul. 3, 87; Ankyr. 19; Neoces. 3, 7; Laod. 1; Basil Vel. 4, 12, 22, 30, 53, 87). A widow, independent of elders, parents or guardians who might have any rights over her, can enter into a second marriage without any obstacles. This is what Saint Basil prescribes in his present rule, and he bases this prescription on divine right (Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:39). However, this prescription, in connection with the prescriptions of other rules, also has its limitations, namely: 1) when entering into a second marriage, a widow must undergo penance prescribed for second-weds (Basily the Great Law 4), and 2) she must marry a person who has the right, according to the rules and laws, to enter into a legal marriage, but an Orthodox widow, for example, cannot marry a non-Orthodox (Trul. 72; Laod. 31; Carth. 21), and in addition, according to Balsamon’s interpretation of this rule, she cannot marry a person not worthy of her origin 82. From a canonical point of view, this refers to marriage with a person who is not free or does not engage in honest labor (Trul. 51, 62; Carth. 45, 63; Basil Vel. 42, 53); from the point of view of civil law it refers to the so-called morganatic marriage. This is the name of a marriage concluded between persons belonging to different social classes, in which the husband and wife, as well as children, do not enjoy all the family and inheritance rights that they would otherwise have under the normal, customary conditions of marriage. Even in ancient Roman law this marriage was looked upon unfavorably, but it was tolerant, as it was tolerant subsequently at all times 83 . Among the Germans, morganatic marriage (matrimonium ad morganaticam) is so named because in it the wife and her children had to be content with that part of the husband’s property that she received as a gift after the first wedding night (Morgengabe, donum matutinale) 84. Such a marriage, if it was concluded in compliance with canonical regulations, was considered legal by the church and was fully equated with other correctly concluded marriages. Wed. Digest., Lib. XXSH, tit. 2, 42, § 1. This marriage is also called matrimonium ad legem Salicam, because it was most commonly used by the Salic Franks. It is also called marriage from the left hand (Elie zur linken Hand), which symbolically wanted to indicate that the wife does not join the husband’s family and is under his full protection, therefore, does not enjoy his social and class rights, and children do not have the right to use the name and property of the father. You might be interested in: