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'''Marriage''' (also '''matrimony''') is one of the [[holy mysteries]] or (sacraments ) in the Orthodox Church, as well as many other [[Christian]] traditions. It serves to unite a woman and a man in eternal union before God with the purpose of following Christ and His [[Gospel]] and, when possible, raising up a faithful, holy family through their holy union. It is referred to extensively in both the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]]s. Christ declared the essential indissolvibility of marriage in the [[Gospels|Gospel]].

The Orthodox Christian tradition encourages widows and widowers to remain faithful to their spouses who are dead to this world but alive in Christ. However, Yet [[Dumitru Staniloae]] says , "However, in the case of the death of one of the two spouses, the other is admitted to a second marriage without any ecclesiastical process of divorce, because the marriage is considered to no longer exist (Rom 7:2)."<ref>Staniloae, p. 175.</ref>