Orthodoxy regards the marriage bond as indissoluble, and it condemns the breakdown of marriage as a sin and an evil. The Orthodox Church does permit remarriage after divorce in some cases, as an exception, a necessary concession to human sin. While condemning sin, the Church desires to help the sinners and to allow them another chance, with an act of ''[[oikonomia]]'' . When a marriage has ceased to be a reality, the Orthodox Church faces the reality with ''[[philanthropia]]'' (loving kindness).

The Orthodox Church teaches that a second union "is tolerated only by condescension to human weakness (1 Corinthians 7:9). It may also be recognized as a second chance, given to a man or a woman, to enter into a real marriage in Christ when a first union was a mistake (for even Church blessing cannot always magically repair a human mistake!)."<ref>Meyendorff, Marriage: An Orthodox Perspective, pp. 44.</ref> In the service for a second marriage, some of the joyful ceremonies are omitted and replaced by penitential prayers, althoughh the penitential prayers might be omitted if it is a first marriage for one of the spouses.<ref>Meyendorff, p. 46.</ref>

==Family Life==