The Christian Church is very important to the performance of conjugal duty. However, a question may arise regarding the Orthodox tradition of intimacy by spouses during fasting. This is especially interesting for the original Orthodox or those who are curious to open the veil of suspense in the marital relations of Christians.
A man and a woman who marry become one. And if there was a sacrament of wedding, then we can already speak about concrete closeness and unity, not only in a figurative spiritual sense, but also unity in the Christian interpretation. The Christian family is united in the measure of their thoughts and views on the way of being, relationships among themselves, and also thanks to the one Perfector of church marriage - God. It is very important to consider unity from a sexual point of view. In this sense, Orthodox people should not be different from everyone else. The moral framework and norms are the same for all mankind. Marital duty is a family duty of each party, therefore sex cannot be regarded as something sinful and unclean. This is a manifestation of love between two people.
Therefore, the question of permission to engage in sexual contact during fasting does not have a certain ground for objections. Orthodox can love each other during fasting days or long fasts. The apostle Paul clearly says in one of his letters that the wife should not move away from her husband and vice versa. However, an important remark follows further that abstain from sex should be for the sake of fasting and prayer, but only by mutual agreement.
It turns out that if the couple unanimously decide to refrain from sexual intimacy for some time because of the desire to fast, then this is good. But if one of the spouses does not want to refrain from intimacy, the second partner does not have the right to refuse, based solely on the prohibition of having sex on a fasting day.
But there are days when it is undesirable or even forbidden to have sex during fasting. So, Good Friday and the whole Holy Week can be seen in this context. A special time during which the Church forbids to enter into an intimate relationship is the days of preparation for the sacrament of holy communion. This is a time of special prayer, therefore, abstinence from sexual intimacy is necessary here. But the rest of the time there are no clear indications on this score, and therefore Orthodox spouses themselves have the right to decide how to arrange their sex life.
